The Transformed Will

A Compromise with Powerlessness

Somehow along the way, as I grew up in a conservative Reformed church,  I picked up that I could never be perfect, but that I should always try. I could never be perfect because my will was completely corrupted. I would never be free from the power of sin in my life until I died and the old self (my sinful nature) died with it.

So, as I sat there, on one of those unpadded, wooden pews, I thought to myself: "So, if I can't do it, why try?" It wasn't a question born out of rebellion, as much as hopelessness. Somehow I knew that I had either learned wrong, something was mispoken, or the preacher was just plain wrong.

I could write a great deal more about how I had come to accept the concept of the irreparably corrupted will, but it would be a long story with a simple conclusion: I believed that when it came to victory over sin, on this side of glory, we still "couldn't get there from here."

A Biblical Challenge to This Powerlessness

Fast forward to 2015.

In the last year and especially the last few months, I've been hearing a response to the teaching I grew up with. It's been coming relentlessly and it has forced me to reexamine my assumptions and perhaps those of my theological heritage. Here's the challenge: according to Romans 6, our old self is dead.

Without making a quick jump to Romans 7:7,ff or 1John 1:8-10, in order to explain away this passage in the light of the others, Romans 6 certainly teaches that our old self was crucified with Him . . . that we should no longer be slaves to sin (Rom.6:6). And in Galatians 2:20 Paul says "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." This looks like a direct challenge to my assumptions.

I suspect that in an attempt to refute a doctrine of perfectionism, we may have overstated our case. We have ignored the tension and paradox of Romans 6 alongside Romans 7, basically explaining away one chapter in favor of the other (which is what the perfectionists do, except in reverse!). However, we should never create a theology of non-perfectionism that makes sin in a believer 'normal.' We should never create such a theology that gets a response like "...then why try?" We should never articulate a theology of the sinfulness of the believer that makes us so comfortable with sin that we shrug at it and refer to it as "only human, after all."

Grace Empowered Freedom

I have yet to meet a genuine believer that actually was comfortable with his/her sin. Some have given up fighting against it, others fight but have little hope, many carry tremendous guilt for failing yet again. I have been all of those people. But if there is any way to find victory over sin, I and other believers wanted it, and still do!

I find something helpful in Titus that I'd like to reflect on for the rest of this blog entry:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, (Titus 2:11–12)  

The first thing to notice about this passage is that God's grace is here to bring not only salvation, but also to bring us some training. That word "teach" (Greek: paideuo), means to train someone (often a child) in the art of living well. The nature of the word already suggests that this is a process, not an event (like being born again). I'll get back to the tension of training as a process, and dying/rising with Christ as event below.

I'm going to assume that what Paul is talking about is that the Holy Spirit within us by an act of God's grace, is the One doing the training (cf. John 16:13). Abstract concepts are not always good trainers! So, we have available to us, God's Spirit living in us training us, to do what?

First mention is that this grace (the Holy Spirit) trains us to say "No" (literally to refuse, disdain, deny, repudiate, disown, disregard, renounce). I want us to notice two things about this: first, we are being trained in radical refusal of sin; second, we're the ones who are to do the refusing!

What we are to "say No" to is specifically ungodliness and worldly passions. Briefly, ungodliness is a casual, disdainful, or otherwise sinful attitude toward God, and worldly passions are those temptations that come to us from those around us, tempting us to join in all other forms of human sinfulness. Basically it's about saying "No" to all forms of sinfulness.

So let's just set aside any notion of accepting a bit of sin in one's life as "normal." The norm for a grace-filled, Spirit-filled believer is "learning to say 'No'."

But what a gift! I can't do it on my own, I can't win over sin by myself, but I can be trained by the best teacher I could have, and One Who lives within me besides!

The Teacher/Trainer not only teaches me what not to do, but also what I'm supposed to do: live a self-controlled, upright and godly [life] in this present age. I'm being trained for that by the best!

Cooperation Required!

Notice that I'm being trained, but I'm the one who still has to say "No." I'm the one who in being trained now needs to live the new life. It doesn't just happen. The Holy Spirit doesn't just zap me and make me holy. He trains me to be holy.

This means that the Holy Spirit does not have a pessimistic attitude about the will of a born-again believer. If our will can be trained to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, then it must be possible for us. If we think that even our best are nothing more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), then it's not possible. But that verse is about apostate Israel (see Isaiah 64:7), not about faithful Israel, nor about God's faithful New Testament believers.

The only question that remains is this one: is the Holy Spirit able to train me? I trust that the answer to this question doesn't rest on the Holy Spirit's ability but on my willingness.

I can watch all the weight training videos in the world, but if I don't lift weights, I won't get any stronger. I can read all the books there are on running, but if I don't run I won't get faster. I can read all the advice on the internet about losing weight, but if I don't implement any plan, I won't get thinner. If I don't put into practice what I'm being trained to do, I won't get trained, and I'll be weak, and slow and fat.

For me to learn to say "No" I'll need to start saying "No." When I stumble, I'll need to ask for help. It's a clever demonic lie that I first have to get my act together, before asking God to help me get my act together. What if our Trainer is ready to help us even when the temptation's pull is strong, even when we've begun to slide into yielding to it, and even when we have yielded? Guess what? Our sin doesn't push Him out. If we want help, He's always available. And He's not afraid of our sin.

Let me ask you this question: Is the sin in you stronger than the Holy Spirit in you? Is your sin just too much for Him? I hope you know Who is stronger. And I hope you know that He is always available to help train you.

A Process that Assures Progress

If we cooperate with the Spirit, if we allow ourselves to be trained in the art of living well (by Kingdom standards), we can be assured that we will make progress. That there will be improvement. Unless we believe that the Spirit is a poor trainer, or that sin is always able to trump His training, we can know that we can make progress that we can see and that others will (eventually?) notice.

We are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). Which means that we are no longer under the control of sin, nor required by our nature or anything else to yield to it.

As we progress our will is transformed into something more pleasing to God each day.

Then Do Believers Still Sin? Why?

Yes, sadly, believers still sometimes sin. Why? I think there are two reasons: deception and habit. Sometimes we sin because we don't believe we're free from sin, or we don't believe we have help in resisting it, or because we simply believe that this thing we're doing isn't really that bad and isn't worth fighting, or... supply your own favorite lie about why we sin. After the Civil War, the slaves were freed, but some slaves remained slaves because no one told them they were free.

We also sin out of habit. I have a friend whose foot was healed. He still limped after it was healed and it took conscious effort to not limp. It's said that when an elephant is tied to a stake when young, will not pull out the stake when it's grown up, even though it can--it just doesn't know it can because it has been habituated to the power of a stake that no longer has actual power over it!

But lies can be exposed and habits can be changed: both by training.

When believers sin, we're acting out of character. This is why Paul says "it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me that does it." That's not a cop-out, that's a realization from Paul that when he sins, that's not the real Paul--it's a left-over habit that doesn't belong (at least that's how I take it).

God Oriented Living

The key to all of this, in both experience and in my reading of the New Testament, is to turn one's attention away from one's own sin and sinfulness and just keep them on Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11), so stop staring at what's already dead! A sin oriented life quickly fills with despair, even if one is combating that sin (we always have to look at what we're fighting!), because sin is often bigger than us! But it's not bigger than God.

When we're driving our in a car, we need to pay attention to where we're going, not what's going on in the back seat, or keep our eyes exclusively on the rear-view mirror, or on anything else but on the road ahead. Anything else can quickly lead to disaster. (BTW, don't text and drive!)

So to, in the Christian life, as we keep our focus ahead, on where we're going, on the One in whose likeness we are predestined to be conformed to (Rom 8:29), we can stay on track.

Perhaps a key to understanding Romans 7 in light of Romans 6 is to see Romans 7 as what happens when one is "law oriented" versus "Jesus oriented" (Romans 7:25) or "Spirit oriented" (see Romans 8).

This simple key (stay God focused) has been extremely helpful to me. Don't pay sin much, if any attention at all--not even negative attention. Keep your eye on the prize, keep looking to Jesus. Set your minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).