The Bible is very clear on the fact that sinning isn’t the problem. Rather, the sin nature is the problem. Martin Luther described the sin nature by describing the individual as being “curved inward upon itself” (Latin, incurvates in se). Curved inward indeed! But what does this mean? This means that it is natural for people to love themselves and see to their own interests first. Not only this, but it also means seeing others as a threat to the well-being of the self and as a means for reaching self-centered goals. People, and even God himself, become mere instruments serving the purpose of the self. This is our natural state. This means that this is how we are when gone unchecked. This describes the character of humanity as it stands untouched by eternal influences. Hair grows without us having to try to make it grow (at least for most of us). In much the same way, we prioritize our selves and our own needs over and above the needs of others without trying. It just is this way. This is the sin nature. Martin Luther explains this concept a bit further with this:
The “prudence of the flesh” chooses what is good for oneself and avoids what is disadvantageous for oneself, it rejects the common good and chooses what is harmful to community. This is a prudence which directs the flesh, that is, our concupiscence and self-will, which enjoys itself and uses everyone else, including God Himself; in all matters it looks out for itself and its own interests. This prudence makes man feel that he himself is the final and ultimate object in life, and idol, on whose account he does, suffers, attempts, plans, and says all things. He considers good only those things which are for his own personal good, and those things only as evils which are bad for him. This crookedness, this depravity, this iniquity is condemned over and over in Scripture under the name of fornication and idolatry, and it is, as w have said early in chapter 6:12 something most profound in our nature, indeed, it is our very nature itself, wounded and totally in ferment, so that without grace it becomes not only incurable but also totally unrecognizable.—Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 25, p. 350.
The moral conscious (which is activated by God’s grace so humanity doesn’t annihilate itself) recognizes this problem. So much so that we build rules and boundaries around our societies that regulate the sort of behaviour that is the result of people being curved inward on themselves (the Ten Commandments are the preeminent example). What do we have to be told not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to covet, not to murder, etc.? It is because it’s natural to do those things!
Do you know what happens when we try to regulate the sin nature with rules and a list of do’s and dont’s? The sin nature rears its ugly head. The rules that seek to regulate and minimize the broad-sweeping damage that is caused by sinful people attempt to pin down the ugliness inside of us. The image that we get then is our “good self” that is in tune with a moral conscious to the fact that such behavior is bad, that is constantly wrestling with our “bad self”. There is a constant struggle that happens between us wanting to do what is good and wanting to appease our carnal appetites. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 7. Let me tell you, this struggle, this wrestling with the sin nature, is utterly exhausting. It’s exhausting because we cannot win, we cannot beat it. It wins every time. What ironic is often times even the acknowledgement of good and the attempt at piety and virtue itself becomes a means for self service! This is self-righteousness. Where all of our “good works” become a source of pride and arrogance that we then leverage agains our fellow humans to get what we want. We use this to manipulate circumstances to serve our own needs. This is what happened to those who killed Jesus, by the way.
We have Good News today. Through Jesus, we can rest from this battling. Through the death of Christ, the “old sinful man” (Rom 6:6) can be put to death, once and for all. We can rest in Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, replace all of our old habits that were formed out of sin nature with the holy habits of Jesus. Habits driven by love for others; habits driven by compassion, joy and peace.The exhaustion that comes from vainly battling the sin nature inside of us will only die when we die because we are one with it. We must die to ourselves. That’s what this means. We must take up our cross. That’s what this means. This is one of the greatest features of resting in Jesus.
This means that the effects of the cross must be two-dimensional. In one sense, the cross takes away the guilt that we have incurred because of sinning. This is what we mean when we say that Jesus’ blood washes away our sins. We no longer carry the stain of sin nor the guilt and shame that goes along with it. This is the dimension that gets all the attention when we talk about what Jesus and the cross does for believers. The other dimension gets neglected. That dimension is the dimension of the sin nature. You see, the death of Jesus not only washes away our sin-guilt, but it also puts to death our very sin nature. This is the part of the Good News of Jesus Christ that too often gets overlooked. The Enemy likes when we overlook it too because it makes us live in a place where we say, “Oh well, I’m human, I’ll always be a sinner.” By no means! The power of the cross is rendered void if this is the case. The entire point of Jesus life, death, and resurrection was to put to death the sin nature. To put an end to the fact that we are curved inward on ourselves.
