DAY 281: CHRIST HAS WON THE BATTLE

Over the years, I have heard of many believers who are still bound by sinful habits. Multitudes of struggling Christians struggle, “I can’t stop gambling… I’m in the grips of an alcohol addiction… I’m having an affair, and I can’t break it off… I’m a slave to pornography.” In every case these people say the same thing: “I love Jesus, and I’ve begged God to free me. I’ve prayed, wept and sought godly counsel. But I just can’t break free. What can I do?”

I’ve spent much time seeking the Lord for wisdom on how to answer these believers. I pray, “Lord, you know your children’s lives. Many are devoted, Spirit-filled saints, yet they don’t have your victory. What’s going on?”

The one thing common to all of these promises is this phrase “by faith.” Indeed, all of these things are matters of faith, according to God’s Word.

Are you struggling to gain victory by your willpower? Are you fighting the battle in your old nature? Paul points out, “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:4-5, NKJV).

Indeed, Paul says there is only one condition attached to God’s promises. “You, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in his sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard…” (Colossians 1:21-23, emphasis added).

Christ surrendered everything to his Father in order to be totally obedient, and we are to do likewise. We are to be totally dependent on the Father, just as Christ was.

At one point, I studied the biblical passages containing God’s promises to his people. I was reminded that the Lord pledges to keep us from falling, to present us faultless, to justify us by faith, sanctify us by faith and keep us holy by faith. He promises that our old man is crucified by faith and that we are translated into his kingdom by faith. The one thing common to all of these promises is this phrase “by faith.” Indeed, all of these things are matters of faith, according to God’s Word.

Scripture tells us that we HAVE BEEN freed from the bondage of sin and that its power over us is no longer something we cannot overcome. It is through Christ that we will gain the victory. But God's word also tells us that we need to "reckon" or "count" ourselves dead to sin:

For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:5-14)

No matter what sin "so easily besets" us, Jesus Christ gives to us the grace and power to not only flee from it but overcome it as well. It is choice we make to not allow sin to reign over us but to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices every moment of every day. Then sin will not be our master anymore.

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