Paul Tripp's little devotional Whiter Than Snow [meditations on Psalm 51] continues to instruct and adjust my thinking when it comes to my sin. I could have quoted all of day 40, but I found this particularly insightful,"Here's the thing we all need to remember: sin isn't an event; no, it's a progressive movement of the heart that results in disobedient behavior."
This past Sunday, we looked at what it meant to apply the gospel to daily life and the first instruction in doing this was that the gospel reminds us of our ongoing need. The gospel shows us our need for help because there are still these progressive movements in our hearts towards sin. The Bible calls this movement, making provisions for the flesh. As Paul says in Romans 13:14 "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." [ESV]
To see victory in our battles against sin, we need to be aware of the ongoing battle of making these provisions for sin. The casual glance, the subtle remark, the angry thought, the little worry. Small justifications, small concessions for sin that if left unchecked will lead towards the agonizing pain of a hardened heart. This hardened heart then, will run after sin and in so doing bring harm upon our lives as we live lives outside of God's loving design for us.
But thanks be to God that Romans 13:14 gives us the solution, the remedy, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ" We do this as we acknowledge our need for Jesus' help and trusting His power to help us see the subtle movements towards sin and rest in the strength to move towards Him and not agony.
