Victory Over Sin
Is it possible to have victory over the power of sin, or is forgiveness of sin all there is to salvation?
What is God’s will regarding sin?
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Before sin entered the world, Adam and Eve communicated with God face to face. Once they allowed sin to enter their hearts, it separated them from their Creator because sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God—His presence is a consuming fire to those who cherish sin (Deuteronomy 4:24). The Father then sent His Son not only to pay the penalty for sin on our behalf, but also to save us from our sins. He wants to forgive and cleanse us from any and all unrighteousness so that we may be dead to sin and alive to righteousness!
What is the first step to victory over sin?
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Sin is a choice, an act of the will because the devil cannot force anyone to sin. I get to choose whom I will serve every single day. Now it’s true that will power without God is my own power, but an act of the will is the first step on the road to victory. Sin can be defeated only if I cooperate with God; He will do for me what I cannot do for myself, but I need to do my part by making a firm choice to serve Him. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but He didn’t roll away the stone because people were capable of doing that themselves. There is also a huge difference between desiring to overcome and choosing to overcome. God is powerless to help me until I make that choice, so whenever temptation comes, my first response can be “No, I choose to serve Christ.”
What is the second step?
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
The Bible is clear that it’s God will for me to have victory over sin. The Bible also says anything that I ask in faith according to His will He will do, and Paul even encourages me to thank God for the victory He gives me through Jesus. Just like the Israelites gave a loud shout of victory before the walls of Jericho came down (Joshua 6:16), I can claim that victory by faith and thank God for it. Faith in the power of God is crucial; it is the difference between merely asking for victory and believing it. The victory is a gift that needs to be received and accepted. So after saying “No, I choose to serve Christ,” my second response to temptation can be “Thank you God for the victory that is mine through Jesus.”
What is the third step?
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you.
Through the righteousness of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit in me I can be dead to sin. Temptation has no power over a corpse, and I can be just as dead to it. After thanking God for the victory, I can follow it up with “I am dead to this sin.” And remember, dying to sin is not divorcing a best friend, but an evil enemy. It is a cause for joy and celebration! So do not crawl, but run from it like Joseph did (Genesis 39:12).
Is it smart to dwell on the temptation?
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Sin occurs when the door of the mind is opened, and it’s then let inside and entertained. Temptation becomes sin when it’s cherished in the mind and, in the words of James, allowed to conceive sin. Peter calls us to bind the mind, like a soldier binds his belt in preparation for action, so the mind is ready to deal with temptation. Paul tells us to bring every thought into captivity to Christ since a sinful thought immediately rejected does not have strength. The faster I turn to God the safer I am, and the more I do it the easier it gets.
How did Jesus meet temptation?
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Jesus met temptation by quoting Scripture. Hebrews tells us the Bible is alive, powerful, and sharper than any sword. When I store His word in my mind by reading it daily and memorizing favorite passages, I am “girding” up my mind. Furthermore, I become what I behold, so by beholding the character of Christ as revealed in His word, my character will be transformed to reflect His character through the work of the Holy Spirit. The next time temptation comes, let’s follow the example of our Redeemer and turn to the Bible to give us victory!
How can I reduce temptation?
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
The Bible invites me to “put on Christ” and “walk in the Spirit.” I do this by beginning every day sitting at His feet, like Mary did (Luke 10:39), reading His Word and asking Him to convert my heart and mind. Then I commit my will to Him for that day. And then I “make no provision for the flesh” by removing myself from temptation and doing all that I can to create an environment that is free from it. When I leave room for temptation I am telling myself I will fail, so throw it out, pour it out, delete the app, cancel the subscription, cut the cable.
What is God’s promise?
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We saw in James 1:12 that God does not tempt anyone, but now we have a promise that He will not allow us to be tested beyond what we are able to bear! He provides a way of escape for every temptation the devil throws at us!
What if I’ve struggled with the same sin for years?
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
For a righteous person falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of disaster.
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
The walls of Jericho seemed insurmountable, and they were, as far as human strength was concerned (Numbers 13:28), but then the God of the universe got involved, and they crumbled like sand. The walls of sin in our lives are the same until we ask God to get involved and intervene on our behalf, and the promise is that Jesus Christ is mighty to pull them down! It’s not about how many times I’ve fallen, but whether I got up and went to the Father who is waiting for me with outstretched arms. I can never think of yourself as a hopeless case; it’s not from God. My past history is not my legacy or destiny. It’s not “I'd like to be an overcomer,” or “I hope to be.” Through the grace and power of Christ in my life I am an overcomer!
What is the most powerful motivation for overcoming sin?
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
We love him, because he first loved us.
The more time I spend thinking about what Jesus did for me on the cross, the more my love for Him will grow and my abhorence for sin will increase. Sin is so evil that it required the Son of God to leave the courts of heaven, take on human nature, live a perfect life while assailed by the devil on every side, and die the death of the worse criminal on the cross because the Creator God was the only One who could pay the penalty for my sins. Let’s get grounded in the love of Christ as revealed on the cross, so it becomes the driving motivation for victory over sin. The more I love Him the more I’ll hate those things that separate me from Him and are repulsive to His character.
What does Revelation say about those who overcome?
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne.
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
There is power in what Jesus did on the cross because Revelation says the saints overcame Satan by the blood of Jesus Christ. He gives them the victory, and then He grants them to sit on His throne! This is an echo of how the Father treated His prodigal son. Such treatment is completely undeserved, but He does it anyway out of His immeasurable love for His children. No wonder the saints in heaven will cast their crowns before His throne in worship and adoration saying that He is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power.
What can I pray for on a daily basis?
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.