After over 65 years of ministry, we have developed the top 27 questions people ask us so we would like to share these questions each week for our weekly blog and share the answers as a resource for you all to use in your ministry, churches, and family.
Top ? #8 How Can I Have Victory Over Sin?
Answer: Christians can be victorious over sin when they recognize that they are a new creation in Jesus Christ and allow the power of the Holy Spirit to live through them.
Nearly all Christians find that one of the great challenges they have is to overcome sin in their lives. Even the Apostle Paul had a great struggle within himself between his spiritual nature that desired to please God and his flesh which sought to gratify itself (Romans 7:15-23).
The Bible teaches that everyone is born with a sinful nature. It is because of this that we are separated from God and it is what leads us to live in a way that is contrary to God’s will. The “natural man” is described as a “slave to sin” (Romans 6:17).
When someone comes to faith in Christ that individual is baptized by the Holy Spirit. There are many things that take place as a result of that spiritual baptism. We are made members of the spiritual Church, which is called the Body of Christ. The Bible says that when we are “in Christ” we are “new creations.” Our old nature has died and we are now “in the Spirit” (Romans 8:9). Even though that sinful nature is dead there remains an aspect of it that the Bible calls “the flesh” which still has the power to influence our thoughts and behavior against the desires of God. A list of some of the behaviors of the flesh is given in Galatians 5:19-21. The Bible describes a struggle that goes on between the new spiritual nature and the flesh. Most believers are familiar with this battle that rages within them, the desire to do God’s will against that influence that seeks to gratify our sinfulness.
Despite the influence of the flesh, the fact remains that we are new creatures in Christ. Our sins have been forgiven and we have been made holy in God’s sight. We are children of God and heirs of His promises in Christ. This is how God expects us to think of ourselves. We are not to focus on the remnants of the sinful nature, but rather we are to consider ourselves as God sees us.
The most important passage that describes how we overcome sinful behavior in our lives is found in Romans 6. In Romans 6:11-12 we read, “In the same way, 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 evil desires.” Also, verse 18 says, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
By recognizing our position in Christ and the fact that we have died to sin and by trusting God’s Spirit for strength we can overcome the desire to yield to sinful behavior. In a practical way, we should fill our minds and thoughts with the Word of God, we should associate with other believers that will encourage us to do good works and we should avoid those things that are likely to arouse the desire to sin.
Please read the following verses: 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:9-17; Galatians 5:16-25; Romans 12:1-2.
if you want to enroll in our Free Bible Correspondence course, just email us your full name, address and we will mail you a copy! dwight@prisonmission.org
God bless you!
Pastor Dwight Anderson