Another Way to Conquer Sin

 

How do we say no to sin? The first way that might occur to us, as it should, is to follow Jesus' example. Luke 4 tells us that after Jesus' baptism, the Spirit led him into seclusion in the wilderness. There, the devil tempted him with the lust of the flesh ("Turn these stones into bread!"), the lust of the eyes ("I'll give you all the magnificence you see here, if you worship me!"), and the pride of life ("Jump off the pinnacle of the temple, for God's very angels will catch you!") Each time, Jesus replied, "It is written." In other words, he resisted temptation by quoting scripture. So can we.

Another way to combat sin is to follow the admonition of James 4:7. "So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you" (Amplified 2015). Just as it says, if we intentionally place ourselves under God's authority, and stand against the devil's wiles, he will actually flee from us. People have experienced this. So can we. 

The Bible exhorts us to avoid sin in other ways:

Abstain from fleshly lusts (1 Peter 2:11).

Flee immorality (1 Cor. 6:18).

Make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14).

Fix our hope on Christ, which will motivate us to purity (1 John 3:3).

Meditate on God's word: "My word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119:11).

Maintain a regular prayer life: "Create in me a clean heart, O God" (Psalm 51:10).

All these, people have done. So can we. God gives us a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13).

But there's another way to conquer sin, too--one I don't think we consider often enough. Romans 14 teaches about what's often called "disputable matters," practices that aren't objectively sinful but are matters of conscience and conviction for individual Christians. Paul ends his discussion of freedoms concerning food and drink, observance or non-observance of special days, and our responsibility toward Christians who think differently on these things with a powerful statement in verse 23: "...Whatever is not from faith is sin."

Wow. Read that again. Chew on it a little. Whatever. 

How, then, can we avoid sin? There's a way that's much more positive than "don't do this and don't do that," though those warnings, too, are necessary. This positive, often-overlooked way is to increase our faith. Because anything we do without faith that it is right is sin for us. "Whatever is done with doubt is sinful" (emphasis mine) is the way the Amplified 2015 version expands on this. 

For any of us who doubt, for any of us who would like to increase our faith--and wouldn't we all?--we will find that as we stretch and grow our faith and pray to Jesus to help our unbelief, we'll not only please God and receive what we ask in his will, but become better able to conquer sin.