Are You Up To The Fight?
As I was thinking through some of the implications of last week’s post Realignment, I found myself considering a consideration I return to quite often, not just as a pastor but as a Christian: we don’t take sin seriously enough.
We don’t take it seriously when we give in to sin and we don’t take it seriously enough to avoid sin. We’re taught to believe that we’re basically good people who will only become better when we feel good about ourselves. Scripture doesn’t share this view of mankind after the Fall.
Scripture portrays non-believers in rather stark terms, saying that “every intention of the thoughts of our hearts are evil only continually” (Genesis 6:5), our own hearts deceive us (Jeremiah 17:9), we are all guilty of sin (Romans 3:23) and that sin is punishable by death (Romans 6:23). Paul goes so far as to say that outside of Christ, we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-10).
But there is good news. Paul tells us that part of salvation is being rescued from this kingdom of sin, this domain of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13-14). Paul also tells us that we have been redeemed from slavery to sin in order that we might become free in order to become slaves again, this tie to righteousness (Romans 6:15-23). Believers no longer live under the dominion of sin, we have been brought to life from death and we have been freed from its grasp over us.
If this is true, if salvation is truly that powerful, then believers sin because we want to. Having been freed from the power of this word, we return to sin because we don’t understand holiness and we underestimate sin. We take our battle with sin much more lightly than does Scripture.
For example, we don’t often even think of our struggle with sin in terms of warfare imagery. We have “weaknesses” and occasional “struggles.” Peter says that our sins are waging war against our souls (1 Peter 2:11). The question is whether or not we are fighting back. Paul describes himself as a boxer (1 Corinthians 9:25-27) in the midst of a fight (1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7, etc.).
Scripture says that we must “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). Later, Paul rephrases this to say that we should “put to death what is earthly” among us (Colossians 3:5). We must kill our sin, or as John Owen reminds us, it will be seeking to kill us.
Do you view your struggles with sin in terms of a life or death fight? Are you willing to take drastic measures? Jesus tells us to be willing to put out an eye or chop off a hand to be rid of sin (Matthew 5:29-30). Are you willing to get rid of the internet or television? We must understand the severity with which the Bible calls us to deal with sin and we must be ready for the fight.
- Read The Mortification of Sin by John Owen
- Read The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience by Ronald J. Sider
I find it interesting that your example of “drastic measures” akin to chopping off a hand or putting out an eye is getting rid of the internet or television. Are our lives indeed so trivial?! Indeed, they may just be…. Thanks for thought-provoking post.
Paul, I’m glad that you pointed that out. That’s actually something that I’ve thought about quite a bit. Jesus says we must be willing to chop off a hand or put out an eye and most of us are not willing to part with the “luxury” of television or internet much less take really drastic measures! In fact, for most of us, those would be quite drastic measures!
Guilty as charged! I often hear people say, myself included, I have been struggling with “insert sin here” instead of saying I have been sinning. This mindset puts a “distance” between me and my sin instead of acknowledging that it has taken residence inside my heart and will remain there until I choose to remove it. Yes, God is sovereign, but it is my choice to sin, because as the scripture says if we are trusting in Jesus for our salvation and treasuring Him as the “Pearl of Great Price” we are free from the bondages of sin and are now slaves to righteousness; not our righteousness praise God! but His righteousness.
Being a Christian is not “easy” as I have heard some delusional pastors say. If it were, Jesus, Paul and others would not have used some of the following analogies and action verbs describing our sanctification process:
“Train yourself for Godliness.”
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
“I have fought the good fight.”
“Be sure of your election.”
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
“Guard your hearts and your minds, hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed…”
Sorry for the long list of examples, but I think it helps reinforce the fact that holiness and sanctification do not occur unless we are pursuing them. We must be violent in our battle with sin because it is a war for our souls.
Filtering the Internet at home and getting rid of satellite are good steps, which we have done, but they are only window dressing if we don’t attack sin at its core and realize that all sin originates from the heart. In other words, you could be stranded on a desert island with nothing but your Bible and your memory and still lead a very destructive sin life.”
Wow! Thank you for this post, Pastor Brent. I am grateful for Shawn’s list, too.
The social sins that James writes about, particularly in chapter 2(making distinctions, being unmerciful, etc.), are particularly insidious, and difficult to fight, in one’s own heart and within one’s fellowships.
Brent,
Great post! I am so grieved at my disregard for fighting sin. Have you read The Enemy Within by Kris Lungaard?
Hubert, no, I’ve not read that book, is it good?
Brent,
The book is excellent! A must read on the topic of fighting sin. I worked through it with my small group in Florida before we moved.