This episode addresses the impasse that many believers discover in sanctification: they agree and delight with the Law of God in the inner man, but they're really not convinced that God's way is better. While many would give lip service to the Scriptural claim that sin leads to corruption (Gal 6:8), many are not really convinced. The apparent consequences of sin are ignored or considered tolerable. So unless God reveals that sowing to the flesh really does lead to corruption, we likely continue in sin. This dynamic is typical for every believer undergoing sanctification, and the answer to this predicament is the same as the psalmist in Psalm 119. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word." (Psalm 119:67) Affliction is the God-given means to destroy the self-delusions that sin is tolerable and/or that sin is without painful consequences. And, affliction is God's answer to the psalmist's prayer that his ways be established to keep God's statutes. (Psalm 119:5) The Holy Spirit, who always intercedes according to the perfect will of God, pleads the same petition, sometimes resulting in pain in the lives of believers. Is it possible that believers' lack of conviction that God's way is better, requiring affliction as the remedy, is the reason why Paul declared "we do not know how to pray as we ought..?" (Rom. 8:26)
