Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we’ll wrestle with the sinful nature accident conundrum, which most of us struggle with.

In today’s scripture, Romans 7:19 (NLT), the Lord Apostle Paul confessed…
“I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

Consider…
Most of us can identify with the same sinful nature conundrum, that the Apostle Paul describes in today’s scripture. The more we try to live righteously, the more susceptible we are to sin.

Truth be told, many of us see our sin more clearly than we see our Savior. Like the David in (Psalms 51:3), we think more about what
we’ve done wrong, than how our faith in Jesus Christ has made us right. (Romans 3:22)

The fact is, all of us should admit, there’s a war going on. We’re told that in Galatians 5:17 (NLT), which explains…
The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

All of this leads me to believe, our sinful nature makes us accident prone. Let’s be honest, we’re all just a bunch of SAPs (Sinfully Accident Prone).

My initial instinct, is to blame my SAP nature on Adam, after all Romans 5:12 (NLT) acknowledges…
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Or I could blame my SAP nature on my parents, because Psalms 51:5 (NLT) testifies…
For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

But both of those excuses displace the blame for my choices. Sin is a personal choice. Romans 6:16 (NLT) explains…
Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

Notice, the verse says we’re slaves to whatever we choose to obey. 🤔

This implies our SAP nature is really an obedience choice. When I asked the Holy Spirit to explain, He walked me through the choices involved in a typical accident.

• Someone chose to do something
• Which made them choose to go somewhere and how to get there
• They also chose what time to leave and what route to take

All of those choices, created the circumstances for an accident to occur. Most people can look back on the choices made leading up to an accident and identify at least one choice that they could have made differently.

The Holy Spirit showed me, that just like accidents, sin begins with an initial choice. James 1:14‭-‬15 (NLT) explains…
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

He then reiterated, our sin problem isn’t because of our SAP nature, instead it’s due to our choice of accepting or rejecting God’s nurturing. 🤯 That sounds fancy, but it’s really basic. Think about a toddler. Parents help them make good choices. That can happen by leading them to the right choice initially, or redirecting them from the wrong one. In either scenario, the toddler’s decision making is being developed/nurtured by someone who knows what’s best for him/her.

In the same way, our Heavenly Father encourages us in Galatians 5:16 (NLT), to let the Holy Spirit’s nurture help us overcome our nature. It says…
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Continuing on the nurture versus nature, Colossians 3:10 (ERV) informs us that we’re growing in Christ…
Now you are wearing a new life, a life that is new every day. You are growing in your understanding of the one who made you. You are becoming more and more like him.

The Holy Spirit emphasized, we’re to…

• Wear Christ
• Grow in Him
• Become more like Him

That gave me the picture of parents who buy their growing children clothes that are too big for them in the moment, because they know they’ll grow into them eventually. Initially, the clothes are loose fitting, but as the child grows, the clothes don’t change, just the fit, because of the child’s growth.

The same thing is true spiritually. When we first come to Christ, He’s too big for our lives, and His righteous living fits loosely. Thus we struggle and stumble in sin. But, as we continue to grow in Christ, by heeding His word, which we learn by reading, His life becomes more snug around us. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, we begin to fit into the new person He planned for us to be.

Therein lies the key, to overcoming our SAP nature, we must grow in Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)

Romans 13:14 (NLT) tells us to…
Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

You see, we’re to clothe ourselves in Christ, because while He’s covering us, He’s also nurturing us. The more we focus on Him, the less we think about sin.

The reason focusing on Christ is so vital to our overcoming, is because despite our SAP nature, He has underwritten our eternal life insurance. John 3:16 (NLT) explains…
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says, we’re saved by believing in Him, not by independently overcoming sin.

Romans 3:20‭-‬22 (NLT) explains it well…
For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

Still, like the Apostle Paul, we wrestle with the war going on in us. In Romans 7:22‭-‬23 (ERV), he said…
In my mind I am happy with God’s law. But I see another law working in my body. That law makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and that law makes me its prisoner.

The Holy Spirit is emphasizing we are righteous because Christ has made us so. Accordingly, stop obsessing over sin, and keep progressing in Him!

Want to win the war over your SAP nature, clothe yourself in Christ’s nurture.

Today’s song is….
There’s A War Going On

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)