How to Subdue Sin

God's Redemption Plan addresses Sin in three distinct steps.

1) Positional Sanctification - When God credits a lost individuals faith as righteousness, He transfers the individual's human spirit from being "in Adam" and into being "in Christ." Once put into Christ's spiritual body, the individual undergoes the washing of regeneration, resulting in the penalty of sin (separation from God and stored wrath for all the individuals errant thoughts and deeds (past, present and future) being removed. In this condition we still err and commit acts which if not washed with the blood of Christ, would result in wrath being stored against us. But since we have been set free from the penalty of sin, in God's eyes we do not sin, even though in our own eyes, we do.

2) Progressive Sanctification occurs during the period after we have been born anew, when as a new creation created for good works, we, with the tutelage of our indwelt Helper, grow more Christ-like, and serve as His ambassador with the ministry of reconciliation. Thus as we mature, the power of sin is progressively reduced in our lives and we earn rewards such that we may enter heaven "abundantly." However we do not ever reach the point where we never miss the mark, we are always striving for the perfection of Christ.

3) Ultimate Sanctification occurs when Christ returns and we meet Christ in the Air in our "glorified" bodies, free at last from the presence of sin in our spirit or body.