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Knowing Faith
If I Keep Committing the Same Sin, Am I Still a Christian?
00:30:51
Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss sin in the Christian life and its effects on our relationship with Christ.
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- [00:02]
A
This episode of Knowing Faith is brought to you by Crossway, publisher of the Grace Laced Bible Journaling Edition. This Bible showcases the beauty of God's Word alongside artist Ruth Chow Simon's signature watercolor art. Featuring 50 full page verse illustrations, 250 illustrated verses and lined writing space in the margins, this elegant journaling Bible is ideal for personal reading and reflection, small group study or taking notes during sermons. Pick up a copy of the ESV Grace laced Bible wherever books are sold or visit Crossway.org ESVGracelaced to learn how to get 30% off with a free Crossway plus account.
- [00:42]
B
Have you ever wondered if God delights in women? Do you struggle to untangle the mixed messages you receive about what the Bible says about women? Then check out Very Good, a new seven session Bible study by Jen Oshman to discover the freedom, security and joy of living as a woman made in God's image. As you study passages about women from Genesis to Revelation Revelation, you'll see that God's Word tells a beautiful story about women full of dignity, purpose and delight. Come discover how very good it is to be a woman. Learn more@lifeway.com Very good.
- [01:30]
A
This is Kyle Worley and I'm joined by my coach Jen Wilkin and J.T. english. How y' all doing?
- [01:35]
B
Good. How are you Doing Great.
- [01:36]
A
Hey listen for the non banter people. Guess what? You're in luck. Cutting the banner right out of this episode. Getting right.
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C
No, we can't. No.
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B
Every now and then.
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A
Why not?
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C
I gotta get warmed up.
- [01:45]
A
Well, that was your warmup right there. You just used your time. You used your one line to warm up by calling for the warmup. Hey listen, the one line warmup.
- [01:53]
C
Now you guys are doing it.
- [01:54]
B
See, I say that 10 times and
- [01:56]
A
the banter box has been checked. Yeah. Hey, I just want to give a shout out. There's a lot of people who help make this show possible. But if you are somebody who wants to get access to these episodes early ad free and you want video, if you're like I just gotta see these people while I hear him talk about all sorts of stuff, then go to trainthechurch.com support. You can get these episodes early. You can get them ad free. You can get video and special episodes that come out every couple of months or so. So go check that out@trainthechurch.com support and also help make the show possible for everybody else. This season we are dealing with tricky topics and thorny questions. And today we are asking if I keep committing the same sin, am I still a Christian. I want to talk about this because this is, there's some biblical text that can make this feel a little bit challenging. We're going to get to those. But I feel like it's also just a really practical question, a really felt question among Christians that can feel almost strange to ask. Like, it's almost like if you're in the small group and you ask if I keep committing the same sin, am I still a Christian? Everybody's like, what sin are you still committing? It seems like we need to rewind the tape here. It's like, it's almost like you're guilty by asking the question. But it's a very real question. I think it's worth asking. But let's start by defining the terms. What's sin? Jt, get us going. We're not asking for the textbook definition, but give us a on the off the cuff definition of sin.
- [03:22]
C
Sin is, I would say, twofold. First, it's just kind of disobedience, rebellion to God. It's. God has laid out a perfect holy law before us and we have sinned against it. Anytime we think we know better than God and do opposite of law requires or commands, we've sinned against him. In addition, sin isn't just what we do, it's who we are. It's now become part of our totally depraved nature because of original sin. So Romans, chapter five, we are no longer. If you are, if you're not in Christ, you're in Adam, you're born into Adam, you're born into sin and guilt, you're born into iniquity and rebellion. And so it's something we are, and it's something we do outside of Christ.
- [04:00]
A
Jen, you want to add anything to that?
- [04:02]
B
Yeah, I would just say that to sin is to behave in an inhuman way and to obey is to behave in a human way.
- [04:10]
A
Say more about that because it seems like to err is human,
- [04:15]
B
to forgive is divine. Yeah, so I just, I, I like to make that designation because I think when we think about sinning, we think about doing the thing that feels normal. And that's, that's actually often true because post Genesis 3, sin can feel more normal than righteousness. But that what is actually, what we're actually designed for is obedience. And so that's one of the reasons that sin is as bad as it is is because you, you are committing violence against your design.
- [04:45]
A
Okay, I, I want to just, I want to ask one more follow up question there just to make sure that you don't land in hot water. And our audience understands what you're saying. Romans 3 says that no one is righteous. No, not one. No one seeks after God. We would. We, We. We believe in the doctrine of totally depravity. We're born broken by sin. Like JT just said, it' are conditioned by nature. But it sounds. Tell me what you're not saying, because it sounds a little bit like what you're saying, since it's not a part of our design. But isn't it a part.
- [05:17]
B
Believers receive a new nature. Or you might even say we receive the oldest nature of all. We're given back the nature that was taken from us in Genesis 3. And so at that point, once we are in Christ, or as Kyle might say, united to Christ, then righteousness is actually. We can actually do the thing we're built for again because we've been rebuilt.
- [05:42]
A
Great. And we find ourselves back on the terrain of Augustine here. Jt, can you give us the fourfold Augustine's distinction here of sin? We've done this so many times that our listeners can say it now, but I think it would just be helpful to just give us that fourfold distinction again. It's a really helpful framing device when we think about sin and its impact.
- [05:59]
C
Yeah. So even just kind of following the storyline of the Bible, Augustine would say in Genesis 1 and 2, humanity was able to not sin. Genesis 3, moving forward up until Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, not able to not sin. That's total depravity. That's our nature in Christ. And given the Holy Spirit, we're now, as Jen just said, able to not sin. Again, not only has sin's penalty been removed, but since power is being removed and in the Kingdom, we will not be able to sin because sin's presence has been completely removed.
- [06:32]
A
Yeah. So that fourfold distinction that belongs to Augustine's just articulation is really helpful of framing the. The what sin is and its impact across the history of redemption and our lives as we experience it. What's a Christian, Jen?
- [06:48]
B
A Christian is someone who has been made new in Christ. I'm not sure what you're looking for.
- [06:57]
A
Oh, I was like, is it made new in Olive? Is it made new?
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C
That's got to be the Instagram story
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A
off on, like the wrong of that definition that they knew. Is the part that you could be a little bit spontaneous.
- [07:08]
B
Let me see. Let me see if I can tie it more tightly to the episode. It is someone who has repented and believed repented from their sin and believed the truth of the gospel. And it is someone who, pertinent to our conversation today, continues in that exercise of repentance and belief.
- [07:29]
A
Yeah, I gave you grief for that. I think that's a really good definition. But maybe in Christ, if you ask me what makes a. What is a Christian, I'd be like, there's somebody who is in Christ or united with Christ.
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C
No, no, no. It's like this somebody who's in Christ.
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A
It's like, wait a second here. I know that. That Jesus.
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C
Jesus is.
- [07:50]
A
Yeah, no. Okay. So, yes, the. The what is a Christian or who is a Christian? They are someone who is in Christ Jesus. How does somebody become a Christian? They repent. They place their faith in Christ Jesus is they now worship him as Savior and Lord, and they are knit with him by virtue of God's grace in Jesus. So if sin is this nature, this condition that leads to these actions of rebellion against God and sin separates us from God, and sinful acts are an offense to God, but also a desecration of our created design, a misdirection of our worship, whatever you might want to say. And yet, as a Christian, we are somebody who is able to not sin. Does that mean that Christians won't sin?
- [08:40]
B
Well, so if we map this onto the Bible story, as we've also done many, many times, if you think about the story of Exodus, which is typologically talking about our relationship to sin, when you look at the book of Exodus, what's often said is the first half of the book is getting Israel out of Egypt, and the second half of the book are actually the rest of the Old Testament getting Egypt out of Israel. And so I think that's a good way to think about our relationship to sin. We are ransomed out of slavery to sin, but sin still is the pattern that lives inside of us and feels familiar to us. And so we are going to continue to commit sin, but not as a product of our nature anymore. It's actually foreign to our nature, which is kind of what I was getting at earlier. We've been restored to humanity the way we were intended to be. And therefore to continue in sin is to continue to act like a slave when we're free.
- [09:39]
A
I like that phrasing of it. I like that phrasing a lot. I've talked here about the Exodus story as a paradigm for the difference between union with Christ and communion with God,
- [09:49]
B
and talk about that.
- [09:52]
A
Well, I like that distinction, and I find it to be a helpful framework. I see it in John 15 I see it in Hebrews 10, 14, I see it in first John. And I have these passages here because they all represent a biblical tension. We'll get to some of these. But I would just say that like when the author of Hebrews says, for by a single offering, Christ has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. That's a really helpful way of constructing the believer's relationship to sin. When I am knit to God in union with Christ, I am now declared perfectly righteous and beloved. And nothing can change that. That's that past tense perfected. I am in Christ and I am perfect. Sometimes you'll hear pastors or theologians or teachers say that this is Christ positional righteousness, that in Christ Jesus I am now declared perfectly righteous because I am united with Christ, who is the righteous one eternally. Okay, So I receive his righteousness as a gift by virtue of that union with Christ. But practically that's still being worked out. So that's that second half of Hebrews 10:14. For by single offering, Christ has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Well, what is being sanctified mean? Being made perfect. So our union with Christ is where we're declared perfect by God in Christ for good forever. Our communion with God, which is where the journey of sanctification takes place, is where we increasingly become in practice, who God has already declared us to be in position. So, like Jen is a daughter of God in Christ, she's perfect and righteous. That's not just what you say to begin a women's conference and get a couple of yes, that's just theologically true for Christians. It is fine to say we are beloved daughters of God who are perfect and righteous in Jesus. Practically. That's still being worked out in Jen's life. Not in my life, but in Jen's life, my life. The gap is closed entirely. Yeah, the gap is closed. Just ask anybody who knows me.
- [11:47]
B
But, well, I like people to remind people that when we say practically, we mean in practice. So in other words, like, we are still practicing sin in, in, in. In various forms, but we are positionally righteous. Like we. Our position is not threatened. And you, you always are so good, Kyle, about clarifying like sin does not impact our union with Christ, but it can impact our will, impact our communion with Christ.
- [12:13]
A
It does. And that's what I think is going on in the warning passages of Hebrews.
- [12:18]
B
Yes, I agree.
- [12:19]
A
And what I think John has going for him in 1 John. And I'll go to the 1 John passage. Because, Jen, I'd love for you or JT to say something about the Hebrews passages just broadly. But in one John, you know, you get this. There's this extended discussion of this in First John chapter one, but I'll read just a couple of selections from it. First John 1:5 to 2:1. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. So here's like keep in mind the language that John's using here. If we say we have fellowship with him, he's talking to a church of Christians. Like, he's not presuming his audience isn't Christians, he's writing to a church of Christians. And he's saying if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. The blood of Jesus, son, cleanses from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Go down to 2:1. My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if you do sin, you have an advocate with the Father. So John is talking to a church of Christians and he's telling them two things at once, which is really important that we tell all Christians it's better for you to not sin. But if you do sin, you have a tireless, steadfast advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. So to get back to kind of the question for the episode and then we can pan out to the warning passages or John 15. JT, I know you just spent significant time in John just to pan out back to the episode. Can a Christian keep committing the same sin? Yes. Will they no longer be a Christian if they keep committing the same sin at X amount of times? No. They're not going to lose what they've been given irrevocably in Christ. Will there be damage if they keep committing the same sin in their relationship with God? Yes. In their relationship with others? Yes. In their relationship with self? Yes. In their relationship with God's created order? Yes. If that damage accrues and if the heart grows callous to that damage, it should be like a warning sign that Wait a second. If I'm just okay with like the accrual of this sin on an ongoing way. Was there ever a time where I surrendered myself to the Lord? Is a fair question to ask. I don't think that if a Christian keeps committing the same sin, then the default assumption is they could not possibly be a Christian. I think that's to say very little about God's grace and a lot to say about our sin. But I think there's also the flip side danger of minimizing the collateral damage and what that collateral damage says about the true surrender of the soul if sin is committed unthinkingly and consistently.
- [15:21]
D
Are you tired of shallow discipleship in your life, the life of your church or small group? God is inviting you into deeper places. Real participation in his story, real understanding of who he is and what he has done, and a more meaningful practice of following in his ways. For the last 10 years, JT, Jen and Kyle have been teaching a program called Deep Discipleship. And they their local churches and they have now worked with Lifeway to make this available to everyone everywhere. Whether you're an individual looking to go deeper, a church leader looking for an accessible way to invite your small groups, classes and student ministry, or a homeschool family looking for curriculum for your high school students, go check out the Deep discipleship program@lifeway.com Deep Discipleship.
- [16:14]
A
Is your Jesus shaped more by culture than by Scripture? In our instant world, we've made Jesus into a life coach, a therapist, a political ally. The Missing Messiah, a new book by Kyle Idleman and Mark Moore, helps us understand how Western culture has gradually reshaped Jesus into our image and recognize the difference between a personalized savior and a revolutionary king. If you believe there is a more dangerous, more majestic Messiah than the one you've inherited, visit missingmessiah.com to learn more. That's kind of my thoughts. What do you think? Come in, jump into this.
- [16:50]
C
I said a lot, a few ideas that I think that you've already said, but maybe just said from a slightly different angle is somebody standing before God is not determined by the frequency of their sin. It's determined by the finished work of Christ. And so we have real joy in looking to the cross, burial and resurrection of Jesus as that's our standing, that's our grounding. We are justified and sanctified based upon who Christ is and what he's accomplished, not what we've done. Now, of course, first John the Hebrews passages, which we'll get to in a moment, come in and are good, helpful protectors and reminders that God's people ought not continue in sin. So maybe even some other questions that if this is like, let's think ministerial here for a second, somebody's listening to this and they're just being honest. Like, I've got this thing in my life that's like, I've known the Lord for a decade or 40, 50 years and I'm still struggling with this. Some things I would ask, like, do. Do you have grief over this sin still? Are you grieved that this is still part of your life? Because an unregenerate person can't grieve sin? Only a spirit and jewel person is truly grieving sin. Have you grown calloused to it? Have you maybe slowly started to say in your life, this isn't really that big of a deal. This is just something that eventually will be removed from me and I'll look forward to that day, but in the meantime, I'm going joy. Have you grown numb? Numb to it and its consequences for you personally or for those in your life? So it's been said better by others. But I think the. What I think we would all agree on is the presence of the fight against sin is evidence of the presence of the Spirit. And so if I'll say it again, the evidence of the fight against sin is evidence of the presence of the Spirit. And so one of the questions I would ask isn't are you sinning? It's are you going to war against your sin? Are you fighting against it? Of course you will lose battles, but are you interested in winning the war? Are you looking for freedom? Are you seeking out accountability? Are you confessing? Are you walking in repentance and just even gaining ground over the course of your life? Those are the things that I would want to see present and encourage any believer towards.
- [18:57]
B
That was so good that I'm wondering if you went out to AI and said in the voice of JT English, give me an alliterated. I'm just kidding. That was really good. So I think, you know, when anytime this conversation comes up, everybody's thinking about someone they know who maybe made a profession of faith and then continued in sin or is currently practicing their faith but also is continuing in sin. Like, I think a lot of times. Well, there are probably two kinds of people, but I think there are a lot of people who can make peace with their own ongoing battle with sin. They feel the assurance of the spirit. They know that they have to keep warring against sin. But there's someone they love, and they don't have access to that person's internal monologue. And so they're trying to figure out, is this person saved or not. And I think that's the pastoral question here that's really important for us to. To talk to. So I'd be curious, like, you guys are pastors. So if someone came to you and said, my husband, my child, my parent, you know, what would you say?
- [20:09]
A
Gosh, yeah, it is. When you. When you think about. In terms of another individual, it does add, like a complexity to it. I think about Hebrews 3:13, you know, exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And I do think that there is a. If this person is among a community of Christians, it changes the way that you have this conversation. You know, if somebody's dealing with an ongoing sin knowingly or unknowingly, and somebody wants to draw attention to that, the first question I'll ask is, like, do you have a reasonable sense that this person's a believer? Okay, if you do, great. Now we're in the world of exhortation, not more of a confrontational evangelism. So, like, I think that's a one distinction. It's like the believer needs to be. Receive the gospel for encouragement, but it also, the gospel comforts and it confronts. So it's like exhortation.
- [21:03]
B
Say what that conversation would sound like. Like, it would be this versus that.
- [21:07]
A
Okay, so if it was a believer inquiring about another believer, it was knowingly or unknowingly an ongoing sin. I would say your first order is a clear exhortation, a clear exhortation, which is to say, hey, I don't know if you know it or not, but there's this pattern of sin that you're engaged in, and it's offensive to God and it's going to create destruction in your life. It may already be doing so in ways I can't see or know, but it is going. If it's not already gonna, it is going to create destruction in your life. And even if it doesn't create felt destruction, it can. It will lead to destruction in you or somebody else around you or the world.
- [21:50]
B
And then by contrast, if it's an unbeliever or someone outside of a. Of a faith context. Is that how you'd say that? How would you advise them if they
- [22:01]
A
seem to be generally tender or generally tender towards spiritual conversation? Meaning there's a level of openness that they have asking, hey, I see you doing this, and I have every reason to believe that what you're doing is wrong. And it's not just injurious to you, though it is injurious to you, but that there's a holy God who you will one day have to give an account to. And this manner of living is reflective of the fact that at present you're not honoring him with your life. And I think that I know that leads to destruction if they're not open, like, meaning they're like more closed off to these things, so they're not more spiritually open. It's more of, hey, the way you're living is going to lead to destruction. And if you have the opportunity to speak into that or to ask questions, I think that's a great place to start. You know, I'll talk about how this works out in practice. I have a. You guys know that. And I think we all are in our own ways. But, like, we've. I've shared a little bit. Like, I'm. I have like an active work of local neighborhood outreach and evangelism. Some of the places I frequent, that's something I'm really, really passionate about. And so there are some of those folks who are really open to spiritual conversations. And I typically, at least conversationally, would be a little bit more tender with those folks. You know, they're open, they're seeking. Then I'll meet some knuckleheads in some of the places I frequent, and I'll have to just tell them, I think what you're doing is really stupid. It's a really stupid way to live. And I think, you know, it's stupid too.
- [23:39]
B
Yeah.
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A
And I really wonder how you think this is all going to work out for you.
- [23:44]
B
Okay, I have a follow up question, but I want to hear what JT has to say first. Do you have anything you would add
- [23:50]
C
to what Kyle said in addition to that? No, Wholeheartedly I will add this, but again, Kyle was getting at it there, I think. I don't want to speak just for myself here, but I think I can speak for all three of us when I say, when you call either yourself or others to repentance, there really is life on the other side of fighting against sin. So if you're in a current battle of, like, I'm not sure this fight is worth it, think back to a time when you already overcame something in your life and you're like, oh, my gosh, I'm so glad I'm free from that. The sin that's promising you life actually is leading to death. And when you go to war against it, or I love what Kyle just said there at the end, when you actually just kind of confront the reality of sin in somebody else's life, lovingly and in a neighborly way, of course, but also truthfully, what you're doing is you're offering them life on the other side of death. You're inviting them to follow, as you said Jen, at the beginning, the way of humanity, the way of being fully and truly human. So. So yeah, I was going to make a Ten Commandments comment there, but I'll leave that alone.
- [24:52]
B
Okay, here's my follow up question though, because I do think this is something that a lot of people are wrangling with. How often do I have that conversation with the same person? Do I keep repeating what I've already said? Do I find new ways to say the same thing? Do you see what I'm saying? Like, how do I think about how to interact with someone who is in ongoing unrepentant sin? How often do I say something? How often? So in other words, what's the trade off between words and relationship?
- [25:30]
C
I don't think there's a textbook answer for this. We used to talk about in care cases, once you've seen one, you've seen one. Every relationship here is a little bit different. This could be a parent to a child. Like if it's me to Thomas at 10 would be different than me to Thomas when he's 50. And it also depends on maybe what he's struggling with specifically. Not even just Thomas, but now we're talking maybe about a neighbor or a child to a parent. How often do I talk to my parents? So, like, I don't think there is a, you have this many times or this many weeks or this many months. This requires wisdom. This is not a if this, then that question. It's a, what kind of trust, authority relationship do I have with this person? Also on the other side of that coin, am I willing to spend those chips? I think what you don't want to do is just say, well, the expense of the relationship would just be too high. The relationship is actually something you might need to give up for the sake of calling somebody to repentance for the sake of their life and their wellbeing.
- [26:29]
B
Well, and I would caveat that by saying in cancel culture, be aware of your own propensity. Some of us err on the side of relationship and some of us err on the side of rules. And the way that you whether to have that conversation can be heavily informed by which you lean more, more heavily toward. If you use relationship as an excuse to never speak, that is not okay. And if you use rules and excuse to speak repeatedly and too much without love, then that is also not okay.
- [27:00]
C
I love that category of rules in relationship. It's good.
- [27:03]
A
I do. And I think that we also see this tension in the ministry of Jesus between warning and welcome. Right. He's going to say, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest. He's also going to tell the apostles when he sen them out, hey, if you go into a town and they don't receive you, shake the dust off your sandals, move on. He was will. Jesus was willing to risk. I'm using this kind of loosely in language with Jesus. He was willing to risk the rich young ruler walking away. Yeah, like to drive the point home for the rich young ruler, he had to be like, you know, like in that moment, Jesus demonstrated a willingness to confront that led to the rich young ruler going, okay, like, it's not for me.
- [27:43]
B
But he also, we can be certain he read the room. You know what I'm saying? We tend to be sort of meat fisted in the way that we walk into conversations or we never walk into the conversation at all. And Jesus read the room.
- [27:56]
A
Yeah. So let's talk a little bit just for some encouragement for a believer as we wrap this episode up. If a believer finds themselves struggling with the same sin repeatedly, jt, they come to you and they say, hey, I'm struggling with the same sin repeatedly. Maybe I'm not a Christian. What do you say to them?
- [28:14]
C
The first thing I would say is, I'm so thankful you're struggling. I'm so grateful that there is a struggle and a present fight. If you were to come into this conversation and say, I'm not struggling with sin, I'm just diving headlong into it. That's the real pastorally concerning question. So I think the first thing I want to do is acknowledge and honor and just encourage. Thank you for struggling. Thank you for fighting against. Thank you for coming to talking to me. That is evidence of the work of Christ and the work of the Spirit in your life.
- [28:40]
A
Jen.
- [28:40]
C
Of course I have more to say, but that's the first thing I would say.
- [28:42]
A
Jen, if they, if somebody comes to you says, hey, I'm really struggling with sin, what should I do?
- [28:47]
B
I would say, you've got to be in community with others, like, because a lot of times I think it is helpful to look back and see a time where the Lord has freed you from something else. But sometimes our memories get fuzzy on that. We need to know he's done it for another person or maybe a lot of other people. I mean, that's why things like AA exist. You know, I'm not saying necessarily go to aa, but find a place where there are other people who are moving forward in that same battle that you're fighting or people who are on the other side of it and can say, it really is better here. Because I think we have to help each other. We have to loan each other courage in the battle because you're not always going to have it. And I do think just a general reminder that, that you're not the first human. Right? Like, I think when we're dealing in particular with a sin, we're concealing, you know, because we think, oh, if I tell anyone this, that's it. To remember that your sins are not unique to you. There are a lot of other people who have dealt with this and. And so, like, feel the relief that you're not alone and also feel the exhortation that you can get through this. It might be slow, might your whole life. And I do think there are some sins that we will battle our entire lives that will feel like when we go to be with the Lord. Did I ever have any mastery over that? Because the longer you battle it, the more any given failure feels, you know, amplified, which is, praise God, that it feels that way. So I'm not by any means saying, get into community and all your problems will be solved. But I do think that we're not. Not in the same way. We talk all the time about the impact of individualism on, like, Bible reading or we know, discipleship. You are not meant to battle sin alone, period. So find other people who are on the same journey that you're on and move forward together.
- [30:56]
C
The last thing I would say is, again, that's so good, Jen. But maybe the bookend. My first comment. If I'm so glad you're struggling, I would say just keep fighting. I just hope if that's you today and you're fighting against something, you're struggling and the fight is worth it. Like I said, the presence of the fight is evidence of the spirit, but it's also just evidence to you that, that Christ is with you. He's in you. He's. He's doing a powerful work in you. He's not going to leave or forsake you. And, like, don't ever give up, keep fighting, keep going to war. Even if it means you're warring against sin as a 100-year-old dying in their bed. The fight against sin is worth it.
- [31:35]
B
That's right.
- [31:36]
A
Listen, this has been such a helpful discussion if you want to keep exploring this topic. We've covered various angles on the doctrine of sin and the archives of knowing Faith. If you want a narrative kind of analysis of like the story of sin's impact, I'd really encourage you. JT's chapter on the fall in his book Remember and Rehearse is really well done on just talking through the story of how sin enters the world and its impact on us and then what comes next. If you're looking for like a roadmap for Christian obedience, that's very simple that the church is a historically used. You should check out Jen's 10 words to live By. It is a great just roadmap for hey, this is what practical, ordinary Christian obedience can look like. And it's not complex or sophisticated. If you want more on the distinction between union with Christ and communion with God, positional and practical righteousness, you can go check out Home with God. And those are all great resources and
- [32:26]
B
I just think it'd be good if we took a moment to humanize this. Like we don't just write books about sin, we are battling sin ourselves. So I would ask jt, is there a besetting sin that you have to deal with with.
- [32:38]
C
Absolutely yes.
- [32:39]
B
Kyle, you got one?
- [32:41]
A
I can think of more than one.
- [32:43]
B
Yes. And me and, and I as well. And so we're never, the three of us are never going to come on a podcast and give you high minded advice about something that we ourselves are dealing with and expect to deal with for the rest of our lives. So even you know, like you can read a book, you want to know what's a gut punch to try to write a book on the ten Commandments when you're breaking the them, you know, I mean like it's bad and so just know that we never want to talk from a, from a high place
- [33:15]
C
to someone who say fight against sin. We're talking to ourselves too.
- [33:19]
B
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
- [33:20]
A
That's right. Hey, thank you for listening to the podcast today. Don't forget to check out our sponsors through our webpage link in the show notes or online at trainthechurch.com under the Knowing Faith podcast website page. We hope you enjoy the discussion. Grace and peace.