ENJOYING DAILY VICTORY OVER SIN (Part 2)

“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.” (Romans 6:13 NKJV)

 

No man in the flesh can ever attain a state of sinlessness when he is without any sin or cannot sin.

John warns, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NKJV).

However, the Scripture teaches that the believers can attain a state of perfection when they “become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Philip. 2:15 NKJV).

The call unto perfection in the Bible is not a call unto sinlessness, but to spiritual maturity. It is a call to walk in the light of God’s Word and to walk in love which is the bond of perfection (Col. 3:14, Matt. 5:48).

John admonishes, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7 NKJV).

If you are truly born again, your recreated or born-again spirit is fully redeemed, sanctified and incapable of committing sin; “for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9 RSV).

The new spirit you received at the point of New Birth is “one spirit with Christ.”

1 Corinthians 6:

17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (NKJV).

The Scripture also testifies that the born-again believers “have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” (Col. 3:10 NKJV).

However, you are not just a spirit; you have a soul (mind, will and emotions) and a body which though have been purchased by the blood of Jesus are yet to experience the full redemption that your spirit has experienced (Eph. 1:14).

The full redemption of your soul and body is still in the future, at the second coming of Christ. This is why the Scripture states that we are “eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23 NKJV), and to receive “the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 1:9 NKJV).

While you already have a new spirit that is perfectly like Jesus Christ, you are yet to have a new and perfect soul and glorified body like that of Jesus Christ. You will certainly have these when you see Jesus face to face, at His second coming (Col. 3:4).

1 John 3:

 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (NKJV).

Therefore, you have a responsibility to continually, constantly and consistently purify your soul (mind, will and emotions) through God’s Word and to discipline your body through fasting and prayer because they are still vulnerable to temptations to sin.

Though a born-again believer, yet you can still sin or fall into temptations because your soul and body are not yet fully sanctified, redeemed or perfected! (1 John 2:1).

No believer regardless of his level of spiritual maturity is above temptation, or immune to temptation to sin.

Until your soul (will, mind and emotions) and body have experienced full redemption at the return of Christ, you have not yet attained a state of sinlessness when you cannot sin or be tempted to sin.

It is important for you to understand this truth lest you get to a point in your spiritual journey when you erroneously think that you are now immune to sin or above temptations to sin, and then begin to despise or condemn any believer who falls into temptations.

The Scripture admonishes:

Galatians 6:

1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (NKJV).

Romans 13:

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (NKJV).

1 Peter 2:

11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. (NKJV).

How then do you handle or overcome temptations to sin?

Watch and Pray!

While your born-again spirit is always willing to obey God, your soul (mind, will and emotions) and the body are not inclined to obey God.

Paul testifies to this truth.

Romans 7:

 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

 23 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. (NKJV).

How then do you bring your soul (mind, will and emotions) and body into subjection to your born-again spirit so that you can always overcome temptations to sin?

First, you must continually, constantly and consistently yield or surrender your will to God:

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the “will” is “the mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action.”

You will always have to choose either to say “Yes” or say “No” to temptation to sin. It is your sole responsibility to exercise your will to obey God’s Word in every circumstance.

If sin continues to reign in your life after you are born again, it is simply because you allow it to reign!

Paul queries, “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?” (Rom. 6:16 NKJV).

You can exercise your will against sin, for you are no longer a slave to sin (Rom. 6:14).

Paul admonishes, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” (Rom. 6:12 NKJV).

Second, you must continually, constantly and consistently sanctify, renew or reset your mind through regular and prayerful intake and meditation in God’s Word:

Your mind has been trained and programmed to doubt, reject, oppose and disobey God’s Word by your old man or self before he was crucified with Christ on the Cross (1 Cor. 2:14).

Although your old man with his sin nature is gone out of your life, yet he left behind what the Bible refers to as “the body of sin” in your will, mind and emotions which must be put away by you lest you remain enslaved to sin (Rom. 6:6).

Naturally, when a man dies, the spirit goes out, leaving the body behind to be put away. Similarly, when your old man or self was put to death through the Cross of Christ, he left behind “the body of sin” in your will, mind and emotions that you must get rid or put away completely and urgently, too.

The body of sin implies the sinful and selfish desires, values, thoughts, mindsets, passions, ambitions, patterns, ways or lifestyles of the old man which are opposed to that of Christ. These have formed strongholds in your mind which must be pulled down and brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ lest you remain a slave of sin (2 Cor. 10:3-6).    

Lastly, you must continually, constantly and consistently discipline your lowly body:

Your daily victory over temptations depends on how you deal with the members of your body which are still inclined to sin being weak, vile or lowly as a result of the fall of Adam (Rom. 7:24, Phil. 3:21).

If you fail to discipline the members of your body and bring them into subjection to your born-again spirit through fasting and prayers and exercising or training them towards godliness; they will continue to lead you into temptations (1 Cor. 9:27).

Paul admonishes, “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.” (Rom. 6:13 NKJV).

Beloved, if you don’t want to be ruled by the desires of your carnal mind, driven by your emotions, and dominated by the passions of the body, the Scripture admonishes you to:

Romans 6:

11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (NKJV).

Romans 13:

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (NKJV).

Galatians 5:

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (NKJV).

Matthew 26:

41 Keep awake, and pray that you may not enter into temptation: the spirit is right willing, but the body is frail. (WNT).

Ephesians 6:

18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (RSV).

1 Peter 4:

7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. (NKJV).

 

Prayer: My Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me total victory over sin through the death of Jesus Christ. Dear Holy Spirit, teach and help me to daily reckon myself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ, and to watch and pray lest I become enslaved again by my old sinful habits, in Jesus’ name. Amen.