Victory Over Sin 3

This article is the third in a series called Victory Over Sin and is part of the larger series, Fundamentals of the Faith.

In the first two articles, we discussed God’s victory over sin on behalf of the human race.
Adam’s original sin caused three different categories of sin to exist within the human race. In the first article we discussed God’s victory over Imputed Sin that caused the whole human race to come under eternal condemnation. The work of Christ in His death, burial and resurrection made atonement for man’s sin debt to God. In the second article we discussed the ministry of the Spirit who enables the believer to escape the domination Inherited Sin or the sin nature and empowers us to live the Christ-like life. In this final installment we will discuss God’s provision for recovery from the different kinds of Individual Sins we commit after salvation.

Individual Sin

Driven by Desire
God designed the human soul with needs that He intends to meet and needs that other humans can meet. We experience these needs as desires, longings and cravings that we are compelled to satisfy. As children, we had no awareness of God’s boundaries in which our desires are to be pursued. All we knew is what we wanted and believed that gratification of our wants was necessary for happiness. We developed strategies intended to persuade others to give us what we wanted, believing only that our satisfaction was important. In ignorance and without concern, by prioritizing our desires, we violated any and every boundary the Lord has given. Our every motive, thought, design, strategy, feeling and behavior has been committed to self rather than the Lord. Initially, we don’t practice evil by opposing God, we don’t even know about God. When we do learn of God, we try to enlist Him as the major source to further our plans to serve ourselves. Our total self-absorption and commitment to gratifying self is the essence of sin. It is with this mind-set that we practice individual sins.

3 Kinds of Individual Sin
Individual or personal sins come in 3 categories. The first is mental sins, sins of the mind. The second is sins that we say with our tongue and the third is overt sins that commit with our bodies. We use these 3 types of sins as our natural approach to life, thinking that they are appropriate and justified. Let’s look a little deeper at each of these types of sin.

Mental Sins
Mental sins are the motivators for every other kind of sin. What we think and feel motivates what we say and do. Examples of mental sin must begin with lust. Lust is unbridled desire pursued with no regard for and outside of God’s boundaries for fulfilling or normal needs. Many people think that the word “lust” only applies to our sexual desires, but in fact applies to many areas of life. We can lust for power, for wealth, for approbation, for recognition, for material possessions and many other lusts.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Lust is simply normal desire uncontrolled. As we discussed above, desire is the driving force in the human soul. Desire pursued without God, using our own means is sin and the root of all corruption in the world. Listen to Peter’s discussion about lust:

2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Notice what Peter says that lust is the root cause of the corruption in the world. Desire pursued without God is sin and corrupts our hearts and minds. The next example of mental sin is the normal human reaction to having our lust frustrated. When we don’t get what we want, we become frustrated, angry, jealous or bitter. Believing that we have a right to what we want and view gratification of our desires as necessary for happiness, we react when we are denied. James, the brother of Jesus pointed this out in his book.

James 4:1-2 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your desires that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

James explains that when we are denied what we want, we react with anger, jealousy, mental murder and quarrels. We justify anger as normal and right because we were denied our desires. We believe that we are entitled to become bitter toward others who reject us or do not cooperate with our strategies. Jealousy, another mental sin fits well within this same scenario. Another type of mental sin is fear and worry. We fear that we will never have what we want or that we will lose what we have and result from a lack of faith in the Lord’s promise

Mental sins are the way we think about life when we don’t depend on God. We believe that gratification of desire brings happiness and we react with anger or fear when satisfaction is denied or possibly lost. Mental sins motivate every other area of sin and are part of the front line in the spiritual war.

Sins of the Tongue
What we think and feel motivates what we say. When our thoughts are virtuous, then we relate with our words with kindness by edifying others. When our thoughts are sinful, then we express ourselves with words that use, hurt or tear others down. The bible admonishes us to control our tongues and use them to help not hurt.

1 Peter 3:10 For, “Let him who means to love life and see good days Refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile.

Examples of sins of the tongue are lying, deceitfulness, hurtful words, name-calling, complaining, gossip, maligning, slander and any verbal expression that is motivated to harm others.

Overt Sins
Mental sins also motivate overt sins. Overt sins are sins we do with our bodies. Violence, murder, stealing, adultery and drunkenness are a few examples of overt sins. These are the sins most preachers highlight and what the world thinks of as sin. As we have discussed, sin begins in the heart long before it is expressed outwardly. To avoid overt sins we must deal with the mental sins that motivate them.

Corruption
Mental, verbal and overt sins ruin our lives by corrupting our hearts and destroying our relationships. Mental sins unchecked lead to bitterness and hardness of heart that overflows into our words, tone and behavior. Those we once loved we now despise and they us. Had God not intervened, we would all live miserable, lonely lives. God has made provision that enables us to lay aside sin and walk in the Spirit.

God’s Provision for Individual Sins

Momentary Freedom from Sin
At the moment we believe the gospel of Christ and are saved, God forgives all the sins we have ever committed and cleanses us from their immediate effects. Also at this same moment, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell the believer’s body and fills his soul with the Spirit. For the moment, we are free from sin. At some point after salvation, the new believer will sin again, either mentally, verbally or overtly. When this happens, many believers face a serious crisis of what to do about their sin. Do we lose our salvation? If not, do we lose the filling of the Spirit? What does God want us to do now to recover from our sin? Let’s look at what some churches teach and then discuss the biblical view.

Recovery From Sin
A. Human Works – most churches believe that God requires some form of personal sacrifice from us to make up for our sins. Some prescribe penitence, which is a state of regret, guilt and contrition because of sin. These churches require that the saved sinner feel sorry for sin and even make a sign of their sorrow. Others teach public confession or at least private confession to a priest or pastor. In some churches, the end of the service is marked by members crying at the altar over their sins to gain forgiveness. Perhaps even an empty promise not to ever do it again as well will be suggested. Sadly, none of these prescriptions for being forgiven are biblical and serve only to confuse Christians about the significance of their sins. Let’s look at another option prescribed by God’s word.
B. Grace – Everything we receive from God is an expression of His grace earned for us by the work of Christ. First, we must remember that the post-salvation sins in question have already been paid for on the cross. They have already been named and forgiven in the courtroom of heaven. This is called Positional or Judicial forgiveness. When we commit sins post-salvation, we are not taken back to court because we are now God’s adopted children. Post-salvation sins come under the heading of Parental forgiveness. God as our parent requires that we confess our sins to Him to be forgiven for them.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Just as any parent looks for a truthful admission of guilt from children, so does God. When we commit sins after we are saved, We are commanded to admit our sins to God and He who is faithful to His word will forgive us (as a parent) and cleanse us from the unrighteous effects the sin has had on our souls. This is God’s grace in action. Having already Judicially dealt with our sins, He has made the sins of His children a parental issue that is dealt with through truthfulness with Him. Notice the Greek word homologeo means to admit the truth and carries no emotional content within the word. God does not require us to feel sorry, feel guilty or show remorse to be forgiven. When we do confess our sins, we not only are forgiven and cleansed from sin but we regain our fellowship with the Spirit, called the filling of the Spirit.

Filling of the Spirit
The Holy Spirit comes to indwell the believer’s body at the moment of salvation, making his body the temple of God. From this post He performs the ministry of filling the believer’s soul.

Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

The filling of the Spirit is the absolute status of being surrendered to the influence of the Spirit. When the believer is filled by the Spirit, he is free from sin and its immediate influence. The filling of the Spirit is the work of the Spirit empowering the believer to function in the spiritual life. As long as we remain surrendered to His direction by choosing not to sin and listening to His voice, we continue to be filled with the Spirit. When we choose to sin, we take our lives out from under the Spirit’s influence and we lose temporal fellowship with Him. At this point we resume using our old sin patterns to manage our lives, as described above. If we continue in sin, we begin a process of degeneration that will lead us to the sin unto death, where God Himself takes us home.

When we decide to confess our sins, our faithful God forgives us, cleanses us and enters us back into the absolute status of being filled by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit immediately resumes His work of moving us along into spiritual growth and empowering the spiritual life. It is His power that makes the Christian life a supernatural life, far beyond anything human ability or will can accomplish.

Divine Discipline
Having read the grace plan of God for post-salvation sins above, many have complained that it is too easy and not costly enough to inhibit future sins. If all we have to do is admit our sins, then what will make us think twice the next time we decide to sin? Paul dealt with this same issue in Rome.
Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

Afraid of Grace

Many fear that our freedom from grace will remove all of the hindrances to sin in the believer’s life. If there is no fear of reprisal, then why not sin all we want and abuse grace? First, I have learned that all children abuse grace, including spiritual children. I have also learned that children grow out of this phase of life and come to love and appreciate those who give them grace. They turn and serve the same ones who trained them, forgave them, were patient with them and loved them in spite of their sins.

God, as a Father disciplines and trains His children for the purpose of growing them out of their sins. He uses very harsh methods at times to help us remember that sin will destroy our spiritual lives. Listen to the admonishment of the writer of Hebrews:

Hebrews 12:5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

God reproves and God even scourges His children to teach them about the seriousness of sin. Scourging was the ancient act of beating a criminal with a metal tipped whip and skinning the hide from his back. This describes the intensive discipline that God uses to deal with resistant children. His training has a purpose that goes beyond avoidance of sin though. His goal is to train us in righteous living. In the same passage:

Hebrews 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

God trains His sinful saints to bring us to a place where we prefer a peaceful, righteous life with Him rather than a life of sin. We are able to avoid sin and live the spiritual life from love rather than fear. We are wise to fear God’s discipline but we are to trust His training to produce His righteous life in us through growth.

Summary
We have seen that mental sins motivate both verbal and overt sins and that believers commit these sins after they are saved. These sins will destroy the Christian life of the believer who allows them to dominate his life. God has made provision for us to be victorious over our sins through confession of sin, the filling of the Spirit and His divine training program. Confession brings us back under submission to the Spirit. The Spirit empowers us to process spiritual ideas and divine discipline is a training program that teaches us to love God and prefer the righteous life in Him more than the pleasures of sin. God overcomes our sins by His love and grace expressed through the ministry of the Spirit.