Defeating Sin

Posted by on May 2, 2011 | 1 comment

Josh’s message from last Sunday has really got me thinking. I’m a sucker for a good visual and I loved his chart on “practice” versus “position” (SEE HERE).

According to Scripture, we Christians are “positionally” righteous yet we are still sinful in our “practice”. However, our goal is to consistently be moving closer to practical righteousness.

This begs the questions, “Is it possible to defeat sin in our lives?” And if so, “How?”.

Regarding the first question, Jesus said to the lady caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more”. Also, Paul wrote to the Roman church “Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” And when we do sin, Paul wrote, “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

So if we can’t fully be delivered from sin in this life, it is clear that we should “resist the devil” with all our might.

So how so we resist? My answer goes back to Josh’s message about the Law. Scripture tells us that no one has ever kept the law perfectly. No matter how hard I try to obey the law, I succeed in one area only to fail in another.

But grace brings a new weapon to the fight against sin. Freedom. Because we are under grace and not under the law, we have forgiveness from past and future transgressions. This makes all the difference because this freedom gives me strength to stand up to sin.

What keeps you from stealing from your friend? It’s not that God said, do not steal. It’s because you love your friend and you don’t want to do anything to hurt them. The more we love the person, the less likely we are to hurt them.

That’s the key to overcoming sin. The more we love Christ, the less we will tolerate sin in our lives. And when we do sin, even sub-consciously, we are quick to repent and ask for forgiveness.

I can’t tell you how this truth has changed my life. It seems simple, but it’s super powerful. For me, it has been the key to a victorious life.

Jimi Williams
Worship Pastor, The Bridge

1 Comment

  1. Andrea | May 2, 2011 at 10:41 pm

    Wow Jimi, that is absolutely how we need to be seeing this. When we are so affected by grace that loving our brother is sweeter than holding any bitterness, rage, grudge against him, yes, because our Father loved him and died for him as for me. This is monumental, I think. This is something I talk with the little ones about, that because of Jesus, it makes no sense to fight over what color plate you eat at the dinner table. Because of Jesus, we can give generously and selflessly. It’s the sweetness of Jesus that we want our little ones to cling to. We can defeat sin by savoring Jesus. Thanks for that word, Jimi. Abso-posi-lutely!