Toward the end of his life the apostle Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15). It seems shocking to think of the apostle describing himself that way, and some would even call it false humility. But he was dead serious.

When we first come to Christ, most of us need no convincing that we have committed sins. However, we usually have little understanding of what it really means to be a sinner by nature. We have only begun to see our desperate need for a Savior—not only from the just punishment for our sins, but for One who would save us from ourselves. Over time He allows us to see more and more into our hearts. He progressively opens our eyes to see new areas where we have not yet learned to trust Him. He allows us to discover that our hearts really are wicked and deceitful when left to themselves. And He allows us to discover by experience the truth that apart from Him we really can do nothing. But none of this is meant to drive us to despair, nor for the purpose of condemning: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). He shows us the truth about ourselves so that we will learn to live dependently upon Him for the life that only He can live!

This is why an understanding of the unconditional love and acceptance of God in Jesus Christ is absolutely essential for growing in grace. Apart from an assurance of His grace and acceptance, we could not bear up under this self-discovery. It is not always pleasant to learn the truth about ourselves, but the Lord’s mercy is always there, giving us hope and reassuring us of His love. We can be thankful that we are abiding in a Person who is full of grace as well as truth!

There is a pattern of growth in believers—especially those who come to Christ as adults—that is so common as to be almost monotonous. When we are first born again, there is an incredible sense of peace and well-being. We have just gone from darkness to light, and believe me, we know the difference! There is a sort of “honeymoon period,” where the Christian life seems easy. It is easy; we are Christ-conscious instead of self-conscious, and we discover new thoughts and habits becoming part of our lives without laboring. However, we also discover some other things. We find that there are still sins we can’t seem to shake. That’s why the common questions are; “If I am a new creature in Christ, why do I still sin? Why do I still have temptations? Why do I still fall into sins that I want to be free from?”

The Bible teaches, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But we need to understand not only what that means, but also what it doesn’t mean. In Christ the Christian has been raised up with Him to new life; he has been given a new identity; he has received the indwelling Holy Spirit, who renews his mind according to God’s truth; his citizenship is now in heaven, and he has become an alien in this world; his spirit now cries “Abba, Father” as a beloved child of God. However, even though he has become a new man spiritually, he still lives in the old man’s body, indwelt by sin. He still has the old man’s thinking patterns, the old memories, and the old habits. He still lives in a world that stands diametrically opposed to the truth of God. He still tends to believe error until his mind has been renewed by truth from God’s Word.

The truth regarding indwelling sin is rather strong medicine; it is not easy to take. Therefore it is good at this point to remember that truth is not always pleasant to hear, but truth will set you free! And one of the primary truths we must come to in our Christian lives is the truth about ourselves. We will never be able to live the Christian life on our own. Our flesh does not improve over time; in fact, it gets worse as it receives more programming from the world. How long will this conflict take place within us? As long as we live in these unredeemed bodies! You and I will not be free from the influence of sin in our flesh until the Lord Jesus returns and gives us new bodies to go with the new identities we have received—but in the meantime we can grow in grace!

You grow in grace as you focus on what God is doing in the midst of what you are doing. To engage in prolonged self-analysis is not the answer. You’ll find that man is like an onion: You can peel off layer and layer endlessly, without ever finding a core. The answer is not in ourselves; the answer is found in looking to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ!

One of the most concise biblical presentations of God’s answer to the conflict is found in Galatians 5:16: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (NASB). Notice first what this verse does not say. It does not say, “If you clean up the flesh, you will become spiritual”. You could work your whole life long and never get the flesh cleaned up. You might be able to restrain your external behavior, but God is looking at your heart. Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15;19). Therefore it is an exercise in futility to dedicate oneself to “cleaning up the flesh” in the hopes of becoming spiritual. This is exactly what the Galatians were trying to do, and that is why Paul exclaimed, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Galatians 3:3). The attempt to attain spirituality through self-effort is dedication to an impossible task.

When we face the truth that we can choose to walk in dependence on the Lord or walk independently, we can look at our reactions to circumstances in a new light. We now see that circumstances do not cause our spirit; they only reveal it. External events do not put sin into me; they draw fleshly reactions out of me. Therefore God often uses circumstances of life to show us where we are walking at a point in time, and as reminders to return to dependency upon Him.

As long as we live in this world, sin lives in us and is capable of coming to the surface, but that is not who we are. We are beloved, forgiven, acceptable children of God. And when we do blow it, we have the freedom to turn back to truth and walk in dependency upon the Spirit of God who indwells us.

As we gain a clear-sighted, true understanding of ourselves up against the perfect righteousness of Christ, we see that we all fall miles short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It is a natural response: The more clearly we see the righteousness of God, the more we see our own sinfulness in reflection. But when we have an understanding of our identity in Christ and of His acceptance of us, this discovery does not bury us. It causes us to give humble thanks for the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior and deepens our understanding of our need to live dependently on Him. From that thankfulness we grow to love Him more and to know Him more intimately. We continue to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” as we abide in Him who is full of grace and truth.

Excerpted from GRACE STORIES by BOB GEORGE. Copyright © 2000 by Harvest House Publishers. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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