For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14, NIV)
I figured for the first post of 2007, I would try to be a bit less controversial than how we finished out 2006!  Actually, I have every intention of getting back to some of the great questions Gordon Cloud asked in the comment thread on the Maturity post, but something else has really pressed on my spirit today, and I want to talk about it. There is a false dichotomy in the minds of a lot of Christians regarding the existence of sin in the life of a confessing Christian. On one hand are those who say that a Christian is (or at least should be) completely and utterly sinless if they are truly in Christ. On the other hand are those who say that a Christian should expect not only to sin in their life, but to continue to struggle with sin, sometimes to the point of feeling despair. It would appear on the surface that these are the only two options, and since none of us really honestly claims to be perfect, then the correct answer must be the second one. Sin is here to stay in this lifetime, and there is no hope of freedom from it until we die. Well, as could probably be expected by the way I phrased the previous paragraph, I believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle. OK, so maybe this won’t be so uncontroversial after all, but try to hang with me before scrolling down to the comments section! I have a real problem with the “sin will always keep us trapped” teaching. And that problem is simply that I see something completely different in Scripture. For example, take a look at the verses I quoted above from Titus. I intentionally used the NIV here, even though my automatic Scripture reference linking plugin is set up (by me) to link to the NASB. I chose the NIV because I think it captures the bluntness of what Paul said to Titus in that passage. Paul tells Titus that “the grace of God…teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness….” The NASB says more formally that it “instruct[s] us to deny ungodliness”, which just doesn’t quite carry the same punch, in my opinion. To “deny ungodliness” sounds to me more like a refusal to acknowledge it (although I do recognize the meaning of the word “deny” is completely appropriate in context). The NIV says that we are able to say “No” to it. That’s powerful, in my opinion. You see, that removes a lot all of the excuses that we like to give for remaining in sin. The “just say ‘No’” slogan was used in an anti-drug campaign back in the Reagan presidency. The simplicity of the notion of just saying “No” was recognized by many. But the idea that we somehow have the power in and of ourselves misses the point. The source of the power comes not from our own endeavors, but from the grace of God within us. So, what does this mean for sin in the life of the believer? Quite honestly, I think it means that we have no excuse. Paul does not say that the grace only partially appeared. He does not say that this is part of some “already/not yet” tension within the kingdom of God. How can I say that so confidently? Well, look at the rest of the statement by Paul. The grace of God teaches us “to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope….” (emphasis mine) He does not say that this ability to live a righteous life will come after Jesus returns. But rather, in this present age, that grace gives us the power and ability to say “No” to ungodliness and live an upright, godly life. For many who believe that the life of sin and struggle with the same is simply “being real” and being honest, a key passage is Romans 7. Now, I will be the first to state that I do not have the complete answer as to the meaning of Romans 7, but the debate generally revolves around the question, “Is Paul describing a pre-conversion experience, or post-conversion experience?” Briefly put, I have seen two arguments in favor of Paul describing the present condition of a believer that bear any merit. - Paul speaks in the present tense
- Every Christian we know still sins from time to time
I can’t completely explain the use of the present tense, but I think there’s a lot to be said for what appears before and after Romans 7 (for those playing along at home, that would be more specifically Romans 6 and Romans 8!) Because in those chapters surrounding Romans 7, Paul also talks in the present tense about us being “freed from sin” (Romans 6:7), not being “in the flesh”, but being “in the Spirit” (Romans 8:9), etc. I think we err to dismiss the teaching of chapters 6 and 8 in favor of the argument for the present condition of a believer in chapter 7. And now, looking at the passage under consideration in Titus, we have Paul saying that the grace of God enables us to live a life that is pleasing to God in the here and now! Paul doesn’t go on and on in Titus about how he’s not really living there because some element of the kingdom hasn’t yet been fulfilled. Similarly, a well-known statement in 1 Corinthians 10:13 assures us that there is a “way of escape” from every temptation. Is there ever a point where we can say, “Oh, I’m still caught in this struggle with sin, so I just have to endure it”? I’m not convinced there is. So, what to do with the existence of sin in the life of a believer? Is there a balance to be found? Is there some “middle ground” between the two positions, as I stated at the start? I believe there is. I believe the middle ground is to acknowledge that we have everything available to us through Christ (i.e., the indwelling Holy Spirit) to live a life that is not characterized by sin. More specifically, I think we need to acknowledge that any detour from the path of righteousness into sin is not because something is yet to be fulfilled in the kingdom, but rather that we have not availed ourselves of the grace given to us. Do I claim to live a sinless life? No. I would be dishonest if I did. But I must place the blame for that sin squarely on myself. In a situation where I sin, I choose to sin. I choose to ignore the “way of escape”, and I choose not to say “No” to ungodliness. I have not allowed God’s grace to live through me and be my teacher in righteousness. To claim otherwise is to say that Christ has not done enough for me. Until next time, steve 
Original content by: http://www.theologicalmusingsblog.com/2007/01/02/just-say-no/.
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Scott Bartchy is a radical. He believes in a subversive system that embraces those on the fringes of our society and seeks to establish a new way of life that goes against the status quo.