Let your sins be strong

There are times when I find myself falling into sin over and over again, as a dog returns to its own vomit. These are the times I turn to 1 John for comfort and assurance:

If I say that I have no sin, I deceive myself, and the truth is not in me. But if I confess my sins, He is faithful and just to forgive me my sins, and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8,9).

I feel acutely what Paul describes in Romans 7:

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Rom 7:15)

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom 7:22-24)

I reflected in two previous posts here and here that in my experience, God sometimes allows us to be sorely tempted and fall into sin, in order to humble us. Little did I realize until recently that the Westminster Confession of Faith affirms this as part of Christian experience, with Biblical proofs.

The most wise, righteous, and gracious God does oftentimes leave, for a season, His own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.
(WCF Chapter V Part V)

"Let your sins be strong"

Martin Luther, in a well known letter to Melanchthon, made these amazing statements:

If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2 Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

At first glance, one might think that Luther was advocating antinomianism! In fact, that is what he was accused of doing by many of his enemies when they found this letter.

Other commentators who know Luther better have said that he was using hyperbole, which he often did. I tend to agree with the latter group.

I think I understand what Luther was trying to say.

You see, there have been many times when I have started to go down the path of beginning to rejoice in my own little victories over sin and my worthless, beggarly attempts to live a life pleasing to God. My unspeakable sins against God, the sins for which Christ died, begin to take on an almost imaginary character, mere abstract concepts, an intellectual assent that they displease God, rather than being seen as real, horrifying sins against God's divine majesty. I begin to trust in the process of my own sanctification rather than in the righteousness of Christ in which I must be covered if I am to stand justified in the day of judgement. How soon I forget that "all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags; I fade like a leaf and my iniquities, like the wind, take me away." (Isa 64:6)

Or, as Paul puts it:

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Gal 3:3)

Luther was warning Melanchthon (and me) to never ever start downplaying the strength and evil of sin. Our sins are real, not imaginary, and they are far worse than we can ever conceive or appreciate them to be. The Gospel is not about an imaginary mercy exercised for imaginary sins. The Gospel is about a real mercy purchased by Christ to pay for the worst possible sins.

The truth of the matter is that Christ came into the world to save sinners, and (although justified) we remain sinners until we are glorified. Let's never forget that, and downplay the sins in our lives as imaginary sins. We still sin REAL sins every day (!) and were it not for the longsuffering goodness of our loving God, and His faithfulness towards us, we would ever remain in danger of deservedly being swept into an eternal hell.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lam 3:21-23)

Luther was not telling Melanchthon: "Go ahead and sin - and make sure you enjoy it." He was telling Melanchthon: "Sin is real, and it's worse than you think. Acknowledge your sin boldly, and its sinfulness. It's not imaginary. But Christ is stronger than the sin you commit every day, and His mercy is a real mercy that is able to wipe away all your sin. So rejoice in this!"

It certainly doesn't mean we should then sit back and enjoy our sins when God withdraws His restraining grace on us. No, we must continue to struggle against sin, humbled by our weakness and corrupt human frailty, drawing ever closer to God in dependence upon Him for strength and support, and becoming ever more watchful against future occasions of sin.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!