Sin and Death

​Christ says we are his body now that he has redeemed us from sin and death.  He gave the ultimate and final sacrifice, his human life, to overcome our own frailty, human sin and eternal death.  We are not reprimanded to an eternal death any longer.  Christ has provided us with a road to eternal life.  His one act of sacrifice has opened the door for us to enter eternal life.  This was a gratuitous gift and he implies that we received it without any corresponding action on our part.  Yet we must have faith in the gift giver and trust that what he commands is the truth.  Faith is a grace of God. It is free to the one who wants to receive it.  It is an animated incorporeal.  Faith is also an action on our part too. Faith does not just happen within the human mind.  It is an acquired yearning.  And we must work real hard to retain our faith of Christ once acquired.  So death is conquered but humans must play a part for the spoils.  Paul says sin was vanquished once and for all at Christ’s death yet sin still exists in the world.  Why is that? How can Christ conquer sin and death yet sin and eternal death still remain within the kingdom of God on earth?  Has the kingdom of God been created on earth or has only the cornerstone been laid?  Are we the kingdom dwellers?  If, so, we are the labors too.  God through Christ has provided us with the materials and tools to overcome sin, yet we still sin.  God has placed a consequent demand on us in order to receive everlasting life.  We must follow His commands, i.e., avoidance of sin.  So when Paul says that sin has been conquered, he means that sin no longer controls your life automatically and perpetually. But we still sin?  Why is that, if it has been conquered?  We who seek to refrain from sin are the laborers within the kingdom of God on earth today.  We labor for the desire to follow Christ.  All things desired can be acquired.  We can desire sinlessness and remain sinless only through the perpetual presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Because we are humans, eternal retention of the Holy Spirit is an impossible task.  We lower of defenses, let down our guard, temporarily relinquish our faith and the Holy Spirt flees from us.  Then we sin. We easily let natural desires overcome divine human existence and structure.  But luckily, the final sacrifice also has provided us with a mechanism to rid ourselves of sin, confession. Once we finally decide to banish sin from our lives forever and grab hold of the Holy Spirit and not let go of the salvation Christ has gracious given us through His sacrifice, eternal life is our reward.