Martha Olawale

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself, in my mind, am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin.” Romans 7:24-25

If we think of the Apostle Paul, our minds go to his direct encounter with Jesus and the years he spent planting Churches and ministering the gospel. He is our big brother and one worthy of emulation in every way. However, his humanity is evident in his letter to the Romans. In chapter 7, without referencing a particular sin, he explained his struggles navigating walking with God and being subject to his sinful nature. He said in verse 18, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

The belief that salvation terminates our default to be defiant to God, leads us down the path that separates us farther from the grace that exists through the continuous stream of atonement at Calvary. Being born again does not put us above the law; it awakens the nature of God in us. This nature convicts us to acknowledge and resist sin. We know what sin is because we know what righteousness is, and if you call the sinners' circle, Christians should be the first to fill the lot. More than anyone else, we know that without Christ, we are unworthy to be called saints.

As Christians, we walk in the freedom planted in grace. And while sin will always knock on our doors daily, we have the power through Christ for grace to answer in our stead. It does not mean we give kudos to our mistakes or pat ourselves on the back when we fall. Although we live as overcomers, in brokenness, we call sin by its name and subject it to the foot of the cross. We say no to it when it raises its ugly head because the nature of God in us convicts us.

To be authentically Christian means I am in every way human, faulty, broken, confused, sinful, prideful, and selfish. It means that although I live in the flesh, I do not walk by the flesh. I may fall a million times, but I will always rise and keep moving toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. To be authentically Christian does not erase my humanity; it simply means I am enveloped in the purity and perfection of my Savior.