Overcoming Sin
God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, so we know that this sin thing have to be pretty serious right? We know God sent Jesus to die on the cross so that people do not have to struggle with sin any longer. But as easy and simple as that may sound, we must first understand the heart of sin and all of its implications in order to overcome it. Unfortunately, many people are left in the dark when it comes to overcoming sin and therefore continue to live in and struggle with sin. So let's begin with the background of sin; sin entered the world with
Adam and Eve. They were deceived into eating the fruit from the
forbidden tree, but the important part of
this lesson here is not the fruit, but what it represents. Eve was deceived because of temptation. The enemy used something she “saw” to destroy
her.
Here are some things that we must realize about sin in order
to overcome sin:
1) It is our
own selfish desire and ambition that causes us to sin.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”;
for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He himself tempts anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away
by his own desires and enticed.” -James
1:14
Many people blame God for the chaos in the world today, but
since the fall, God has been pleading with His people to come to Him. (The best illustration I’ve seen of this was
a video of a woman at a dentist. After
questioning her about how she can believe in God with all the chaos in the
world, she then asked him, why she should believe in dentist with all the people
with crooked and imperfect teeth in the world. He responds, “They choose not to
go to the dentist.”) It is the same way with God. People choose not to go to Him. When we realize that it’s our own lust and
desire for more power that cause wars, money, greed, selfish ambitions, and
material things that cause us to be drawn away, then we can admit this and
begin a journey to drawing close to God.
The opposite of being drawn away is submitting to God. We are
told in James 4: 7-8 to “submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you. Draw nigh (close) to God, and He
will draw close to you.”
Realize that it is humankind fault for all the chaos in the
world today. God desires for none of
this to take place, but He has also given us free will. The world wants to take God out. We are living in a godless society. So
today, realize that it is up to you.
Choose this day whom you will serve? Why not serve the creator, rather
than His creations?
2) Sin
separates us from God and leads to death (covered in depth on last post)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 6:23
“..When desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” –James 1:15
Realize that sin can and often does lead to a physical death,
but it also leads to a spiritual death. When
we are bound by sin, we are not giving our all to God and walking in His
righteousness.
Personal experience:
There was one point in my life where I was partially serving Christ. God could not use me like this. I was more concerned about satisfying myself
more than Him. I fed my flesh daily
while my spirit was dying. It does not work like this. I repeat, IT CANNOT AND WILL NOT WORK! I was
in church every Sunday, but yet, my heart was not in Christ. I said I was living for Christ, yet my actions
and my heart was saying otherwise. It wasn’t
until I truly surrendered to Him that He began working in and through me. I began to see things differently. I allowed His Spirit to lead and guide
me. I saw things in a whole new light,
and even my desires changed. I must say
this though, this is a fight. EVERYDAY, you must pursue Christ. You must deny yourself, pick up your cross
(submit to God’s will for your life), and follow Him (striving to bring glory
to His name in everything you say and do).
3) We are not
meant to live in sin. Here the Good News:
Jesus came so that we can be free from sin. He overcame sin. Adam was the first man, and by Adam we all
died (spiritually), but Jesus is the second man, and we have life in Him (spiritually).
This is explained in 1 Corinthians 15: 21, “For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive.”
Many people have heard and believed the testimony of Jesus
Christ, but one common problem that people have is actually believing and
comprehending that Christ raised from the dead.
This is a very, very big problem.
The point of Jesus coming, dying, and raising from the dead was to
overcome sin. I Corinthians 15: 17, “And
if Christ be not raised, then your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” But this is not the case. He died, was buried, and rose on the 3rd
day just as the Word says. He have taken
the sins of the entire world on the cross with Him, and He is now seated at the
right hand of the Father. Until you
grasp this, you will have trouble struggling with sin. Here’s a question to
ponder: If overcoming sin was Jesus’s purpose of coming to earth, then why are
we Christians constantly defending and constantly living in sin? (It’s because
we aren’t believing and serving Him as we should. No one can make you go to the dentist, just
as no one can make you go to God.) If
you don’t know God in the pardon of your sin or maybe struggle with believing,
there is a prayer for you at the end of this post.
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life." -Romans 6: 3-4
4) Strengthen
your faith
You will need fellowship with other believers for
encouragement and even correction sometimes.
Yes, God will use others to chastise you. Any parent who loves his/her
child will discipline him/her. It's all in
love. God will chastise you. He will also use fellow believers/children of
God to help and encourage you. If you’ve ever heard the saying, iron sharpens iron,
then you are well on your way. It is a
biblical saying. God will use others
believers to sharpen you. This
is why it is important to get into a good church where you can learn and grow.
Not only do you need fellowship, but you need to stay in
constant prayer. We are told to pray
without ceasing. Prayer is your direct
connection to God. If you aren’t
praying, then it is impossible to receive from and have a relationship with
God. Imagine being in a relationship
with someone and not talking to them often! What type of relationship is that? Prayer brings you closer to God. You get to know Him more as you spend time
with Him in prayer.
Lastly, you will need to stay in His Word (The Bible). You need to ask Him to enlighten you as you
read His Word. It doesn’t matter if you’ve
gone through the entire Bible 30 times already, stay in it. It is God’s instruction on the way we should
live our lives as Christians. It will always be fresh and new because it is
a living book. You won’t understand it
in your natural (fleshly) mind so make sure you pray for God and ask God to
give you wisdom and revelation from His Word.
Ø These three
of these things, as described by my pastor, are the 3 pillars of faith. You must do all three in order to live a life
pleasing to God.
Prayer of salvation:
Lord, I’ve been struggling sin. I
know that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, so that I don’t have to struggle and
suffer any longer. I believe and confess
that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. Come into my heart, and be my Lord and
Savior. Forgive me of all of my sins and
have mercy upon me. Show me my purpose
in You, and I pray that you lead and guide me by Your Holy Spirit. I pray that you would help me and give me
power to overcome the sins that so easily distracts me from You and live a life
pleasing to You. I pray that you give me
revelation and illumination from Your Word and also godly friends and persons
to fellowship and grow with. In Your Son
Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, lie any longer therein." -Romans 6:1
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, lie any longer therein." -Romans 6:1
Comments
Post a Comment