Sin is one of those words we attach to a religious context but not really sure if it applies to our world today in 2023. After all, nobody’s perfect! But in the last few years our culture has become fascinated with calling out wicked behavior. Our culture loves pointing out injustice, racism, sexual immorality, greed, hypocrisy; sometimes it feels like there are specific areas of life we know we shouldn’t cross because if we do “someone” is going to yell at us.

But there are still some areas of life where there isn’t agreement in our culture on what is wicked and what isn’t wicked. Our culture isn’t sure where to draw the line but God’s Word makes it clear that any time we say, think or do anything that isn’t perfect we are falling short of God’s righteousness. The bible calls it sin.

The good news is that Jesus has come to rescue us from our sin. That’s the gospel! Jesus lives a perfect life. Jesus willingly lays His life down at the cross. Jesus dies in our place and conquers death in the resurrection, so that all who trust in Him have eternal life. Praise God!

But what about that sin? Through faith in Jesus, the power of sin has been removed. The chains have been broken! But, for every follower of Jesus, the temptation of sin is still there, therefore, how do we respond.

 

8 Biblical Ways to Fight Sin

 

1. Trust in Jesus:

You can’t fight death with death, darkness with darkness. Our only hope to turn from sin is to trust in Jesus, so that we receive forgiveness and are able to turn from sin.

2. Believe God’s Word:

God’s Word teaches us that sin has come to steal, kill and destroy. Genesis 4 teaches us that sin is “crouching at our door and it’s desire is for you.” Do you believe sin is trying to dominate you? Do you believe sin wants to rob you of God’s joy? The worst mistake we could ever make is believing, “No me. It’s just one area of my life. It’s not that big of a deal.”

3. Illuminate sin through Scripture:

Let us make every effort to inspect our lives through the filter of Scripture. Let us invite the Holy Spirit to filter our lives through God’s Word. Human nature is to do the opposite. Human nature is to hide our sin and keep our sin in darkness. Like Adam and Eve of old we are looking for “coverings” so that we can keep our sin hidden but Jesus has come so that we might walk in the light as He is in the light.

4. Believe we are new in Christ:

Through faith in Jesus we are made new. We are given new eyes, new hearts and new desires. Why would we return to that which has been put to death in Christ? Why would we put on those old clothes? Why would we return to chains? The old is gone!

5. Deny the flesh:

Why would someone bring a poisonous snake into their bedroom? We wouldn’t! In the same way, why would we try to get as close to sin as possible? Instead get as far away from sin as possible! The Spirit has come with power; therefore, we don’t need to wallow in temptation but flee from temptation.

6. Expunge the flesh:

Why would we simply run from the sin at the surface? Every behavior has a beginning. There are desires and pleasures deeply imbedded in our being, therefore, through the power of the Holy Spirit, search out those areas of our life. Ask the Lord to bring healing into areas of pain. Ask the Lord to bring forgiveness into areas of hurt. Ask the Lord to help you see ideas, thoughts and memories that we are holding onto and yet that are not of Him, so that we might turn from those thoughts through the power of the Holy Spirit.

7. Wise counselors:

We all need community but a community of wise people and godly people are even better. Are you taking steps to build relationships with godly men and women? It doesn’t happen overnight but godly counselors are a gift worth pursuing.

8. Confession:

It is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. There is forgiveness at the cross. There is cleansing at the cross. If we aren’t careful we can get comfortable with sin, death and darkness but instead we want to become familiar with life, holiness and godliness.

 

His Rescue

Sin is sometimes described as a grenade. In the beginning sin looks like a round, metal object with a fancy pin missing from the side. In the beginning we think we found something novel. In the beginning we think this new find is going to be a new treasure so we pick up our new treasure and we stick it in our pocket.

Eventually that fancy treasure in our pocket is going to blow up and we are going to scream in terror. We are going to say to ourselves, “What happened? I wasn’t doing anything. I was just walking down the street and BAM my leg is gone.”

Such is the way with sin. Sin doesn’t ask for permission. Sin doesn’t send a text to see, “Is this a good time to blow up your life?” But eventually sin is going to do what sin does, which is to bring destruction, therefore, turn from sin, flee from sin and cry out to Jesus to bring His rescue.

 

North Village Church

This article was written by Pastor Michael Dennis, Lead Pastor at North Village Church; a non-denominational church in Austin, TX, established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.

Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.

North Village Church is made up of professionals, married couples, singles, and families who are wanting to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus. If you are a family with children or teens, we can support you with either or both our Kids Ministry and Youth Ministry.

Check out our North Village Church calendar highlights such as our Christmas Eve Service in Austin and Easter Sunday Service.

You are welcome to contact us if you would like more information, please call (512)-623-9272 or email [email protected]

NVC Online

Unable to attend this Christian Church in Austin? Don’t worry, because, through God’s provision, we have created NVC online, an Online Church streaming a worship service every Sunday from 10:30am Central Time. You can also watch our short, powerful sermons on demand and follow us on Instagram for daily Christ centered content.

 

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash