每個基督徒都會有的掙扎
作者：JB Lim    中譯：以恩

我真是苦啊！誰能救我脫離這取死的身體呢？感謝神！靠著我們的主耶穌基督就能脫離了。這樣看來，我以內心順服神的律，我肉體卻順服罪的律了。（羅馬書7:24-25）

你可曾發現自己落在一種困境裡，你想做對的事做不出來，反而去做那些你明知道不對的事。在羅馬書第七章裡，保羅很透明地分享了他自己內裡的掙扎，這種掙扎正是基督徒時來必有的掙扎。這種掙扎便是出於被不對或不願做的事所吸引。所以保羅說："因為立志為善由得我，只是行出來由不得我。 19 故此，我所願意的善，我反不做；我所不願意的惡，我倒去做。（羅7:18b-19）"

為何在基督徒已經蒙了救贖，又被聖靈潔淨的情況下，依然繼續會有和罪搏鬥掙扎的經歷？那是因為只要我們活在世上，就要面對與罪和誘惑的戰爭。

這樣說吧：想像你生活在一個有許多不同區的城巿裡。裡面有商業區（你的工作），有圖書館（你的思想），有學校（你的學習），有住宅區（你的家庭和朋友），有娛樂區（你去消遣戲耍之處），有經濟區（你的理財之處），還有其他區代表你的愛情領域，你的自我形像和其他。在巿中心有一個巿政府，巿長管理著整個城巿。

再想像多一點，這個代表你生命的城巿正被一個名叫罪的巿長所控制，一個惡魔，敗壞的巿長，已經掌權許久。你可以感覺到罪的權勢影響著你生命城巿中的每一個區域。有一天，你選擇讓耶穌成為你生命城巿中的巿長，耶穌巿長進入巿政府及各部門正式掌權。祂開始計劃在要更新、復原、重建這個城巿，讓它變得富有光彩。不管怎樣，在耶穌巿長的計劃完全實施之前，這城巿的很多地區依然充滿了罪的影響。所以現在面臨的是一場耶穌和罪爭取城巿控制權之戰。

在你和神的關係增長時，才能讓耶穌贏得這城巿大部份的控制權，逐漸把罪趕離。這表示在你的生活中有一些部份依然是罪在掌權，罪和耶穌將會有一番爭戰。當你願意把你更多的生命交給耶穌時，耶穌就可以佔領更多的區域，你就會發現罪越來越不能影響你的生活。但是這種爭戰會持續下去，直到耶穌在我們的生命中完全去掉罪，也就是我們面見耶穌的那日。

在目前，這種爭戰對我們是有利的。把與罪的爭戰當作每天緊緊倚靠耶穌的功課。若是你在爭戰中失敗了，那是讓你體會到神無限恩慈、憐憫和赦免的機會。並且把這種爭戰視為一種機會，讓我們在自己的軟弱上可以看見神能力的彰顯。

不要放棄。正視你的掙扎，並且呼求神的幫助。祂絕不會讓你面對你所無法處理的局面。你可以向一些你相信並尊重的基督徒傾訴，請求他們的支持和代禱，因為一個人或許無法得勝，兩個人合力便可以防衛自己。感謝神，因為當我們到天上與主耶穌相會時，與罪的爭戰就會成為過去。

讚美神，我們和罪的爭戰何等真實，但是藉著耶穌基督，在最後你將能體會到最終的勝利。

The Struggle of Every Christian

Written by JB. Lim

Romans 7: 24-25 (NIV)
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Ever found yourself in this situation? You know the right things that you ought to do, but instead of doing those right things, you keep doing the wrong things that you know you shouldn't do. In Romans 7, Paul shares transparently about his own struggle, which is similar to the struggle that all Christians experience from time to time. That is: sometimes we gravitate toward what is wrong despite knowing what is right. Paul writes, "...For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing." (Romans 7:18b-19). It goes to show that sin is a real struggle for all of us.

Why is it that Christians experience a continuing struggle with sin even after having been saved and cleansed by the Holy Spirit? It's because for as long as we live on this earth, we are in a war against sin and temptation.

Think of it this way: imagine that your life is like a city with many different districts. There's the commercial district (your work), the library (your thought life), the schools (your studies), the residential districts (your family and friends), the entertainment district (what you do for fun), the financial district (how you manage your money), as well as other districts representing your love life, your self-image, and so on. In the heart of the city there is a city hall where the mayor governs the city.

Imagine further that this city that is your life has been occupied and controlled by Mayor Sin, an evil, corrupt mayor who has been in power for a long time. You've felt Sin's influence on every district in the city. One day you elect Jesus to be the new mayor of the city. Mayor Jesus enters the heart of the city, takes over city hall and assumes official control over the city. He puts in motion a plan to renew, restore, and rebuild the city, and to make it glorious again. However, in the meantime, until Mayor Jesus' plan is fully rolled out, there will remain parts of the city that are still heavily influenced by Sin. And now there's a war between Jesus the good new mayor and Sin who once controlled the city.

Growing in your relationship with God is about letting Jesus take over more and more areas of the city, gradually ousting out sin. That means that in certain areas of your life where sin has had especially great influence, there will be a big clash between Jesus and sin. As you give more of your life to Jesus, Jesus will take over more and more of the city and you'll feel the influence of sin less over time. But that struggle with sin will continue to some degree until Jesus puts an end to sin in your life once and for all on the day you see Jesus in heaven.

In the meantime, let's use the struggle to our advantage. See your struggle with sin as an opportunity to hang on desperately to Jesus every day. If you fail at any point in the struggle, see it as an opportunity to experience God's unlimited grace, mercy and forgiveness. And see the struggle as an opportunity for God's power to reveal itself in our weakness.

Don't give up. Be real with God about your struggle and ask Him for help. He will never let you go through what you cannot handle. Get with other Christians you trust and respect and ask for prayer and support, because though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. And thank God that when you go to heaven with Jesus the struggle with sin will be over once and for all.

Praise God! Our struggle with sin is real, but through Jesus Christ you will experience final victory over sin in the end.