Living as a saved sinner.

Living as a "saved sinner" is a life of friction. For even though I am saved, I am still a sinner. And even though I still sin, God has saved me. It gets confusing, right? Paul sums up the life of a "saved sinner" well in Romans 7:15 , " I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."

I become frustrated with myself when I see so much sin in my life. My desire is to know more about God and love Him more (by obeying Him and conforming to the likeness of His Son), but yet I keep on SINNING! It is disheartening to want something for your life, but see yourself acting in a completely different way. I am not trying to attain salvation/ right-standing with My Father through my works, I am trying to glorify Him in this world through my works, and yet I fail time and time again.

This is simply reality-- Even though I am saved and God sees me as pure and righteous because of Jesus' sacrifice for the world, I continue to sin. In my eyes, I am remarkably sinful, but in God's eyes I am remarkably pure and holy. So as I continue to sin for the rest of my life (and I most definitely will), I will not become insensitive towards it, because God still hates sin. Rather, my sin will remind me that  I have done nothing to deserve my salvation and I will praise God all the more for saving someone like me. My sin will no longer dishearten me, it will remind me of my God's goodness! For if I were the judge of my life, I would be deemed worthy of hell. But with God as the judge of my life, I am deemed worthy of the heavenly realms because of Jesus' perfect blood that has washed over me. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me...."

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 " I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me."