1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness".
I don't know about you but it seems that there have been sin issues in my life that I have struggled with to get past. I've heard them called strongholds. And it would seem that I would do well for a while and then I'd stumble, go to God, repent, do OK for a while, stumble, repeat cycle, etc.
I was reminded recently of a conversation with a friend who told me about his struggle to give up smoking. He had tried everything. The patch, nicorette gum, even hypnosis. Nothing worked. Then one day when he had about half a pack of cigarettes left (he was a 2 pack a day smoker) he put a cigarette in his mouth, was about to light it; instead, he threw the lighter, the cigarette, and the rest of the pack in the trash and never picked up a cigarette again. He said to me;
"Do you want to know what the difference was? The difference before was I hated what the cigarettes were doing to my health; I hated the fact that I was addicted. I also hated how much money I was wasting on this habit. BUT I DIDN'T HATE SMOKING. But on that one day when I put that last cigarette in my mouth, the idea that I would light it and inhale that smoke into my lungs, repulsed me. That's when I quit. I now hated smoking."
AS I reflect on that story it occurred to me that often that is the way I am with sin. I hate the fact that I failed. I hate the fact that I feel guilty. I may even hate what the sin is doing to me. BUT I DON'T HATE THE SIN! So when I would go to God and ask for forgiveness, I was asking him to forgive what I had done and (in the spirit of him cleansing me from all unrighteousness), ask him to help me not to do it again. But what I needed to do was to confess that I don't hate the sin the way he hates the sin and that in that area of my life, I still don't have the mind of Christ. And that I need him to remove that sinful nature and make me hate the sin the way he hates it.
When King David repented of his sin with Bathsheba, it wasn't enough for him to say to God, "I really messed up this time. Please forgive me". In Psalm 51: 5 he says, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me". He not only confessed the actual sin, (vs. 4) but he confessed that it was his sinful nature which he had since conception that caused him to commit the act. He also knows that he is completely helpless to deal with his own sinfulness. He needs God to remove it. Vs. 7, "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow"; and verse 10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me".
So instead of going to God and saying, "I'm sorry, I messed up again. Please help me not to mess up again"; maybe confessing, "Lord I keep messing up because I know that I am sinful by nature and I don't hate this sin the way you do." I do not subscribe to the prosperity, "name it and claim it" (Blab it and grab it) gospel. But God does promise that if we confess our sin, he will not only forgive us, but he will also purify us from all unrighteousness. It's fine to say, "Lord I am depending on you to keep your promise to purify me from all unrighteousness. Give me the mind of Christ and make me hate the sin the same way you hate the sin".
Sanctification is a lifelong process and we won't ever completely be free from sin as long as we live in this fleshly tent. But God is growing us up in him and day by day, he is making us more and more like his Son. So it is reasonable to expect that we can be free from these sin issues and them not always be a stronghold in our lives.
May you be richly blessed.
