If I were to ask you what you most look forward to when you get to heaven, what would you say? The typical answers, being reunited with loves ones who have passed on, having a fully restored and perfect body, or having no more pain and suffering are all understandable desires. Even things like getting to eat as much of whatever you want, riding some crazy awesome animal, or possibly doing supernatural things like flying or transporting somewhere are fun to think about. 

But rarely does the thought about the absence of sin enter our minds. What would it be like to never have to battle your sin nature again? To never be tempted or even want to do anything wrong. It’s not something I often think about, but maybe should. This is the idea of freedom, true freedom, from sin.

A popular narrative being parroted nowadays is the “you do you!” or “Be true to yourself” mantra. This sounds all well and good, except for the fact that we all are born sinful, fallen creatures, and if we recklessly follow what’s true to that nature we will find ourselves in a very disturbing and dangerous place. 

The prophet Jeremiah put it this way.

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Even the apostle Paul laments,

”And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.“ Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So what are we to do? Don’t worry, there’s hope. And that hope is Jesus. 

Paul goes on to say,

”Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

”And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.“

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.“

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

You see, the only way out from under the tyranny of our own sinful desires is the death of our fleshly nature and being reborn into the power of the Spirit of the Living God. 

But, if our fleshly nature is dead, why do we still struggle with it on a daily basis? It’s maddening. I kind of imagine the flesh as a zombie. Still following us around, moaning and stumbling on even though there’s no real life in it. 

I believe that the imagery that Paul is painting is about a power struggle. When he says that your flesh is dead, he doesn’t mean that it’s completely gone, but that its power over you has been broken. Before coming to Christ, a person has no ability to deny their fleshly desires. Sure, we can have discipline and willpower, but ultimately without God’s spirit, we are driven mercilessly by our own selfish desires. It really comes down to what you nourish. If you continue to feed your flesh, it will live. But, if the spirit is prioritized, the flesh will naturally die away.

The truth is, on this side of heaven, we will continually battle our fleshly nature. We will never be completely free from its influence until we are completely renewed when Jesus returns.

In heaven and on the new earth, our nature will be to despise sin and its effects. In our heavenly, restored bodies, to sin will actually go against our very nature. We will hate in heaven, but it will be a good hate; the hatred of sin.

Here on earth, still possessing a sin nature, however dead it might be, we still have the desires to do what goes against the new nature we have been given through the blood of Christ. We have two natures, completely opposed to one another, battling for supremacy over our lives. 

But, by the power of the Spirit of the living God, the flesh has lost its power. It can no longer command our allegiance nor demand obedience. It will cry for its desires to be met, but it must be ignored and rebuked. 

The flesh cannot be retrained nor tamed. It must die. It is a slow, drawn out strangulation over the course of our life, but the more we live by the Spirit, the less nourishment it receives, and the more it will die.

Only through the humble examination of our hearts, repentance of sin, and surrender to our Lord Jesus, can the freedom from sin be granted. And the more liberated we become, the more sin will lose its grip on our hearts. 

”Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.“

‭‭Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

”Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.“

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

”Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.“

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

-Jason