9.63 Through one man sin entered the world

Before we can deal with dying to self – or dying to the sin nature, we need to understand how that sin nature came about. Many people think that we are sinners because we sin. But the Bible tells us that we sin because we are sinners. How did we become a sinner? It was not through our actions. We were born with the sin nature.

Sin entered the world through Adam. Because all of us were in Adam when he sinned, therefore sin spread to all men. We didn’t have a choice. We were born with the sin nature because we were in Adam. We sin because we were born sinners.

(Romans 5:12-14)
Therefore, just as THROUGH ONE MAN SIN ENTERED THE WORLD, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…

Can the sinner overcome the sinful nature through his own effort? This is the question of “dying to self”. There was a man in the Bible who did better and tried harder than the rest. He was a determined man who tried to keep God’s laws perfectly. If anyone could have succeeded it would be him. But he failed. This man is Paul.

Paul wanted to do good and to keep God’s laws. But he could not because of the sinful nature dwelling in his flesh. The evil that he willed not to do, that he practiced. He was in a dilemma. He was struggling within himself to his best ability but did not find the victory. Have we experienced the same? Finally he cried, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

(Romans 7:14-20, 24)
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME. For I know that in me (that is, in MY FLESH) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME.

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

The solution is not in struggling with that sinful nature. The solution is to be delivered from that sinful nature. He asked, “Who will deliver me…” The answer is found in a Person. We shall continue tomorrow.