The Only Way to Stop Sinning
Copyright 2004 by Shea Oakley
All rights reserved
Every believer is called upon to resist temptation and avoid sin. Our sanctification depends on a progressive rooting out of sin that continues throughout our earthly lives. The problem is how to successfully overcome the temptations we face on a daily basis. It is one thing to will ourselves not to give in to these temptations and another to actually not do so. Today, unfortunately, many believers locked in this great struggle do not seem to be making much headway towards living a more holy life. The same sins keep enticing us and we continue to give in to them. Why?
The answer may lie in where believers go for the power to live above sin. Whether most Christians realize it or not there is a human tendency to try to fight the flesh with the flesh. By this I mean the use of willpower alone to combat sin. The flaw in this approach is simply this: it ultimately does not work. This is not to say that our wills have no place in resisting temptation. Obviously a determination not to sin has to be present before a person will make the attempt to resist temptation. However such determination is not particular to Christians or even to religious people in general. Even atheists have, unknownst to themselves, a God-given conscience. With the possible exception of sociopathic and psychopathic individuals most persons have moral scruples of some kind. In fact even Hitler was kind to his dogs.
It also is true that certain sinful tendencies can be restricted, to a point, by self-effort. Most of us know someone whose ethical conduct surpasses that of some believers we know. These "good people" can make us wonder what is wrong with our Christianity, that we cannot be at least as morally upright as a person who has not yet come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Truthfully, human beings do have a degree of intrinsic goodness in them that originates in our entire race being created in the image of God. Beyond this is the additional reality of God’s common grace that is given, in varying degrees, to all of us. If it were not true that human sinfulness was tempered in these ways we would have an all-embracing Hell on Earth in the most literal sense. As it is evil is restrained until the age of grace ends and we enter the Tribulation the Scriptures speak of.
The fact remains that natural man cannot progress past a certain point in forsaking sin no matter how hard he tries. It is only the true Christian who can hope to go further and even that is impossible apart from effectively appropriating the sanctifying grace of God that can belong to the believer alone. Without this appropriation even we who do believe are doomed to remain in a state that precludes the kind of radical change God wills for His children.
The key to having ultimate victory over sin is found in identifying ourselves, in the deepest sense, with the complete triumph of our Savior at Calvary. It is only in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ that we can progressively stop sinning. No effort at self-reformation will work, even if it is a method passed off as "Christian". Our righteousness truly is as "filthy rags" and it is only in the loving gift of His righteousness that we are made clean.
The practical question posed here is how we are supposed to actually accomplish this? The answer may be less complex than we suspect. Many of us who have been believers for some years have noticed something. The closer we stay to Jesus, the less we sin. It is as simple as that. Remember, though, that simple does not equate with easy. It is all right to admit that it is often difficult for us to pray, meditate on Scripture, fellowship with other Christians, witness, etc. In short it is not easy to walk out the faith in, and love for, Jesus that we claim to have. But difficult does not mean impossible. Over time the persevering Christian is perfected in the love of God and becomes ever more intimately bonded with His Son. In this intimacy there slowly comes the appropriation of His resurrection power and, with it, the ability to progressively root out the remaining sin in our lives. An even more blessed truth is that our very ability to persevere in this way does not depend on our effort. God Himself makes it possible through the love of Christ applied in our lives, a love that originates in Him, not in us. His perfect love does more than just cast out our fear, as important as that is, it also casts out our sin. We need not try to achieve this love but only to accept and abide in it.