Humans have one BIG thing in common: we are all sinners. 

Romans 3:23 NLT: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” 

Romans 3:10 NASB: “There is none righteous, not even one” which is quoting from Psalm 14:3 and Psalm 51:3.

Sin always has consequences. Sin was introduced into the world when the first man Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. His disobedience set off a chain reaction of sin that his descendants inherited.

We commit willful sins when we know what we are doing is wrong – like evil speaking – but we choose to do it anyway. We can also sin in our minds, like having mean thoughts about others. Still further, there are sins we may not even realize we have committed, like accidentally hurting someone’s feelings. 

If we know sin brings unhappiness, why don’t we just stop sinning? Because from the moment we were born we inherited sin from Adam. Not only that, but Satan and his fallen angels make things worse by trying to tempt mankind to do things Satan’s evil way instead of God’s righteous way. 

So, if we can’t stop sinning, should we just give up? Never! When we sin, we feel further away from God, so we should try hard to do better each day and pray for forgiveness when we make mistakes, both from God and the people we hurt. 

There is a clever saying: you can’t stop birds from flying over your head, but you CAN stop them from making a nest in your hair. It sounds funny, but the lesson is good: sin is always around us, but that doesn’t mean we have to actively engage in it and let it take root in our thoughts and actions.

Our sinful situation makes us appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made by dying for all of mankind. His death paid a ransom for Adam’s sin, providing a future symbolic “covering” for all of resurrected humankind in God’s future kingdom. While under this covering, people will be given every opportunity to learn to live righteously WITHOUT Adam’s inherited sin and WITHOUT Satan’s evil influence. Each person will be responsible for their own actions – they won’t be able to blame Adam or others for their sins. (see Jeremiah 31:29) 

It’s easy to get discouraged sometimes, but God knows our low status and that we are trying to do our best. Psalm 103:14 NIV says it beautifully: “…for He knows how we are formed; He remembers that we are dust.” 

Faithful Christians now “abiding in Jesus” (John 15:7) are called “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Romans 6:3-9 explains that those baptized into Christ have been “buried” with him into death so that we walk in newness of life. “…our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with…” (verse 6). Just because we are “in Christ” unfortunately does not mean we don’t sin anymore and have no need of repentance. It is our “old creature” still sinning. We constantly have to fight to be faithful. We fight against our own natural desires, external temptations, keeping our emotions in check, dealing with the mundane issues of just housing and feeding ourselves and keeping a job and having to interact with other humans. Battling this dual nature is the struggle of each true Christian. And the battle continues until death. 

Additional Resource: 
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1324: “What Is the New Creation?”
The profound results of God creating something never seen before
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes