In all honesty, this more or less feels prickly than familiar. We’ve been at that point where our eternal security effortlessly fell on the weighing scale whiles our religious ideals held up high – secretly, we knew what was happening, but of course ‘He is a merciful God’. It is at this point the mysterious relationship of God against man’s free will gets ‘questionable’.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been here, in this spot, numerous times. Every Christian wrestles with sin every single day – “but if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer doing it, but sin which dwells in me”, Rom. 7:20NASB. Due to our sinful nature, it is usually emblematic of us to sin against our own will. But just like my pastor Bishop Dag Heward Mills said, a spiritual man does not fight the action (sin), he fights the desire, because “but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust (desire) has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death”, James 1:14-15NASB.
Don’t overthink this, stay with me:
In our daily struggle with a number of sins, most of us can be honest to identify at least one sin that presents a lifelong struggle, an imperfection that causes us to learn the same old lesson in a familiar cycle. But has it ever occurred to you that the finest way to stop sinning is to stop trying to stop sinning?
Let me re-echo this in caps – THE FINEST WAY TO STOP SINNING IS TO STOP TRYING TO STOP SINNING.
Why? As we become more cautious of our sins and trying to avoid them, truth is, all we are doing is feeding the very thought about the sins we’re trying to avoid.
“But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion)”, James 1:14AMP.
In this struggle, fear is your greatest ally. Sin births fear when we forget how we’ve been made righteous in the righteousness of Christ. We view this sin in a huge perspective of fear wrapping up with a blind awareness of how His righteousness is never enough to save us. It is. The moment there is a shift in this mindset, you’ll immediately begin to feel safe… safe in Christ, and when you begin to feel safe, the desire to sin lessens. “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace”, Rom 6:14NASB.
So, as you go through your daily struggles, refocus your mind on Christ and his grace instead of obsessing over the sin you keep trying to stop. Remember, you are free from bondage, and his grace is sufficient. See yourself as one who receives grace – you will have a thankful heart and grow daily with unwavering eternal security.
Akwele