“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48.
Jesus called us to live a perfect, sinless life in righteousness. But as we discover, righteousness does not come without a fight. And sometimes that fight is not a fight you win because even though you do your best to follow Jesus, you fall. You sin. You lose the battle. But the good news is you haven’t lost the war.
Christianity is war. But this war is unlike any war that’s been fought before. Our war is not against people but against evil spiritual powers and the rulers of darkness. (Ephesians 6:12) A war tends to be a messy affair. There’s a lot of back and forth. You win some, you lose some. You fire a shot. You fire another. You hit. You miss. You take a bullet. You give in to sin. A war, you may think, is not won without a few losses.
If you’re a Christian, you know war. War with your pride, war with your lust, war with your anger. War at home, war at work, war when you’re alone. War in your head, war in your heart, war in your mouth. Defeat one enemy, and another seems lined up to take its place. Fight your way up one hill, and another hill needs to be scaled. It is easy to wonder if this is the Christian life. In those moments, we must remember that war is winnable and that it will ultimately come to an end.
Yes, the battle against sin is winnable. Though sin is a powerful force, the victory has already been secured through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Jesus decisively defeated sin and death through His crucifixion and resurrection. This victory is the foundation for believers to experience freedom from sin’s power. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to resist temptation and live a life pleasing to God, and the Bible provides principles and strategies for overcoming sin, including abstaining from sinful desires, meditating on God’s Word, and remaining in constant prayer. Believers can have confidence that they can win the battle against sin by relying on God’s power.
He will be with you in every battle (Matthew 28:20). He will uphold you with His victorious right hand (Isaiah 41:10). He will sanctify you completely (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
The “war against sin” will ultimately culminate in a future state of complete freedom from sin and its consequences. This belief is rooted in Jesus’s return and the establishment of a new heaven and a new earth. In this future state, sin will be eradicated, and believers will experience perfect fellowship with God and one another. We can find hope in Revelation 21:1-8, which describes a new heaven and new earth where God will dwell with His people and wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.
While we acknowledge our ongoing struggle with sin in this life, we also believe that in Christ, we are already freed from the penalty of sin and empowered to overcome its influence.
Discussion Questions:
- How can you actively resist temptation and put sin to death?
- What practical steps can you take to guard your heart and mind against sin?
- How can you use the Word of God and prayer to fight sin?