Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · Our Walk with Him
You fight sin not by grit alone, but by reckoning yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, and by walking in the Spirit. It is a battle of faith, winnable not because you are strong, but because He is.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/how-do-i-fight-sin · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Romans 6:1-14
As you read: The identity underneath the battle: reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God.
1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?
3Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
7For he who has died has been freed from sin.
8But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;
9knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him!
10For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.
11Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
13Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
Romans 8:5-14
As you read: The Spirit is the power; we fight in step with Him.
5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
7because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
8Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
10If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
Galatians 5:16-26
As you read: Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
20idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
21envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
25If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
26Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.
Colossians 3:1-10
As you read: Fight specific sins specifically: put off, and put on.
1If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
5Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
6for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;
8but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
Our 'old self' was crucified with Christ so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. Paul tells us to 'consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord' and not to let sin reign. The battle begins with who He has made you: a freed person, not a slave.
“knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.”Romans 6:6
“Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.”Romans 6:11-14
'Walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh.' By the Spirit we 'put to death the deeds of the body.' The battle is not sheer willpower but dependence: the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, and self-control as we stay in step with Him.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.”Galatians 5:16-17
“For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”Romans 8:13
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”Galatians 5:22-23
Paul is practical: 'Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth,' and name them. 'Put off' anger, wrath, and malice; 'put on' Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Vague dislike of sin changes nothing; a specific fight, by the Spirit, does.
“Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;”Colossians 3:5
“but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.”Colossians 3:8
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.”Romans 13:14
We come to God as we 'draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.' Where we are weak, His grace is sufficient, and He provides a way of escape in every temptation. The fight is fought in His strength, not ours.
“Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.”Hebrews 4:16
“He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.”2 Corinthians 12:9
“No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”1 Corinthians 10:13
Jesus told His disciples to 'watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.' We confess our struggles to one another, bear one another's burdens, and stay sober and watchful against the enemy. Victory grows where a brother or sister fights beside us.
“Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.””Matthew 26:41
“Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.”James 5:16
“Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”Galatians 6:1-2
“Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.”1 Peter 5:8-9