One important way that a Christian is different from a non-Christian in relation to sin, according to the apostle Paul, is that a Christian is not stuck in sin, whereas a non-Christian is. I’ve decided to coin a new theological word today 😊 to describe this difference: stuckness. The apostle Paul uses a stronger metaphor in Romans 6 to describe the same concept, the metaphor of slavery. But the idea is the same.
Paul’s main point in Romans 6 is that we should view sinning as incompatible with the freedom Jesus provided when we were united to his death and resurrection. As Paul pursues that main point in Romans 6, he also answers the question before us in this post: What has changed in relation to sin now that we are united to Christ?
What does Paul say about that? Here are six key verses from Romans 6 that answer the question of what has changed in relation to sin for the believer in Jesus:
Verse 6: We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Verse 7: For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Verse 14: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Verse 18: and, having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness.
Verse 20: For when you were slaves of sin….
Verse 22: But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God….
Because of what Paul writes elsewhere in this chapter, we know that Paul doesn’t think that a person who has come into relationship with Christ is sin-free; otherwise Paul would not repeatedly exhort his readers not to sin (vv. 1, 11-13, 15, 19). Instead, Paul must be saying that the power of sin is broken. You are not fated to sin when you are tempted. You are no longer stuck in sinning.
Notice how Paul describes the Christian’s former state as having been “slaves of sin”; but now, Paul says, we have been “set free from sin” and are “slaves of God.”
Again, the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian in relation to sin is found in the theological concept of stuckness. A non-Christian is stuck in sinning; a Christian is not. The power of sin has been broken for a Christian. When a believer is tempted to sin, he or she does not have to sin. What a dramatic contrast this highlights between an unbeliever and a true believer in Christ! And what an encouragement it is to us who have come into a relationship with Christ by faith that we are not fated to sin!
I am not saying that a non-Christian is unable to stop a bad habit. But the non-Christian is still stuck in sinning in a general way. For example, a non-Christian might be able to stop a bad habit, but sin will pop up somewhere else in his or her life.
Have you ever played the game Whac-A-Mole? Life for a non-Christian is like playing Whac-A-Mole. The non-Christian hits the head of one sin and another sin pops up somewhere else. He goes through a ten-step program and stops drinking, but sin emerges elsewhere—in pride or sensuality or overeating. That’s because the power of sin is not broken for the unbeliever.
Maybe a different illustration can provide more clarity. A non-Christian can clean one room in her life. A house guest may view that area as under control in her life, and in a certain sense, it may be. But the way the non-Christian got that room tidied up was by moving stacks of papers, groceries, and rubbish to a different room in her house. If a guest asked to see a different room, our non-Christian friend would have to move the messiness to a different room before being able to present a clean-looking room to a guest. That’s because she is stuck in sinning. The sin can be moved around, but she cannot consistently overcome sin in her life.
A Christian, on the other hand—that is, one who has truly been united with Christ (Rom 6:5) and received the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:14)—is not fated to have sin pop up somewhere else when it has already been whacked down. Nor will she have to constantly move the messiness of one room in her house to another to make the house presentable.
This is the theological concept of stuckness. It is important for every Christian to understand this (and, actually, for every non-Christian who is starting to feel conviction over sin to understand it, too). For the Christian, although he will face temptations to sin, he is not destined to sin. He canovercome any presenting temptation by recognizing his union with Christ and leaning into the enabling power of the Spirit.
There is more to say about this, but I’m only writing a blog post, after all—a post that is trying to answer a single question: How is a Christian different from a non-Christian in relation to sin and the temptation? One significant answer to that question is: A non-Christian is stuck in sinning, whereas the power of sin has been broken for a Christian. When a Christian faces temptation, he or she does not have to sin—he or she is not fated to sin—because, according to Romans 6, anyone who has truly placed one’s faith in Jesus Christ has been set free from the power of sin.
Kindle Afresh 