I’m discouraged by my persistent struggle with sin. How do I find hope?

Sin is a real enemy, isn’t it? But I’m encouraged that this person is struggling with it because it’s not a given that any of us would struggle against sin. To struggle is to be in the battle, in the right battle. But this person is finding just how strong of an enemy sin can be. And for any Christian struggling against sin, we know from experience that we don’t always make quick progress, and that can be discouraging certainly. We might really be struggling hard, doing all that we know to do, yet still sin persists. If you recall Psalm 51, the context of it is that King David writes after Nathan confronts him about his vile sin against Bathsheba. And David is guilty and he knows it and he says this: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” My sin is ever before me. It’s hard to get ahead of sin when it’s always before you. And persistent sin feels like that. And you get discouraged. My sin is ever before me, how can I get away from it, how can I overcome it, how can I defeat it? It’s always before me. Which brings us to our question: How do you find hope? Let’s go back to how King David started that psalm. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

Here is hope. The hope is not in ourselves. If you are struggling with persistent sin, put your hope in God’s mercy for you. Find hope that his love for you is unfailing, that his compassion for you is great. And that he—and this is important—that he will blot out your transgressions, that he washes all of your iniquity and cleanses you from your sin.  Well, how does he do it? How can we know that for sure? Can we be confident of that?I will let the apostle Paul answer that, because he, like you, was aware of his sinfulness. In Romans 7:24, he cries, “Wretched man that 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!” And there’s our answer: God delivers wretched people through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus, the image of the invisible God, who lived and ministered the truths King David spoke about. In the gospels we have inherited these stories that show time and time again that Jesus is merciful, that he has love that never fails, how he showed great compassion over and over again, how he blotted out guilty people’s transgressions and restored them to himself. We see Jesus forgives sinners. We see Jesus die for sinners.

And notice too how Paul started the answer to his question. He said, Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? He says, Thanks be to God. He gives thanks. He’s grateful for Jesus. There is an answer to his question, and it’s the answer I want you to focus on. With gratitude. Thanks be to God that he delivers me through Jesus.

Practice gratitude for what God has done for you in Christ. Your persistent sin is forgiven. Your hope is in God’s mercy. And so keep struggling against your sin. Do whatever you can, every day—confess it to God, confess it to one or two trusted individuals, get their help, get their prayers, pray for yourself. But do all this from a secure place of knowing your sins are forgiven. That you have a Savior who will deliver you from this body of death. And one day that struggle will be over, and there will be no sin, just perfect love and perfect enjoyment of what God has won for you in Christ—perfect fellowship and communion with God and with other believers. Keep that hope in view. Call it to mind when you’re discouraged. Preach it to yourself: This struggle against my sin is real, but God forgives me, and one day my battle with sin will be over. For today, God, help me fight it another day. In your mercy, help me fight it hard today. But thank you, thank you that this sin doesn’t define me. It won’t always be with me. Thank you that until that day, I have your Spirit who gives me power to fight. And if I fail, I thank you that I don’t have to question where I stand with you because of what you have already done and made true about me in Christ. Thank you for the security of your love. I receive it.”

And one more comment. I want to turn this word persistent on its head. I’m going to extend the apostle Paul’s logic in Romans 8 when he says that he is convinced, convinced, “that neither death nor life, angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is a persistent, overcoming love. So where sin is persistent, our Jesus is more so. When sin is persistent, Jesus’s love will not stop. He will persist in remaking you. He will prove to be doggedly more persistent than your sin. He is the most persistent person in the universe and he will have his way with you, and his ways are good, they’re for your good, and he will prevail over your sin. So every day, look to the one who has loved you and loves you with a persistent love. He is not giving up on you, and he never will.