Ron Davis | CORE Founder

Does my sinfulness invalidate my justification? This is a common question for the believer, and it is also a source of religious doubt for many. If you find yourself asking this question, you are in the company of others who have asked,  “How can a true follower of Christ who wants to love Jesus with all their heart, soul, and mind be even reasonably involved with such filth? It seems almost impossible.” I would like to answer this question by looking at a verse in Romans that is, many times, incorrectly interpreted and applied, Romans 6:23.

In this chapter, Paul is dealing heavily with the concepts of grace and how freedom in Christ affects our relationship with sin and the amazing grace of God. When he gets to what we now have labeled as Romans 6:23, he is not making a declaration about our eternal dwelling place but, rather, he is indicating the ramifications we face in relation to how we live our lives as a believer: we will experience the payment for sin, death/destruction; or we will experience the gift of God, eternal life (the blessings of God upon the believer now, i.e., this is more of a statement of quality of life than eternal destiny). Therefore, it would be good to think of this verse as clarifying how sin affects the “wages” of the believer: 1) death wages from sinfulness; or 2) life wages from obedience.

This evaluation and explanation is based upon the context of the passage. Paul is most definitely writing to believers here and answering the questions he posed twice in the chapter: “Should we sin that grace may abound? Absolutely not (may it never be, God forbid)!” (Romans 6:1, 15). Have you ever thought about why Paul asked this question? The answer: grace can be misunderstood and abused. Concerning this passed, the great preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones states, “There is this kind of dangerous element bout the true presentation of the doctrine of salvation” ( Romans: The New Man, An Exposition of Chapter 6, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973, 8-9). MLJ understood what Paul did — and what we should: grace can be abused, taken advantage of, leveraged for sin because of our freedom to chose in Christ. This is why Paul asks these questions and then quickly states: “Absolutely not!” Although we have the freedom to chose to sin and allow grace to abound, it should not be the choice we make as believers. Why? There are death wages that come from these choices, and the wages go far beyond our own personal lives. It affects our ability to embrace the freedom in Christ over of the bondage of sin and also show others the beautiful implications of the gospel! The bottom line: as followers of Christ, we have a choice: sin or obedience…and we will receive either death wages or life wages as the result of our choices.

So…does your sinfulness invalidate your justification? Simply stated, no. It is the evidence of the old man that lives in you, and you have a choice to make: sin or obedience. As you continually engage Scripture, submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and obey what God is leading you to do, you will begin to cash in on life wages that bring peace, stability, victory and confidence in your faith. You are justified, not because you have been made righteous but because you have been declared righteous. Justification does not bring about a perpetually perfect individual. It changes your position with God because of what Christ has done, and it is the “new creation” you are in Christ that gives you the foundation by which to become victorious over the continual bondage to sin.

My advice is two-fold: 1) you need to continually engage Scripture; and 2) you need to listen to God and obey. You will not be able to control your temptations, but you will be able to control your actions. In the midst of your temptation, listen to God…he is speaking to you — be obedient. If you fail, know that his grace will abound, but also know that death wages will be paid. This is why engaging Scripture is so important, and it is why we have developed the CORE Journal method — biblical engagement is the key to long term obedience and life wages. For instance, those who engage Scripture at least four times a week are 407% more likely to memorize Scripture, 228% morel likely to share their faith, and 59% less likely to look at pornography. Wow! That is a truly amazing statistic ( link to article ). You do not have to engage this journaling method, but I advise you to find a method that works for you. 

Sustained victory is around the corner. You must make the daily choices that will bring about the kind of victory that you so desire. Your faith is secure in Christ, and the grace of God has not only saved you, it will also grow you!