Several
years ago I taught a series of messages that dealt with questions that we all
have. To get these questions, I asked my then congregation to submit them to me
and I would do my best to answer them in a series of messages called “Life
Questions”.
The
first that I dealt with was how to get victory over sin in our lives. To that
end, I introduced the question with an illustration about a sign that was found
in west Texas with a ranchers name signed in blood red paint at the bottom
which read, “STOP. I know you're thinking about crossing this gate. What you
should know is that if the Coyotes, Cactus, Mesquite, Heat, Dust or Rattlers
don't get you, I will.”
That
sign reminds me of sin in our lives. No matter how hard we try sometimes to
avoid it; it just seems to always be there. With that in mind, there are really
only two kinds of people in this world spiritually speaking. There are those
who are saved and there are those who are not. I’ve referred to them before as
the “saints” and the “aints”. Yes, I know that it is grammatically incorrect,
but so is “yonder” and it’s in the Bible.
So,
whether you are a saved or unsaved, we all struggle with sin. We have a sin
problem as a matter of fact. For clarification, when I use the word “unsaved”,
I am referring to those who are spiritually lost by biblical definition. These
are they who have never submitted their lives to Christ.
Those
who are lost really have no power over sin in their lives. They are absolutely
helpless. Essentially, they have chosen to make this journey on their own
without the help of their Creator. Therefore, sin rules over them. Paul spoke
of this when he said, “Do you not know
that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves
whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to
righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)
Of
course, the opposite of unsaved is saved. So, the primary focus of what follows
is to those who have indeed given their lives to Christ and really do want to
get victory over sin in their lives. To that end, I will offer ten
solutions that I have found in Scripture. It is by no means exhaustive.
First,
to get victory over sin we must realize that sin is a common problem to each of
us. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that there
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. That simply
means that none of us are above it and are all tempted. As a matter of fact,
the Bible goes on to say that we are all tempted in the same way.
John
said in 1 John 2:15-17 that we are not to “love
the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that
is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust
of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
We
have all struggled with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, but Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:13b that “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it.
That
means that God is indeed faithful and will never allow us to be tempted so far
that we cannot resist it. In other words, He promises to always give us an out.
Unfortunately, that leaves us with only one conclusion and that is that there
is absolutely no excuse for our sin.
Oh,
we live in a culture that blames everything on something or someone else for
sure. No, what we have done is taken our sin and given it names and attributed
to diseases and other people. But in the end, sin is sin and the reason we commit
sin is because we are sinners. That’s why it is so condemning.
In
reality, we do have the ability to be sinless. I mean Paul did tell the
Galatians that if they walked in the Spirit they would “not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16) did he not? Truth
be told, if we all stayed in the Spirit 100% of the time we would not struggle
with sin, but alas, that is our problem.
Second, to get victory over
sin we must understand that the root of our problem is lust. James said in
James 1:14-16 that “each one is tempted when he is
drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it
gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not
be deceived, my beloved brethren.” He also said that we “lust and do not have” and “murder and covet and cannot obtain” (James
4:2a).
Radio
personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The
account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming,
self-destructive nature of sin. "First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade
with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood,
and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood.
"Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a
wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the
bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster,
more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare.
Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night.
So
great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the
razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize
the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm
blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead
in the snow!" It is a fearful thing that people can be "consumed by
their own lusts." Only God's grace keeps us from the wolf's fate.
Third, to get victory over sin
in our lives we must understand that our salvation did not get rid of the
problem. Paul speak to this in Romans 7:15-24 when he says, “For what I am
doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but
what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the
law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells
in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to
will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the
good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I
practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but
sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one
who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward
man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O
wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
So,
our sin problem will not go away until we are dead or until the Lord comes back.
We are all sinners saved by grace. In the meantime, we do need to learn how to
fight it and win. So, how do we fight it?
Fourth, to get victory over sin
in our lives we must consider ourselves dead men. Okay, what does that mean?
Paul said in Romans 6:11-14, “Likewise you also,
reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Paul
also said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me.”
And again in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.”
The
bottom line is that dead men do not get offended! Dead men do not gossip! Dead
men do not sin! Remember that, as far as God is concerned, we are physically dead
men and corpses don't give in to sin - they can't.
Fifth, if we want to get
victory over sin in our lives we must all Christ to take control of our minds.
Yes, you heard me. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not
war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but
mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every
high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish
all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
There
must be a determination on our part to serve the Lord. Paul said, “I thank God -- through Jesus Christ our
Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh
the law of sin” (Romans 7:25).
In
the end, we must allow the mind of the master to be the master of the mind if
we are to triumph over sin in our lives.
Sixth, we must believe what the
Bible says about forgivness. Again, Paul said “Do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Yes, the sins on this list
are vile, but no sin is beyond forgiveness.
John
said in 1 John 1:9-10 “If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. If we say that we have
not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
Believe
what the Bible says in regard to God's forgiveness. You see, the devil tries to
guilt us over our sin and attempts to push us away from God. Guilt is from the
devil and is a tool to push us away from God and His people. Conviction is from
God and is a tool to pull us to God and His people.
Seventh,
to get victory over sin we must occupy our minds with pure thoughts. That’s right.
Trash in is trash out. That’s what Paul meant with he said to the Philippians “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any
virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things”
(Philippians 4:8).
There
are so many things in the world in which we live that are warped. I mean everywhere
that we turn is filth. It comes in through the gates of our eyes and ears. It is
unavoidable, but we must make every effort to keep ourselves pure. We must take
care what we allow ourselves to see and hear. For most, it would be a
tremendous step if they just turned off the damned television.
Eighth,
if we want to get victory over sin in our lives we must know the Scriptures.
When Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4, he responded to each and every temptation
with the Scriptures. He did not hand out the philosophies of man by quoting Oprah
or Dr. Phil. Instead, he quoted Scripture in the face of the enemy.
An
encouragement that I give to those who are struggling with a particular
temptation in their lives is to memorize verses from the Bible that deal with
that particular sin, and when the Tempter comes to start quoting them to him
just as our Lord did during his time in the wilderness.
Ninth,
if we want to get victory over sin in our lives we must learn how to forget the
past. Paul said, “Brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before (Philippians
3:13). We have all messed up and we will again. We must learn how to accept God’s
forgiveness and move on. It’s like the old preacher said one time, “When the devil
reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.”
Tenth,
if we want to get victory over sin in our lives we must not live in denial. That’s
right. Denying who we really are by hiding behind others and excuses will not
work. John said in 1 John 1:8 “If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Again,
sin is an issue in all of our lives and will continue to be so until the day the
Lord takes us home but it is still inexcusable.
The
conclusion of the matter is simple. If you are not a Christian right now, do
something about it by coming to Christ just as you are and ask for the help
that only he can give. If you are a Christian and are struggling with sin,
don’t deny it. Repent, keep pressing forward, and remember the things that we have discussed. Blessings!
