I can no more root out the evil qualities of my soul by any volition, resolution, or efforts of my own, than I can think the stone out of my body. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
It is hard, and for the unregenerate (whether professing Christ or not) it is impossible, to overcome self at any point. It is only possible for the self to be overcome by the work of the Spirit in the soul. He alone has the power to work His fruit in the soul and He can do that even when the self or the flesh opposes Him. It is popular in both secular society and Christendom to think of human beings as having flaws and with the proper information, pills, and self-effort to be able to change self and virtually anything we want. However, that is simply an illusion once one looks at the situation with Light. When people see a flaw (something they don’t like) in the mirror and they think that they can cure it with enough makeup, a plastic surgeon, diet, or perhaps exercise. The external self can be changed in many ways, but now people think that the same methods can be used to change who they are.
The only way for self to be changed is for self to die. Paul spoke like this in Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (2:20). Jesus spoke of this many times and in many ways, but especially when He taught that we must deny self and take up the cross to follow Him. It is not that Christianity teaches us that we must root out evil qualities of the soul by ourselves, but that we must die to self and bow to Christ and that the life of Christ in His people will root out those things by virtue of new life coming in and a continual dying to the old.
Instead of thinking of evil qualities in the soul, we must think of the soul as a nature of self and pride. The nature of the soul itself is evil rather than just having certain things about it that are evil. The soul, by nature sinful self, can have quality A that is bad but the only way the sinful self can change quality A is by another act of sinful self. A sinful self cannot just make a choice or an act to change itself, though it can change things it does by other sinful choices and acts. This is why people must be made new creatures in Christ. Sinners don’t just need some behavior modifications, they need new hearts. Sinners don’t just need some new morality, they need new hearts. Sinners don’t just need to be away from bad company, because their own heart is bad company and they must have new hearts to have good company.
People tend to think of diseases or various problems as beyond their thinking processes, so they resort to surgery. But the very nature of the soul is beyond both the thinking processes and of surgery. The soul is in the hands of God who alone can overcome the sinful nature and all that influences that sinful nature. The soul does not just need a little touching up here and there; it needs to be made brand new. It needs to be taken from what it is and made into something different. It needs to be taken from being evil by nature, dying to that nature of self-centeredness, and having a nature that can and does respond to the Holy Spirit who is good.
The believer, however, will often think that s/he can become better by reading or following a program of some sort. But the believer must realize that apart from Christ we can do nothing good (John 15). This is to say that it is not just a matter of choice or effort on the part of the believer, but anything good that the believer can do must come from Christ. Analogically speaking, as hard as it is for a believer to get rid of a kidney stone by simply thinking about it or making a resolution to have it gone, it is far harder (impossible) for a believe simply to become better by thinking about it and making a resolution about it. It is by grace alone that a believer can become holier and more like Christ, it cannot be done by the believer doing it of self.
It is true that this is very hard for proud self to hear and for the proud professor to hear, but to those who have fought against self in many ways for a long time, it is wonderful to hear. It is not by my efforts or works, but it is by grace alone that will do this in me. This is simply music to the ears of those who have battled sin for so long and have recognized how empty and helpless they really are. Christ alone saves sinners from the guilt of sin, but it is also true that Christ alone can save sinners from the power of sin and of sin itself. Grace, grace, glorious grace.
God Loves... Himself 
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