The second aspect of sin is the compulsion to sin that resides in our flesh. There is a law of sin that drives us to break God's laws. This inclination to sin is not the same as guilt, it is the tendency of our flesh to keep on sinning. It is the desire to sin.

The third aspect of sin is the actual presence of sin in us, the root cause of the desire to sin. Until the root cause is removed, the desire to sin will continue although it may be subdued and overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christian teaching is correct when it claims that Christ has done away with our sin when we receive the atonement by faith. But this statement needs to be qualified. Christ has done away with the first part, that is, with the guilt of our sin. But if we will be honest with ourselves we will recognize that the inclination and the basic cause are still present in us.

It is easy to see that if we say Christ has removed our sin and we can forget about sin, then the Judgment Seat of Christ holds no fear for the Christian. The Judgment Seat is a meaningless exercise as far as we are concerned.

But if it is true that Christ has removed only the guilt of our sin, and the removal of the inclination and the cause are a program that we must follow if we are to inherit the Kingdom of God, then Christian teaching is misleading to the point of being destructive of God's intention. If this is the case, we indeed, as did the Apostle Paul, have reason to tremble at the thought of the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. (II Corinthians 5:11—NIV)

The new covenant offers the believer a life without condemnation, without the guilt of sin. If we are willing to reckon that our old nature has been crucified with Christ on the cross, and that our new man has been resurrected with Christ and has ascended with Him to the right hand of the Father, and if we, holding fast by faith to this state of death and resurrection, then follow the Holy Spirit each day in putting to death the deeds of our sinful nature, we never again will be under condemnation.

If we each day are following the Holy Spirit rather than our sinful nature, then by the one offering of Jesus Christ we always are perfect in God's sight, the blood cleansing us from all sin. Even though there is much in our personality that is not acceptable in the Kingdom of God, we remain without condemnation.

Thus the guilt has been totally removed.

But now the work of salvation begins. The work of salvation includes the subjugation of the evil inclination in our personality, and finally, at the return of the Lord, the final removal of the cause of sin from us. The final removal from us of the cause of sin is the salvation reserved for the conclusion of the Church Age.

Who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:5—NIV)

To be continued.