All of Grace in Modern English: With Scripture Texts from the English Standard Version (ESV)

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

In this chapter I have a few words to those who understand the way of justification by faith that is in Christ Jesus, but have trouble stopping their sinning. We can never be happy, at peace, or spiritually healthy until we become holy. We must be free from sin. But how does this freedom come about? For many, this is the life-or-death question. The old nature is very strong. They have tried to hold it back and tame it, but it will not be conquered. They find that though they are eager to be better, if anything they are growing worse than before. The heart is so hard, the will is so stubborn, the passions are so furious, the thoughts are so unpredictable, the imagination is so uncontrollable, the desires are so wild, that the person feels that they have a den of wild animals living inside of them, that would rather eat them up than be ruled by them. Our fallen nature seems to be like Leviathan, about whom the Lord said to Job, “Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?” A person might as well hope to hold the north wind in the hollow of their hand as expect to control by their own strength those wild powers that live within their fallen nature.