Winning the War: How to Overcome Sin and Live in Freedom
Wage War
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” -Romans 8:13
We take our safety seriously, and avoid anything that could post a potential danger to us or our families. And yet all of us, from the moment of our birth, harbors the deadliest foe known to mankind; sin. Sin is the only plague in the world with a 100% mortality rate. No disease, animal, or human act of violence has killed as many people as sin has. It has been this way since our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and brought upon all of their posterity the curse of sin and death.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” -Genesis 2:16-17
From Adam onward, each of us has been plagued with sin and consigned to death because of it. But God, in His infinite mercy, sent to us another representative; a better Adam. A man of whom sin would have no grasp, who would be perfectly righteous in all of his thoughts and deeds. This man gave himself up to die a sinner's death so that all who come to Him would be cleared of their guilt, or justified, free from the bondage of sin and freed to a union and relationship with God.
This man is Jesus of Nazareth. God in the flesh, a perfect substitute who proved his power over sin by his miraculous resurrection from the dead. For all who turn from sin and trust in him, they are granted eternal life. His sacrifice counts for them, and they are free of their sin-debt to God. No more wrath, only grace.
But as every Christian shockingly discovers that upon coming to Christ, our freedom from the guilt and bondage of sin doesn’t free us from the reality and existence of sin. Paul describes the conflict that each of us experiences as we receive our salvation, and yet wait for the fullness of it:
“For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, but I see a different law in the parts of my body; waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.” -Romans 7:22–25
Our spirits have been made alive; we have a new heart. Yet our body is wasting away, awaiting a future redemption. We live in the in-between. Battling between the desires of our renewed heart and our sin-riddled flesh.
And yet God has called us to wage war against our flesh and to live holy lives (Leviticus 20:26, Colossians 3:1-10, Galatians 5:24, Romans 12:1-2, Romans 13:14). He has also warned us about the disastrous consequences of our sins (Romans 8:13, Isaiah 59:2).
As the great theologian John Owen warned in his classic work, The Mortification of Sin, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” So how do we wage this war against the passions of our flesh? How do we overcome that remaining sin that seems to stick to the recesses of our minds? Here are just a few practical weapons to arm yourself with.
Fear the Lord
“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.” -Proverbs 14:27
“The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.” - Proverbs 19:27
“The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” -Proverbs 25:14
In our squishy American Christianity, we have so often focused on the kindness of God, that we have almost neglected the power and holiness of God. God is the creator of the universe. He rules with absolute authority. His eyes see all the sins of man, and He is awaiting a day of final judgment where all will be exposed.
Jesus warns his disciples to kill the temptation of hypocrisy by reminding them of the terrifying power of God, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28). In the very next verse, he reminds his followers of God’s abundant love and care for them.
These two realities must be held in harmony. God is fearful and powerful, but He is also loving and merciful. When we remember the kindness of God, we must remember it in light of His justice and wrath. And when we remember the wrath of God, we must remember it in light of His mercy and patience.
As we remind ourselves of the power of God, of His perfect holiness, and of His all-knowing might, we develop in our souls a healthy fear of the God of the universe. This fear also does something powerful within us. The fear of God creates in us a hatred of sin (Proverbs 8:13). Fear God, hate sin, draw near by His mercy, and abide in His presence.
Strive in Prayer
“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” -Matthew 26:41
When Jesus spoke to a handful of his closest friends on the eve of his betrayal, he warned them to abide in prayer, and by doing so, to avoid temptation. There is a key connection between our fellowship with God and our separation from sin. Leonard Ravenhill once concluded that “The praying man stops sinning, and the sinning man stops praying.”
This is the concept that Jesus taught when he told his followers to “abide in me” (John 15:4). He goes so far as to say that we can do nothing and bear no fruit unless we abide in, or cling to, him by faith. A central aspect of this abiding is the relational action of prayer. Prayer, very simply, is communion and connection with God. It is drawing near to God’s presence and sharing communication with Him. To abide in prayer is to enter into fellowship with God Himself.
The beautiful reality is that we have full access, through Christ, to draw near to God in prayer, and that when we do, we receive the mercy and grace that helps us and meets our needs (Hebrews 4:16). Do you want to begin killing sin? Schedule time to be alone with God. Weave prayer into the fabric of your life. Wage war on your knees.
Despise an Empty Mind
What we think determines what we do. What we meditate on determines how we feel. What we fill our minds with will guide our decisions, actions, words, and deeds. In other words, 90% of the battle against sin is fought in your mind. Paul speaks of the concept of mental warfare in multiple passages throughout his epistles:
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” -Colossians 3:2
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” -Philippians 4:8–9
When we are called by Christ and born again through the Holy Spirit, we are no longer bound to sin. We have freedom to wage war against it. This means that, by the power of the Spirit, we can fight against sin and its foothold in our thoughts. Notice that Paul commands us to be active in our thoughts. To “set” our minds, and to purposefully “think about these things”.
Waging war in our minds is not a vague command to think positive thoughts, it is a strategic cry to fill our minds with that which spurs us toward righteousness. One of the most profound verses that explains this reality is Romans 13:14: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”.
The word here for “provision” in the Greek is πρόνοιαν, which shares its root with another word Paul uses in his letter to the Romans. This similar word is προνοέω, which means “to give thought to”.
Here’s the big idea: When Paul says that we are not to make “provision” for the flesh, what he is saying is that we are not to “give any thought to” the passions and desires of our sinful nature. In other words, leave no space in your mind for sinful thoughts to creep in.
If we leave any empty room in our mind, or any aimless space, our flesh will attempt to fill it with all manner of godless passions. And if our flesh does not fill it, the voices of our culture will. This is why Psalm 1 describes the righteous person as one who “meditates on His law day and night” (Psalm 1:2).
We must fight sin in our minds, and this means crowding our thoughts with scripture and meditations on the glory of God. If we fill our minds accordingly, we leave no room for the sinful passions of our flesh.
Embarrass Your Sin
The final weapon I would like to strap to your belt is the ever-important and ever-neglected gift of Christian community. No battle has ever been won by one soldier. In the same way, we have been adopted into a family. Our family, the church, is a means of grace by which God strengthens us in our fight against temptation.
This is why James tells us to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). When we repent we are forgiven, but when we confess we are healed.
Jesus himself laid out a pattern of loving rebuke in Matthew 18:15-20, highlighting the importance of honest Christian community and consistent church discipline. Paul picks up on this theme in his letter to Galatia:
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” -Galatians 6:1-2
This is a key truth that we must remain humble enough to accept; that we do not know ourselves well enough, and that sin is more deceptive than we believe. Without the help of other believers, we have no hope in this battle.
Surround yourself with people who know and love Jesus. Meditate on God’s word, crowding out the desires of the flesh. Meet with Him in prayer so that a holy, reverential fear is birthed in your soul. Once you’ve done this, fight and fight again. Christ purchased your freedom, go and lay hold of it.
