Free from Sin? Possible?

|| Return to Series Menu ||

<< Previous Post in Series       Next Post in Series >> 

Here’s where we left off…

Sin is in you. It is part of our nature as humans. It will always be there knocking at the door, asking you to try things your own way. “Get it now”, “don’t wait”, “This feels better”, Etc. But, being a sinner…that is not certain. That is not inevitable. Jesus died and gave us the power to shed the mantle of “Sinner” in exchange for, “son of God”. Sin will still be there, but it doesn’t’ have to own us. Each Spirit can be beaten down, uprooted, and caged. We can master them.

Let’s continue…

Jesus won’t just wipe it all away and give you the “free from sin” card just like that. Why not? Because, if he did that, you would fall to the very next attack. You will have learned nothing, and therefore, be unable to fend off the sin caged inside. (Matthew 12:43-45)

No, He must teach us how to win. I’ll admit, sometimes I wish he would just end things in me so that I can be free. But, I understand that I must learn to fight these things. I must learn to see what they look like and how they attack. Then, I can find their weaknesses and fight back. Jesus doesn’t want a bunch of babies that need their hands held and their bottle refilled. He wants functioning people who can fend these things off. He wants this to become simple so that we can focus on His work for the kingdom.

This step is vital and so often missed by preachers, missionaries, and all others who try and do anything that’s “good” for the kingdom. They focus on the doing good and forget to deal with themselves (Matthew 7:5) (Luke 6:42). That’s why you read so many stories of Christians who did so much for people, and then… sex scandal, money laundering, drug problems, or even broken families. I used to look at pastors’ families and think, “Man, if the preacher’s family can’t make it, what hope do the rest of have.” But, the fact is, churches don’t teach people how to defeat sin. They teach you how to discipline yourself against it. They teach you to force yourself to follow rules. You know what they Bible calls that? Religion! (I’d put citation here, but seriously….the entire old testament, and the new actually.) It’s similar to God’s approach if you’re not paying attention, but it’s just off enough to lead you to death. It skips so many steps.

Picture sin as a brick wall. It falls over on you and you catch it. You are holding it up thinking, “This isn’t so bad, I can do this.” Now, you just have to do that… forever. Avoid too much food. Don’t look at porn. Be nice. Honor your parents…Phew this thing’s heavy…. Ok…work hard…. Uggh…. Be honest…. Heavy……SLAM!. Right on your face.

See, the thing about holding up the wall is gravity never gets tired, but you will. It might be easy when you start, but you can’t ever stop. You can’t take a break. You get no sabbath. You get no time with Jesus to refill, because the wall is always there pushing on you. The worst thing is, with your attention on the wall, you will never do anything for the kingdom. How can you? You’re stuck there, holding that wall.

That’s what I was always taught. I was told to get an accountability partner to check my internet actions. At first it worked. I was so afraid to be found out that I didn’t do anything. But, the problem is, for every accountability app, there are 6 apps that will hide everything for you. Chrome has a built-in feature called “incognito mode”. Sure, it’s great when you’re buying a present for your wife and you don’t want her to know, but Lust will jump on it and tell you what else you can hide. Sorry to be crass, but facts are facts. And still, the wall pushes down.

How many times have you started a diet and failed it. And, if you didn’t fail, then you are a slave to the diet…. uhh forever. Yay! Meanwhile…. mmmm cookies… And still, the wall pushes down.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can do it. Stop pep talking yourself and filling your head with motivational cat posters and see reality. You can’t hold on forever. These things have been a part of your life for a very long time. They know you. They own you. They let you resist so that you will keep doing thigs this way. If they fight too hard you may actually see them for what they are and take drastic measures. So, they give you ground, knowing that you’ll be back. Think about it. If you drink all the time but have just enough control they nothing bad ever happens, why would you stop. There’s no need. Someone who kills someone in a DUI, now that’s an eye opener.

It’s time to wake up. These things must be defeated. They must be starved and beaten down until they can be locked in the cage. Only Jesus can teach you how to do that. You start to see what they are. You see their tricks and tactics. You see how they play off each other and feed each other. Pride and condemnation work well together. Sloth and Gluttony are back to back. And when you gain freedom from these spirits, then you must fight the habits that they have created in you. And when that’s done, well, then there is no more wall. The wall stands upright on its own. Sin may push a brick or two out from time to time to tempt you, but if you are aware, you just put it back in, slap sin’s naughty hand, and get back to it.

That’s the reason so many big-name Christians end up in huge trouble. They never dealt with themselves. They spent so much time dealing with others, and when they fall, all those people go with them.

So, that’s our prayer. Lord make us ready. Don’t let us start anything until we have control over ourselves. Pastors often told me that we should be doing all the things the Acts church could do. When I asked why we don’t, I usually got, “We don’t have enough faith”. Which is true, to which I respond, “how do we get more faith if we never do anything that really requires faith?”

 But, I would say that we can’t cast out sickness and death in others when we can’t control our own bodies. Have you ever gotten that tickle in the back of your throat that won’t go away, and you think, “oh no, I’m getting sick?” Most people have done something like that. I’ll bet that far fewer have taken authority over that sickness and cast it out like a demon. Yeah, it can be done. How do you think the apostles did it? They ordered sickness and disease to leave, and it obeyed… What??? A body’s response to a virus can obey orders? Yup, that’s what I’m saying. That’s what the bible says. Read Acts. So, you have to control your body before you can control anyone else’s.

That’s why we can’t do what they did. We are completely owned by sin and most of us can’t even see it. The porn industry is the wealthiest industry on the planet, and it’s not going down any time soon

(“According to various reports, currently, the porn industry’s net worth is about $97 billion. This money is enough to feed at-least 4.8 billion people a day. Every year, Hollywood releases roughly 600 movies and makes $10 billion in profit. And how much porn industry makes? 13,000 films and close to $15 billion in profit. The porn industry makes more money than Major League Baseball, The NFL and The NBA combined.” Source  Https://medium.com/@Strange_bt_True/how-big-is-the-porn-industry-fbc1ac78091b ).

And, don’t think that many of the users don’t call themselves Christians. This doesn’t even include the illegal pornography.

 Many, many Christians feed gluttony immediately after Sunday morning church. Like, it’s a tradition now. Gluttony with family after church. Thanksgiving is about gluttony. Gluttony likes football and birthdays. Need I go on? Greed sleeps with poor people and rich people. The middle class can’t decide which greed’s side they are on. The suicide rate in America rose 24% from 1999 to 2014. So, depression is there. It goes on and one. There is no freedom in the land of the free. That’s why the church is…. Well, useless.

I’m just saying people, where are the results? If we are not living like the Acts church, then we aren’t doing it right. We are skipping steps and leaving more people behind. So many people sit in pews every week, their spirits full of sin, and they don’t even know it.

So, step one is recognizing that everything is not Satan’s fault. He’s just the really angry guy that threw us some lip service. Step two is recognizing that we’re trapped by sin and need to do something. Step three…. Jesus…. lots of Jesus.

To answer the question, can we be free from sin? As Jesus often tells me, “Yes…And no” Sin will never stop pounding at your door. But, you can be free from slavery to it. You can be given the power to reject it. You can make it small and weak. This is the essence of the battle for the heart. You cannot give your heart to Jesus if it already belongs to everything else. Most people who read this will deny it and say they are doing well. They won’t even entertain the idea that something has a hold on them. Sin doesn’t want to be found. It likes ignorance. You want to win the battle for your heart? You really want Jesus to have your heart? Get on your knees and beg him to reveal sin in you. Beg him to rip it from you. Tell him you are willing to do what it takes to make room for him. It will hurt.

Come back next time and we’ll talk about what this process looks like. There’s not a set formula, but there are some… stepping stones if you will. Until then, pray.