Q. What would your position be on someone who has had tremendous change in their life but can’t seem to kick a particular sin—maybe they’ve even stopped trying?
A. I would probably ask them whether they're trying to kick it in their own power, by making laws in order to help kick it, which never work (Rom. 7:7-25), or in the power of Christ? I would also ask whether or not they love Jesus more than they love that sin, because our love for Jesus is a great motivator. Whenever sin is at our door via the means of temptation (which we will always have), we know it. At that point, before we commit the sin and/or while starting to commit the sin, we know precisely what we're doing and should ask ourselves, "Do I love Jesus more than I love this sin and how it makes me feel? or do I love this sin more than I love Jesus who died for this sin and to free me from this sin?" If we are in Christ, we are dead to sin and commanded to consider this position a reality (Rom. 6 and 8). This has nothing to do with sinless perfection.
Then I would try to find out how they find themselves in this sin. If they are making plans for it and making provision for it and looking for ways in which to commit it privately (everything 1 John 3:4-10 condemns), then they might want to consider the possibility that they are not yet saved. If they are saved, it may be a matter of ignorance, in which what I shared at the beginning should help open their eyes and breathe new life into them. Regardless, they should be examining themselves in light of Scripture to see whether their profession of faith is genuine or not. We're commanded to "examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5), "work our your salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12), and "make your calling and election sure" (2 Pet. 1:10). Not to mention Christ's statement in regard to denying ourselves means to "utterly deny, disown, abstain."
Romans 8:13 commands us to be sin murderers. We need to pursue the sin in our lives and put it to death. Not by laws we erect upon ourselves, but through Jesus Christ. Paul said he kept under his body lest after he preached to others, he found himself cast into hell (paraphrase). Jesus came to save us from our sins. Not merely to save us from the penalty of them, but to save us from them. "You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free" (John 8:32). "If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed" (John 8:36). Why would Paul state everything he stated in Romans 6 and 8 and all his other epistles if there was no truth to it? Can and will we struggle with the temptation for particular sins? Yes. Probably until we die. But through Christ's death we have been given the victory and given power over that sin. We are dead to it. It no longer holds power over us unless we give it the power and deliberately submit ourselves to it. Remember, we are slaves to whom we yield ourselves. Is that going to be sin, for which Jesus died on our behalf? or is that going to be God? Victory is the by-product of obedience. When we are obedient toward God, victory naturally and inevitably results.
Just because someone has had a significant amount of change in their life does not necessarily prove anything. What kind of change is it and what motivated such change? Behavioural modification can be significant change, yet it does not change the heart. The heart is still deceitful, deceiving us into thinking we have changed when all we have done is swapped one idol in our lives with another. Rather than repenting, we have just swapped our bad deeds for good deeds, deceiving ourselves into thinking our good deeds will make up for the bad and square us with God, when in fact they are a putrid stench to His nostrils and will only condemn us that much faster. Paul speaks of godly repentance versus worldly repentance in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11. Which one do we have?
A. I would probably ask them whether they're trying to kick it in their own power, by making laws in order to help kick it, which never work (Rom. 7:7-25), or in the power of Christ? I would also ask whether or not they love Jesus more than they love that sin, because our love for Jesus is a great motivator. Whenever sin is at our door via the means of temptation (which we will always have), we know it. At that point, before we commit the sin and/or while starting to commit the sin, we know precisely what we're doing and should ask ourselves, "Do I love Jesus more than I love this sin and how it makes me feel? or do I love this sin more than I love Jesus who died for this sin and to free me from this sin?" If we are in Christ, we are dead to sin and commanded to consider this position a reality (Rom. 6 and 8). This has nothing to do with sinless perfection.
Then I would try to find out how they find themselves in this sin. If they are making plans for it and making provision for it and looking for ways in which to commit it privately (everything 1 John 3:4-10 condemns), then they might want to consider the possibility that they are not yet saved. If they are saved, it may be a matter of ignorance, in which what I shared at the beginning should help open their eyes and breathe new life into them. Regardless, they should be examining themselves in light of Scripture to see whether their profession of faith is genuine or not. We're commanded to "examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5), "work our your salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12), and "make your calling and election sure" (2 Pet. 1:10). Not to mention Christ's statement in regard to denying ourselves means to "utterly deny, disown, abstain."
Romans 8:13 commands us to be sin murderers. We need to pursue the sin in our lives and put it to death. Not by laws we erect upon ourselves, but through Jesus Christ. Paul said he kept under his body lest after he preached to others, he found himself cast into hell (paraphrase). Jesus came to save us from our sins. Not merely to save us from the penalty of them, but to save us from them. "You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free" (John 8:32). "If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed" (John 8:36). Why would Paul state everything he stated in Romans 6 and 8 and all his other epistles if there was no truth to it? Can and will we struggle with the temptation for particular sins? Yes. Probably until we die. But through Christ's death we have been given the victory and given power over that sin. We are dead to it. It no longer holds power over us unless we give it the power and deliberately submit ourselves to it. Remember, we are slaves to whom we yield ourselves. Is that going to be sin, for which Jesus died on our behalf? or is that going to be God? Victory is the by-product of obedience. When we are obedient toward God, victory naturally and inevitably results.
Just because someone has had a significant amount of change in their life does not necessarily prove anything. What kind of change is it and what motivated such change? Behavioural modification can be significant change, yet it does not change the heart. The heart is still deceitful, deceiving us into thinking we have changed when all we have done is swapped one idol in our lives with another. Rather than repenting, we have just swapped our bad deeds for good deeds, deceiving ourselves into thinking our good deeds will make up for the bad and square us with God, when in fact they are a putrid stench to His nostrils and will only condemn us that much faster. Paul speaks of godly repentance versus worldly repentance in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11. Which one do we have?