Reason #7: Freedom From Sin's Power

Even as a redeemed person, the Apostle Paul was acutely aware of the sin still present in his life. Writing to the Romans he expresses his frustration:  "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.... So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. (Romans 7:15-23)" The very thought of this sin in his life causes him to cry out "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24)"  But Paul knew very well the answer to that question as he gives it in the very next sentence: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25)" Paul knew well that despite the ongoing battle with sin in his flesh, every one of his sins, past, present, and future, had been nailed to the cross and were counted no more. So while a conviction, awareness, and even grief over sin is a good and healthy thing in a Believers ongoing process of sanctification, it is the desire of Satan to weigh a Christian down with guilt over his or her sin.

"As long as I am stricken with the guilt of my sins, I will be captive to them, and will often find myself re-committing the very sins about which I feel the most guilty. The Devil is well aware of this fact; he knows that if he can keep me tormented by sin's guilt, he can dominate me with sin's power.


The gospel, however, slays sin at this root point and thereby nullifies sin's power over me. The forgiveness of God, made known to me through the gospel, liberates me from sin's power because it liberates me first from sin's guilt (Romans 6:14), and preaching such forgiveness to myself is a practical way of putting the gospel into operation as a nullifier of sins power in my life." -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.19

Paul goes on in Romans 8:1-3, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh." Preaching the gospel daily to myself is a way of reminding me, and causing me to cry out "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord, I am forgiven!"  And the result: "So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:12-13)" When I live in the freedom of God's forgiveness I have an increased desire and resolve, through the Holy Spirit who emboldens and empowers me, to put to death those sins that are still present.  Yet another great reason to preach the gospel daily to myself.