The Battle Against Sin

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all had a fantastic week. I’m going to jump right into the main content for the post today. I hope it encourages you and challenges you in your walk with God.

The Battle Against Sin

How do you live your life? How do you make decisions? I am convinced that there are only two ways to live your life. Either you live according to your own desires and you try to control your own life, or you live in submission to the Holy Spirit, surrender control of your life to God, and live according to His desires and plan for your life. Before I go on, I want to clarify something. If you are an unbeliever, there is only one way for you to live. You cannot live by the Spirit because the Spirit only dwells in those who have trusted in Christ as their Saviour. Therefore, you live according to your own desires. The problem is that every single person on this planet has a sin nature. Without the Holy Spirit at work, you can only live out your own fleshly desires which have been corrupted by sin. Sin is a monster. It corrupts, destroys, and brings a person to ruin. It doesn’t always happen right away. Sometimes, a person gradually falls into destruction from sin. Whether it is quick or gradual though, the fact is that an unbeliever is already in major trouble. First off, sin is allowed to run rampant in his life which leads to pain and destruction. Second, this same sin is also the cause to bring a holy God to wrath. The outlook is grim. However, there is hope. It’s not just a little glimmer of hope either. It’s the greatest, most wonderful, awesome, sure hope that is possible. It’s Jesus. Jesus made a way for freedom. He died on the cross to pay for all of the horrible sin that I mentioned above, and then He completely defeated sin and death when He rose from the dead. If you have not trusted in Christ as your Saviour and asked Him to forgive you of your sin, let me encourage you to do that right now! Not only will God forgive your sin, He will also give you His Holy Spirit to enable you to live life in freedom from sin. It doesn’t mean that you will never sin again, because you still have your sin nature. It does mean that with God’s help and strength, you have a choice and don’t have to give in to sin. It’s amazing and this life is available to you right now. What will you do with this opportunity?

For the remainder of this post, I want to write from the perspective of a believer who has the Holy Spirit living inside him. The fact of the matter is that there is still a choice to make. Either we live life according to our own fleshly desires and try to control our own lives, or we submit fully to the Holy Spirit and live in His control and empowerment. I need to be honest and transparent here. It is a constant battle and fight in my own life. I often want to have the control. I want to make all the decisions. I want to run my own life. I want to give in to fleshly desires. At the same time, I want the Holy Spirit to run my life and have control. I desire His complete presence and power in my life to live in godliness. It’s a tough, hard battle! I’m sure most if not all of you who have trusted in Christ know what I’m talking about. It’s hard. The flesh puts up a good fight. It doesn’t want to surrender control. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit rightfully wants us to fully submit to His control in our lives. It feels like we are pulled completely in two directions. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming. I know it’s been pretty tough in my own life, especially lately as I am striving to submit more and more to the Spirit and His control over my life. You know what happens? The flesh fights hard! Honestly, though, that shouldn’t be any surprise. Sin desires to have its way with us, consume us, and destroy us. This is a serious battle. Too many Christians today compromise and give in to the flesh. Listen! This is no light matter. Why? It damages our relationship with God, it grieves the Holy Spirit, it causes pain and trouble in our lives, and it greatly damages our testimony to both other believers and unbelievers when we live as hypocrites. Sin is serious and we are to hate it! A lot is at stake.

Exhort One Another

Let’s take a break for a minute. Listen, I completely understand that the fight against sin is hard. I understand that the flesh fights hard. I’ve experienced this in my own life. But my brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to take a stand for Christ. We need to take a stand for godliness and integrity. We need to conduct ourselves in a way that gives a good testimony to other believers and unbelievers and in a way that brings glory to God. Maybe you’re saying it’s hard! I know it’s hard, but that’s why we need help! The other day, I was having a discussion with a friend about how important it is to exhort one another daily. Read this verse from Hebrews.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. – Hebrews 3:13

I read this verse and sometimes I want to pull my hair out. Why as believers are we not doing this!? We badly need to exhort and encourage one another. We need to do it not every once in a while, but daily. This is so important! Why? It is so that we will not be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness! The flesh puts up a hard fight. It doesn’t take a break. As a community of believers, neither should we ever take a break from encouraging each other daily! What does this look like? It means speaking into the life of a brother in Christ and encouraging him to press on and fight in the battle against sin. It means reminding your sister in Christ of a reassuring Bible verse. It means praying with people, anywhere and anytime! It means being intentional. This is so vital! I want to challenge and encourage you to do this to as many people as possible daily! We need to take a stand for Christ together!

Live by the Spirit

Finally, and most importantly, in order to fight the battle against the flesh, we need God’s help. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. He provides everything we need to live a godly life. However, we still have a choice to make. Are we going to live according to the flesh, or according to the Spirit? Read this passage from Galatians.

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[a] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. – Galatians 5:16-26

There you have it. The acts of the flesh are sick and bring destruction. However, the fruit of the Spirit, which the Spirit produces in us when we are walking with Him, is full of life and godliness. It is the way God wants us to live and it brings glory to His Name. I encourage you sometime this week to do a study in the Bible of the Holy Spirit and see just all the things He both provides and does for us. It’s not a short list, and yet at times, we neglect His presence in our lives. How foolish! But the point I want to drive home and close on is this: You may be fighting hard with the flesh. It may be screaming and throwing a fit to be satisfied in your life. It’s a hard fight. The flesh is strong. In comparison to the Holy Spirit, it’s nothing. That’s it. There’s no contest. The Holy Spirit who lives inside of you is God! Remember, He raised Jesus from the dead! Through your submission to His power in your life, the flesh can be completely overcome. But again, you need to choose to submit to Him and walk with Him in your life. Through doing this, you can experience a life of freedom, joy, and fulfillment which God has always intended for you in the first place!

Bible Verse:

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. – Romans 8:13

It’s simple. The flesh brings death and destruction. The Spirit overcomes the flesh. The Spirit brings life. How will you choose to live?