On Fighting Sin, Part 1

I was re-reading a portion of The Prodigal God by Tim Keller, senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.  He writes a great paragraph that has a focusing effect as we begin another week of being incrementally transformed into the image of Christ, fighting sin and finding our delight in God.  He writes,

“All change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart. Faith in the gospel re-structures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting.”

If we really want to fight sin without constantly being in the “Give in, Repent, Repeat” cycle… we need a change of heart that comes from a deepening of our knowledge of what Christ’s salvation of His people actually accomplished.