Why Does the Christian Life Seem So Hard?Намуна

It’s Not Me Anymore

I remember hearing a story about a married guy—we’ll call him Jack—who was a philanderer. When he became a Christian, he turned away from his adulterous lifestyle. Shortly after, he was away on a business trip, and in the hotel, a woman he’d previously had an affair with came up to him. He tried to politely walk away. The woman grew more insistent and said, “Jack, what are you doing? Come on, it’s me! It’s me!” He replied, “I know. But it’s not me anymore.”

That’s a great picture of what is going on in Paul’s heart here. He knows that in Christ, he has ultimate victory. Jesus had declared, “It is finished,” over Paul’s salvation, paying the full price for his sin on the cross and overcoming all its powers in the resurrection. Understanding that reality didn’t remove the fight, it changed Paul’s disposition in the fight. He says, in essence, I know my sinful cravings are not the true “me” anymore. It’s the old me, the dead me—not the renewed me in Christ.

In Christ, we are new creations. While we still possess the old flesh, with all its sinful attractions, inside is a new us, renewed in Christ.

So, although we might lament with Paul, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” we don’t land there. Instead, we can immediately rejoice in the answer: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Quote for Reflection:

Abolitionist and pastor John Newton knew that our struggle against sin can drive us into a deeper appreciation for God’s mercy. Read the lyrics to his song, “Amazing Grace,” and make them your prayer today:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed