A Dream about Killing Sin, Part 2

After writing my original post, I realized that the problem with saying we must 'be killing sin', is that it more often than not carries the idea of doing so in order to find acceptance with God. Rather, it should be that because we find acceptance with God, we can go on in killing sin. John Piper states that 'The only sin we can defeat is a forgiven sin' when he talks about how to go about it.  It seems that defeating sin can only come when we live out of a place of security in Abba.  If it's coming out of any other place it is most likely in order to achieve or receive something, i.e. self-righteousness.

So the question for me lies not in the 'how to' of combating some certain sin.  In my opinion, there has been an inordinate amount of Christian material written towards this end.  The question then, for me, is how do I find security before God.  This took me back to a quote I recently read by Tim Keller as he talked about marriage.

"To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us." 

It's my understanding that this security comes when we are fully known and truly loved.  This takes place only when we reveal the deep recesses of our minds, hearts and souls.  The fear he speaks of, however, is no small thing; that we would be fully known and not loved often paralyzes us from revealing much of anything to anyone.

The benefits of revealing our self to Abba are exponentially greater than our perceived risks.  That we could live without pretense, no longer would I feel the need to wear a mask around others.  What a relief!  I would no longer have to fake it.  I would be humbled by my complete and utter dependence upon His grace, rather than on my ability or performance.  I could live.  I could have life to the fullest, no longer hindered by my deep shame and sin.

John Donne seems to be wrestling with this in his poem 'A Hymn to God the Father'.

WILT Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done;	5
For I have more.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sins their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallow'd in a score?	10
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done;
For I have more.
I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by Thyself that at my death Thy Son	15
Shall shine as He shines now and heretofore:
And having done that, Thou hast done;
I fear no more.