Importance of Living in the Gospel

Have you ever sat down and tried to find sin and the effects of sin in your life? I have, and it can be a very sobering exercise. Sin is everywhere, standing boldly in the middle of the street, blocking every doorway, lurking around every corner.
It can be easy (sometimes) for us to recognize and avoid the sin that is waving a red flag in our face (No, I won’t take that opportunity to steal money from my boss. No thanks, I’m not going to sleep with that cute guy from work. Nah, I won’t run over that obnoxiously slow pedestrian jay walking in front of my car). But so often we are too busy rejoicing in our ‘victory’ over the obvious sins that we are unwittingly falling prey to the less obvious.
God is so faithful to never give us more than we can handle, and this includes allowing our sinful hearts to be revealed to us slowly rather than all at once. Sometimes one particular sin we have allowed to take up residence in our hearts is revealed to us (Wow, I am a hugely impatient person! I need to work to conquer this sin in my life). Other times, many of our sins are revealed to us at once.
Regardless of how our sin is revealed, there is only one way to vanquish it in our lives and that is through the gospel. Remember: sin only at the very end reveals itself as an outward, visible action. It always begins in the heart. The sin of sleeping with the cute guy from work began with the sins of pride, discontentment, lust, and covetousness, not to mention the sins of not glorifying God, not seeing God as supreme in your life, not relying on God as the only source of lasting joy, not being a good witness to the guy, not loving your neighbor as yourself, etc. The list goes on and on.
When looking at sin at its core, not in the outward result of the sin but at its root, we can become very discouraged. You thought you were dealing with one sin (fornication for the single or adultery for the married) but instead you find dozens of sins all leading up to the one. This finding can sink even the stoutest of heart into a depression. Sin is everywhere, in places we never expected to find it, in places we had never before noticed it. Before you know it, you can find yourself huddled in a corner with no idea of how to even begin to fight the sin you now see before you. You may be tempted to just give up.
Sisters, take comfort in the gospel. No matter what sin you see in your life, no matter how much sin you see in your life, know that Jesus has already paid for it! Jesus knew the wrath of God on the cross so that we could know the grace of God in our lives. We have been justified through the blood of Christ and no matter what sin we see in our lives, God sees the righteousness of Christ when He looks at us.
Take comfort in the Holy Spirit, in the Scriptures, in prayer. God has not left us to conquer sin on our own. He has given us three ‘tools’ to help us through our sanctification. Know that the Spirit daily gives us the strength and ability to fight our sin and become more holy. Know that Scriptures has given us everything we need to know pertaining to life and godliness. Know that we may come boldly before the throne of God in prayer in the name of Jesus.
Take comfort in the promises of God. Everyone that Christ has died for will be saved and nothing (not even you!) can change that. We have been given the ability to fight the sin in our lives knowing that it has already been conquered and paid for through Jesus’ death and resurrection.