Trumpet Ministries,Killing sin
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In several passages of the New Testament we are commanded to stop sinning.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)
Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. (I Corinthians 15:34)
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:24)
(One wonders what the subscribers to lawless grace do with such verses!)
Under the present covenant we are able to kill the vitality of the sin that dwells in us.
There are three basic forms of sin: worldliness, the lusts of the flesh, and self-will.
We put worldliness to death by praying to God to help us turn away from the things of this world. We present our body a living sacrifice. We refuse to be conformed to this present world. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind as we pray, study the Scriptures, and meet together with fervent Christians.
We put the lusts of the flesh to death by confessing them to God and asking His help in forgiving us and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
First we must ask the Lord to give us the determination to say no to the particular sin that is troubling us. As soon as we gain the determination we confess the sin to God and allow Him to put it to death in us. We draw from the Lord the steel so we never again yield to this temptation. When we make up our mind to get rid of a behavior and go to the Lord about it in a determined manner, it will not be long before the behavior loses its power over us. Try it and see for yourself.
The battle against sin never ceases. As long as we walk in open confession of sin and an attitude of repentance, the blood of Jesus continues to keep us without condemnation. When we cease confessing and repenting of our sins and begin to go back into the world, we come under condemnation.
Then we are chastened by the Lord.
Putting self-will to death requires the special help of the Lord. In order to kill the self-will and rebellion in us the Lord brings us into suffering. Our task is to be patient in our tribulation, waiting continually on the Lord for the strength to get through each day. Sometimes we are in the Lord’s prison for many years.
We have to do what we do not want to do. We do not receive what we wish to receive. And so on for decades. The patient waiting on the Lord during times of suffering kills the self-will and rebellion in us.
The Christian is never to walk in known sin. Because we are under grace and not under the Law of Moses, sin cannot gain dominion over us unless we permit it to do so. There is ample grace in the blood of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God to enable us to gain victory over every evil that tempts us.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:12,13)
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