The Power Of Sin - Is Sin Your Master? You Can Be Saved From It.

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All Christians know the great spiritual struggle there is between our sinful nature and the Spirit of God. Galatians 5:17 says, "the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want."

The following is to tell you how the Lord delivered me from smoking and drinking. It's a bit of a long story but it showed me a truth that makes absolute sense and the same truth applies to all sin. Sin is sin - we love it and the Lord hates it.

Here we go:
After I became a Christian I promised Jesus, through gritted teeth, that I would quit smoking and drinking - particularly smoking. Some time passed and I couldn't do it so one day I told Him that if He didn't help me then I'd never be able to quit. Next day the desire was totally gone ... totally! It was hard to believe that the Lord had such power over my desires. Anyway, a week later I decided to have a couple of beers and smokes because I 'had it beaten' and could control things now. Well, I was immediately hooked again and consumed twice as much as before.

A few painful months went by and I couldn't keep my promise to the Lord so I asked Him again. Same thing! Again the desire totally disappeared and this time a month went by before I was foolish enough to start again ... I 'knew' I had things under control this time. Naturally I got hooked again and had more than ever.

Now the pain really started. I kept drinking and smoking for another year or two and knew where every vow-to-the-Lord verse was in the Bible. I even got on my knees and wept a couple of times but He left me in the wilderness and it was very painful. One day after much pain I said, "I'm going to quit today and if I have one tomorrow, I'll quit again and if I have one the next day then I'll quit again ... I'm going to the grave quitting." Well the Lord took it away for the third time and this time I never went back even though tempted a couple of times. Today I don't have an ounce of desire to smoke or drink - I am totally delivered ... He's a wonderful, powerful, loving and very patient God. I had reluctantly learnt that our strength is in Him alone.

The truth behind all of this is that, when I made the vow in the first place, I didn't really want to quit. I originally made the promise 'through gritted teeth' because I wanted to please God. It was a case of wanting my cake and eating it too. If you think about this you will see that the Lord is willing to help but we must co-operate by being strong in Him, and not keep going back to the sin thinking we are in control ... the fact is we are hopelessly weak. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Note the word 'resist.' We are to fight against sin.

There are many sins to fight against but lust is a particularly powerful emotion. In resisting it, look the other way; don't go where you will be tempted; throw away any pornography you may have; resist temptation in all ways and be like Joseph who fled from Potiphar's wife (Genesis 39:6-15). Above all, call on the Lord to help you.

If you hate someone, pray for them. It's not possible to pray a genuine blessing on someone you hate so keep at it until you come to love the person. Ask God to change your heart so that you can love them as you should. Also, Jesus said that if we hate we will come under judgment. Romans 13:10 says, "... love is the fulfillment of the law." If you suffer from bitterness or envy then you need to be pray it out of your life as these things will exclude you from the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21).

I think that the best advice for anyone who is struggling in sin is, "get on your knees and tell the Lord how weak you are and that you want Him to deliver you from whatever sin plagues you." If you think that you are too weak to do it yourself then you're dead right. We are all weak, but remember what Mark 10:27 says, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Also Romans 8:7 says that we can't do it ourself, "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's laws, nor can it do so."

You must want to be set free. Don't be like me and keep going back to it. I didn't really want to give it up in the first place and so I suffered greatly until the Lord brought me to the place where I desperately wanted it. Then He took it away and by this time I was so badly burnt that going back was out of the question. Remember, there is no sin too big for the Lord to handle ... none!

Here are some verses to consider ...

Galatians 5:17 says, "the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want."

Paul said in Romans 7:15, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do."

Then Paul said in Romans 7:24-25, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" and Galations 5:16 is a promise that we must take ahold of if we are to be saved from our sin ... "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Only the Lord can purify us and He desires to do just that. In 1 John 1:9 we are told that when we confess, He forgives and He purifies. Cry out to the Lord because He is your strength. One last thing. We must remember that it is HIS victory, not ours. Salvation is in Him alone. The moment we take His victory as our own, He will show us whose victory it really is and we will be back where we started.

Demonic activity can cause havoc in a Christian's life. Please read Christians & Demons if you find there is sin that you cannot be delivered from.

The Calvary Road, by Roy Hession, very simply outlines personal revival (sanctification) through being filled with the Holy Spirit. The 'how to' of Christian Surrender is revealed for all who would seek the Lord with all their heart. This is not another self help book but a most humbling revelation of the sin we fail (or refuse) to see and which keeps us from an intimate walk with Jesus. Also freely available are We Would See Jesus and Be Filled Now! Click here to go to the download page.

For an article closely related to this, please go to How Do We Know If We Are Saved?

Return to previous page                                                                                            Mick Alexander
                                                                                                                              leeandmick@gmail.com
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