The Body of Christ: If Your Not Fighting Sin, Your Living It.
The war on sin is a necessary part of Faith in Jesus Christ. We would not even have the sight to recognize sin or the knowledge of sin if it wasn't for God. We would be unable to resist sin and would forever be dead in sin and slaves to sin if it wasn't for God. Therefore the fight of sin, is a result of someone who has recognized and acknowledged their sins and have been given the ability to resist sin and are free from its slavery. If you truly love God, you WILL fight your sin. Here we list 10 things that are important to fighting sin in your life!
"If you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
By the Spirit we CAN and WILL put to death the deeds of sin.
"Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry."
Our worldly nature is self idolatry that comes out as all kinds of things. What ever we can invent and make an idol for ourselves. Again and again we are told by God, through The Holy Spirit who used men to pencil His words to "put to death" our sin.
"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
Because of our genuine and saving Faith in the power, person, and work of Jesus Christ we will be compelled to actively fight sin in our lives. Without genuine faith, we just seek to fight one idolized habit to gain another idol; remaining dead as we just trade one sin for another. Genuine faith frees us from this endless dead cycle of sinful living and empowers us to fight. Also see our article "When Our Faith is Just Lip Service"
Why Do We Fight Sin?
"according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: "
We are sanctified by The Holy Spirit for the purpose of being able to be obedient to Jesus Christ in faith. As slaves to sin we can not obey Christ because our master is our sin. So we must be freed from our sin so that we can obey Christ.
How Do We "Put To Death" Our Sin?
First we have to understand that it is completely dependent on God. We can not and do not save our selves from our sins. Second, after coming to faith, we remain completely dependent on God for the ability to fight sin as we can not fight it on our own. Third we need to understand the two natures we have in this world; the flesh and the spirit and that when we die, the flesh is completely removed by God. So all through our life in this world we are completely dependent on The Holy Spirit. Also see our article "Sinlessness and its Dilemmas"
The process of putting to death sin and being free from it is "walking in the spirit" and "being sanctified".
Sanctification is the process in which God sets us apart from the world and our flesh and purifies us making us holy. Genuine saving Faith in Jesus Christ begins the process (John 17:16, 1 Cor 1:30). The process does not end until it is completed (Hebrews 10:10). Being sanctified leads us in holiness and directly effects how we live our life and because it is God who expects it, He directly enables it (1 Peter 1:15). When He completely makes us holy, we are kept holy, by him (1 Thess 5:23). The Hope we are promised is that we WILL BE made holy when Christ returns (1 John 3:2, 1 Peter 1:16). And being completely made holy before God is his ultimate will for us (1 Thess 4:3).
What Must We Do In order To Fight?
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,"
Accept the fact that "you are not your own" and must "deny yourself" (Matthew 16:24). You do not define who you are. You are a sinner and therefore 'yourself' is corrupt and your will and desires are corrupted. Because of this, Christ had to buy you and make you his own so that you could be saved from yourself. Your identity is found in Christ and not anything of the flesh or of the world.
Accept the fact that Jesus Christ is truth and what He declares about you is true (John 17:17). That you are a sinner and need him to be saved. That you are sinner and need Him to be made holy. That because you are a sinner you need Him and His Will to be done and not your own.
Strive for things that please God, not yourself (Hebrews 12:14). Striving is an active effort that we need to push for. We must strive to know God and his will!
Study Scripture and search for God's Will through his character, works, and words (Matthew 6:23). By seeking God first we come to know Him better and ourselves better. He leads us to truth because He is truth and it is His truths that then help us see what we need to fight (Ps 119).
After you accept the fact that God is right and we are not and seek His truths; we can then rightly judge what pleases him and what doesn't (1 John 4:1). We can rightly judge good and bad. As we come to know what is good and what is bad, we can then do something about it (Hebrews 5:14).
This is NOT to say to hypocritically judge which is wrong (Romans 2:1). Make sure you are not being a hypocrite in sin first (Matthew 7:5). But rightly Judge things within the church and the kingdom of God (1 Cor 5:12, 10:15). Because we are given the ability to judge rightly (Luke 7:43, 12:57). Things can be rightly judged by scripture and not our opinions (Hebrews 4:12).
Once we have been able to determine and see the sin in our lives, we were shown it so that we can take action against it. In the world around us, we put away things and people that lead us to sin (1 Cor 5:13). The things in our lives that we know cause us to sin, we "cut if off" and get rid of it (Matthew 5:8, 18:8). We get rid of things that Christ had to be killed for!
As we proceed to cut ties with the things that cause us to sin, we take proactive steps to avoid them(Romans 16:17). Avoid ideals and teachings that lead to believing lies (1 Tim 6:20). Avoid sinful people who try to lead you to sin (2 Tim 3:5).
Be proactive in guarding your relationship with God; pay attention to people's influence in your life (2 Peter 3:3). Beware of ideas and people who could lead you in to sin and lies (Matthew 7:15). Beware of small and sublet influences that slowly creep in your life and quietly lead you into sin (Matthew 6:16). Stay alert.
Do not resist God's commands or his Will (Acts 7:51). Nor resist legitimate authority in this world that God (Romans 13). But actively resist things that are contrary to God and His Will (James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9). Resist ideas, things, and people that teach and live contrary to what God finds pleasing.
Literally, grow to hate sin. Not people, but the corruption and sin that is ungodly and unholy (Ps 97:10, Prov 8:13, Romans 12:9). Love what God loves, hate what God hates.
Fighting Sin is worshiping the Lord. Through it we are declaring that He is right and we are in great need of the salvation He freely offers us. That we are disgusted with our sinful selves and Love God for doing what he did on our behalf. We praise him for saving us by His Grace and not giving us what we deserve. We fight sin NOT because we think it makes us a better person or by our efforts it makes us good but we fight sin because we Love what the Lord has already done for us! Faith compels us to fight!
What Do You Do The Moment Sin Enters Your Mind?
Sin is in you, but no longer defines you. You are not longer guilty of what is in you because you have been covered by the blood of Jesus and His righteousness has been credited to you (Romans 6). But because it is still in you until the day you are completely removed from it and your sanctification is made complete; you still have to deal with it rearing its ugly head and through temptation.
The moment you have a sinful thought and desire; it needs to be addressed.
The fact that you noticed its entry into your mind is The Holy Spirit making you aware of it. Becoming aware of it the Holy Spirit has made you a witness of it. Once you are aware of it, you are given the ability and empowered to participate in fighting it!
Admit what it is: Sin.
Resist it and avoid it: Worship God.
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. "
Grab that thought and desire. Expose it for what it is within your mind and then think about The Gospel and prayfully repent and ask for redemption and healing. If there is something or someone that influenced the spark of the sinful thought or desire to come out; leave, avoid, resist, or cut it off. Action is called for so that the sin in your mind does not manifest into sin through your body. Sin is sin, whether it is of the mind or the body but putting it to death is our act of worship. When sin enters the mind, kill it and worship God.
Again, you will never be perfect in fighting sin. Once it enters your mind, its too late anyway. Its always too late because it is in our hearts long before it manifests in our minds. But that's not the point. We want to be holy because God is holy. We want to hate sin because God hates sin. We want to be like Jesus Christ- not be our own Christ. We want His holiness and His righteousness. We want to be obedient to Him and worship Him. If we strive to make OURSELVES perfect and sinless, we idolize ourselves already thinking that we can make ourselves our own Christ. We want Him; not try make ourselves Him.