“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Rom. 6:12).
Every Christian should wrestle with the presence of sin in his life. I say “every” because there is no Christian who has ceased or will cease to sin in his life in this fallen world. Paul wrote, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Rom. 7:19). If the Apostle Paul said that about himself, then it is true for all of us. Our problem in continuing to commit certain sins is threefold.
When transgressions have laid siege to our lives and we are anemic in our response, we have failed to realize the serious nature of the sin, the ultimate goal of the sin, and God’s hatred of the sin. If we realized those factors, we would war against those sins with a terrifying hatred. The early 20th century evangelist Billy Sunday said it this way:
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“Listen, I’m against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot, I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist, I’ll butt it as long as I’ve got a head, and I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth. And when I’m old, fist-less, footless, and toothless, I’ll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition.”
He got that from Jesus in Matthew 5:29–30:
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Hell.”
That is what Jesus says about addressing our own personal sin. Here are three things we can do when sin lays siege in our lives.
1. Pray that the Holy Spirit would show you your sins
In recent months, I have realized the serious nature of a sin that occurred in my life for many months several years ago. I had so rationalized this activity that I did not even see it as a sin. Recently, the Lord has opened my eyes to see the heinous nature of what I was doing. The first step of going to war against such sins is to pray that the Holy Spirit would show us our sins. We become so accustomed to sins, especially in our secular hedonistic culture, that we regard them as normal behavior. Enter a period of serious prayer, asking the Father to reveal the sins that lie hidden in your heart, mind, and daily activity.
2. Realize the goal of Satan and sin
Second, realize the ultimate goal of sin in our lives and in our world. The goal of Satan and sin is to throw off the rule and reign of Christ in our lives and in this world. Whether you consider it to be a small sin or a great transgression, its desire is to snatch the crown from the head of Christ and spit in His face. That is the intention and the driving purpose of every sin in our lives. We read this in Psalm 2:2–3:
“The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’”
Our sin shouts at us, “Throw off Christ and His Word and join the rebellion of this world.”
3. Remember the holy hatred God has for sin
Third, realize the holy hatred God has for your sin. Proverbs 6 tells us,
“There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16–19).
Know this: When you are committing the sin, Jesus, who died to save you, who suffered the Almighty’s righteous judgment, that same Jesus loathes that sin with a holy hatred you cannot imagine and loves you with a perfect love that you cannot imagine.
Conclusion
Many Christians today rail against the secular and hedonistic culture in which we live. We say that we are in a war fighting for the soul of our culture. We remind each other that we battle against a transcendent evil force, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).
However, we don’t always apply that same verse to our own personal sins. We don’t always attack with the same energy against the power of Satan and evil in our individual lives. Even as a minister, I must not only preach about the sins of the hedonistic culture but also carry the battle to the evil dwelling in my own life. As the Holy Spirit shows us our sin, may we run to Christ and His Word, rejecting the rebellion of this world by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This article was first published in Tabletalk, the Bible study magazine of Ligonier Ministries. Find out more at TabletalkMagazine.com or subscribe today at GetTabletalk.com.
Rev. John P. Sartelle Sr. is senior pastor at Christ Covenant Reformed Church in Memphis, Tenn. He is author of What Christian Parents Should Know about Infant Baptism.
