Our Chief Entangling Sin, part 2

“…let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a NASB)

Running the Race
Imagine that you are an Olympic distance runner and that your Christian life is the race. What are your “entangling sins?” What are the persistent sins that are like loops and loose cords dangling around your feet as you run life’s race? What are the sins that are virtually certain to trip you up and eventually to take you down—unless you intentionally lay them aside in obedience to Christ so that you can run well and finish well for the glory of God?

Each of us has some weakness. Everyone is different; yet everyone is much the same because we share a common, fallen nature. Every Christian has entangling sins and potentially entangling sins. Being honest about them is a must; we cannot think that we are the lone exception to a universal problem.

Galatians 5:19--6:3
In Galatians Paul teaches that the outworking of fallen human nature is evident by “the works of the flesh” (5:19-21), and that any who “do such things” (i.e., practice them as a way of life) “shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Then he describes what is produced in the lives of believers by the indwelling Holy Spirit, “the fruit of the Spirit” (5:22-23), and he speaks of our having “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (NKJV) at the time of his salvation experience (5:24). He then speaks of the necessity that all who are born of the Spirit must live being led by the Holy Spirit.

True Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and have consciously “crucified the flesh” with determination to obey the mind of the Holy Spirit. But something else is also true for born again people: Galatians 6:1 speaks of the possibility that a brother or sister in Christ may be “overtaken in a fault.” While true Christians are not ruled by sin, as before Christ entered their lives as Savior and Lord, we can be “overtaken in a fault;” we can be ensnared by our remaining sin.

These things are written so that a falsely professing person might know that he is not actually saved; sin is still his true master—such a person must flee to Christ in gospel obedience or perish in his sins. As well, the Apostle would have genuine Christians to possess a good assurance of their salvation as they observe the fruit of the Spirit being produced in their lives. But it is very important to observe that Paul wants the brother or sister who has been “caught in any trespass” (NASB), who has been ensnared by some sin, to know that he or she is not a lost cause—real and full restoration is to be desired and sought through freshly obedient faith and renewed repentance.