SAVED—BUT STILL CARRYING RESIDUE

Learning to Walk by Faith and Live in the Victory Christ Already Won

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7

There is something that every born-again believer eventually discovers:

You can be genuinely saved and still have some things that need to come off of you.

When a person sincerely says “yes” to Jesus Christ—repents of sin, places faith in Him, and receives His gift of salvation—something miraculous happens.

They are born again.

They become a new creation.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17

But here is where many Christians become confused.

If I am a new creation, why do I still struggle with some old thoughts?

Why do certain temptations still bother me?

Why do I sometimes react the way I reacted before I was saved?

Why do I still become angry?

Why am I still wrestling with fear, jealousy, pride, unforgiveness, lust, bitterness, insecurity, impatience, selfishness, or habits that have followed me for years?

Because salvation is instantaneous, but sanctification is a process.

THERE MAY STILL BE SOME RESIDUE

Think about your life before Christ.

Some people come to Jesus after twenty years of living without Him.

Others after forty.

Others after sixty, seventy, or even eighty years.

During those years, habits were formed.

Thought patterns developed.

Wounds occurred.

Defense mechanisms were built.

Attitudes hardened.

Words became part of our vocabulary.

Relationships shaped us.

Disappointments affected us.

Sin left scars.

The world taught us how to think, react, fight, survive, protect ourselves, and get what we wanted.

Then one glorious day, Jesus saved us.

Our spiritual condition changed immediately.

Our eternal destination changed.

Our relationship with God changed.

Our sins were forgiven.

But there may still be residue from the life we lived before Christ.

That does not mean salvation failed.

It means God has begun a work in us that He intends to continue.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:6

God is not merely interested in getting us into Heaven.

He is also interested in getting more of Heaven into us.

GOD DOES THE CHANGING—BUT WE MUST YIELD

Could God instantly remove every undesirable habit, thought, tendency, memory, and weakness from us?

Certainly.

But Christian maturity is not God turning us into spiritual robots.

Throughout Scripture, God calls His people to surrender, obey, follow, put away, lay aside, resist, renew, reckon, mortify, and yield.

Paul wrote:

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God.” — Romans 6:13

There is that word:

Yield.

God supplies the grace.

God supplies the strength.

God supplies the Holy Spirit.

God supplies the Word.

God supplies the victory.

But we must willingly bring those areas of our lives to Him.

Some things we carried for years will have to be laid down deliberately.

“Lord, here is my temper.”

“Lord, here is my unforgiveness.”

“Lord, here is my pride.”

“Lord, here is this addiction.”

“Lord, here is this relationship.”

“Lord, here is my fear.”

“Lord, here is the way I talk.”

“Lord, here is the way I think.”

“Lord, here is the thing nobody else knows about.”

“Lord, here is another piece of the old me. I don't want it anymore.”

And we bring it to the Cross.

THE VICTORY HAS ALREADY BEEN WON

This is where Romans 8:2 becomes so powerful:

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” — Romans 8:2

Notice what Paul does not say.

He does not say that eventually Christ might make us free.

He says:

“Hath made me free.”

The victory was secured at Calvary.

Jesus did not merely die so that our sins could be forgiven. Through His death and resurrection, the dominion of sin over the believer was broken.

Romans 6:14 declares:

“For sin shall not have dominion over you.”

That does not mean Christians cannot sin.

It means sin no longer has the rightful authority to rule the Christian.

There is a tremendous difference.

Before Christ, sin was our master.

In Christ, we have a new Master.

And His name is Jesus.

DON'T LIVE “MISERABLY SAVED”

I once heard a pastor use a phrase that has stayed with me:

“Miserably saved.”

What a description.

Saved—but miserable.

Forgiven—but constantly defeated.

Born again—but continually living beneath the privileges Christ purchased at Calvary.

Going to Heaven—but allowing yesterday to make life miserable today.

There are Christians who know Jesus saved them from the penalty of sin but have never learned that through the Holy Spirit they can experience victory over sin's power.

So they spend years saying:

“That is just how I am.”

“I have always had a temper.”

“I have always worried.”

“My family has always been like this.”

“I can't forgive.”

“I can't change.”

“I've tried before.”

But Romans 8:2 says something greater than our past:

The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free.

Not free to live however we please.

Free to become what God intended us to be.

THIS IS WHERE FAITH ENTERS THE PICTURE

Our foundational Scripture says:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7

Sometimes what we see in ourselves does not yet look like what God says about us.

We see weakness.

God says grace.

We see failure.

God says get up.

We see an impossible habit.

God says freedom.

We see decades of baggage.

God sees a new creation being transformed into the image of His Son.

That is why we walk by faith.

Faith says:

“I may still be struggling, but struggling is not my identity.”

“I may have fallen, but I do not have to stay down.”

“I may still be carrying residue, but God is not finished with me.”

“I belong to Jesus Christ, and what He started in me, He is able to finish.”

JOB: WHEN GOD PREPARES THE PERSON

The book of Job gives us a powerful picture of what it means for a person to be brought through a process in which God exposes, refines, humbles, deepens, and prepares.

Job began as a man Scripture described as “perfect and upright” (Job 1:1), yet by the end of the book Job knew God at a depth he had not known before.

He said:

“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.” — Job 42:5

The trials did not mean Job belonged to God any less.

God was doing something deeper.

Sanctification carries the idea of being set apart for God.

And sometimes before God can use us in the manner He desires, He must deal with things inside us that would interfere with where He is taking us.

Not because He hates us.

Because He intends to use us.

“LORD, PREPARE ME TO BE A SANCTUARY”

Many of us have sung:

“Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary…”

Beautiful words.

But have we considered what we are asking?

“Lord, prepare me.”

Preparation can involve removing things.

Changing things.

Correcting things.

Exposing things.

Healing things.

Breaking things.

Teaching things.

And surrendering things.

We want the sanctuary.

But sometimes we resist the preparation.

We want the anointing.

But not the crushing.

We want God to use us.

But we do not want Him touching certain rooms in our hearts.

We want Jesus to be Savior while quietly reserving certain areas where we remain lord.

Eventually, however, every growing Christian reaches Gethsemane.

GETHSEMANE: WHERE MY WILL MEETS HIS

Jesus prayed:

“…nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” — Luke 22:42

There may be no greater prayer of surrender.

And sooner or later, every Christian must pray his or her own version of it.

“Lord, I want what You want more than I want what I want.”

That is where transformation accelerates.

That is where the old residue begins losing its grip.

That is where we stop negotiating with God.

That is where we stop defending what God is trying to remove.

That is where we stop saying:

“But this is who I am.”

And begin saying:

“Lord, make me who You created me to be.”

LET GO—AND LET GOD

Sanctification is not passive.

“Let go and let God” does not mean doing nothing.

It means ceasing our resistance to what God is doing.

It means surrendering our will.

Renewing our minds through His Word.

Walking in obedience.

Depending upon the Holy Spirit.

Confessing sin when we fall.

Forgiving when He tells us to forgive.

Walking away when He tells us to leave.

Standing when He tells us to stand.

Waiting when He tells us to wait.

And trusting Him when we cannot see what He is doing.

That is walking by faith and not by sight.

WHAT ARE YOU STILL CARRYING?

Perhaps this is the question we should leave with today:

What residue from your old life are you still carrying that Jesus has already given you the power to lay down?

Do not condemn yourself because you discovered something that still needs work.

Bring it to Jesus.

Do not hide it.

Do not excuse it.

Do not rename it.

Do not make peace with it.

Bring it to the Cross.

You may have carried it for thirty years.

Bring it.

You may have promised God a hundred times that you would change.

Bring it again.

You may be ashamed that you are still struggling with it.

Bring it anyway.

Because the same Jesus who saved you is the Jesus who sanctifies you.

The same Blood that washed away your sin has not lost its power.

The same Holy Spirit who came to dwell within you is able to empower you to walk differently.

And the same God who started the work has promised to continue it.

A PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Father, thank You for saving me through Jesus Christ. Thank You that I am not who I once was, and thank You that You are still working on who I am becoming.

Search me, Lord.

Show me every piece of residue from my old life that I am still carrying. Show me the habits, attitudes, wounds, desires, fears, relationships, thoughts, and behaviors that do not belong in the life You are preparing for Your glory.

I bring them to the Cross.

I cannot change myself through human strength, but I believe Your Holy Spirit can transform me.

Teach me to walk by faith and not by sight.

Let the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus operate freely in me. Teach me to live in the freedom Christ has already purchased.

Prepare me to be Your sanctuary.

Set me apart for Your purpose.

And when my will conflicts with Yours, give me the grace to say as Jesus said:

“Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

I surrender again.

In Jesus Christ's name,

Amen.

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You don't have to remain miserably saved.

Jesus did not save you merely so you could survive until Heaven.

He saved you to walk with Him in newness of life.

The residue may have accumulated over decades.

But never forget:

Calvary is greater than your past.

The Holy Spirit is stronger than your old nature.

And the God who saved you is not finished with you yet.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7

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