How To Conquer Sin In Our Lives

 It is very easy to forget the power of God’s word when we fail to consistently study and meditate on it. When we do not allow the word to rule our lives, it does not have the compelling influence it needs to have. Jesus said my words are Spirit and they are life (John 6:63). The word of God is what I call Spiritually Organic. It is alive! 

Job said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). The word of God has to be preeminent in the life of the Christian. Without it, we are defeated and walking in darkness. The Psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (italics added for emphasis, Psalm 119:105). In this same chapter we read, “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).

The difference between  a mature and immature Christian

In 2 Timothy 2:15 we read these words, “Study to show yourself approved unto God. A workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

The phrase rightly divide means to cut it straight. The believer that is serious about their walk with the Lord goes to work and diligently studies God’s word. It is never a casual exercise. Why must we do this? 1) The Lord commands that we do. 2) To refute false teaching and always fight for truth and expose lies. They dealt with it in the first century, and we are dealing with it today. 

When one gains confidence from the truth, you will become mature and unashamed of the gospel. You will be able to answer every naysayer! I repeat every naysayer! I don’t care how much education and degrees they have or how much they love their sin. Remember, the unbeliever does not have the Resident Comforter and Teacher dwelling on the inside of them, God the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).

We do by God’s grace!

So obviously those believers that do not study to show themselves approved will not rightly divide God’s truth and will be put to shame when challenged for their faith. Immature Christians will most likely be subject to engage in sin more often than those who are investing their time in learning the scriptures. Why? Because they have not hidden the word in their hearts. They are more vulnerable and weak. These are the ones that will be carried away by windy doctrines by charlatans who talk heresy and tickle the ears (Ephesians 4:14;2 Timothy 4:3). Immature believers do not have their senses heightened enough to feel real conviction when they sin. God’s truth is our defense against the attacks of Satan.

Paul in Colossians 3:16 commands that we are to let the word of God dwell in us richly - meaning God’s word has to take deep root. It must be like what Jeremiah said, the word of God has to be like fire in your bones that you cannot contain (Jeremiah 20:9)! Just as the body has to be flooded with oxygen for its health and survival, we must flood our souls with the oxygen of God’s word so that we are spiritually fit to go to war.

Are we supposed to be heavenly minded?

Many have heard the phrase or proverb, “You’re so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good!” I used to believe that phrase until very recently. That is the criticism of non-believers or carnal Christians toward believers; thinking because we talk about Jesus, the Church and Salvation that perhaps we are not in touch enough with reality or we’re not concerned about the problems of this world. 

That reasoning is based on a false premise. Christians and the Church throughout history have been great champions for humanity because of their love for God and mankind. William Wilberforce and John Newton worked hard to abolish slavery in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other believers started orphanages and schools. Most importantly, saints way back in early Church history and now have and are sharing the gospel all over the world so that souls will be saved. This is all due to people of God being heavenly minded which always translates to much earthly good. It is those that are only earthly minded that are no heavenly good. Let me prove that Biblically:

“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).

This verse clearly commands us to focus on heavenly things not earthly.

Why?

2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is not seen. What we see is temporary, but what we do not see is eternal.”

So to put the unseen in context, the apostle Paul is talking about the Kingdom of God, Jesus, eternal life - the life to come, the gospel. These are everlasting things - not climate change, fossil fuels, greenhouse gasses, poverty, homelessness, crime, murder, theft, social justice, racism, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Transhumanism, AI, Gender Dysphoria, Abortion, Illegal Immigration, Proxy Wars, etc. All of these will pass away.

The word of God is the lifeline for the Christian. If one abandons it, they should examine their life to see if they are really a believer (2 Corinthians 13:5). Being with it empowers us to not only deal with the sin in our own lives, but it will compel us to lovingly help others who are trapped in their sins who want to be free but do not know how. 

The apostle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). The word power in the Greek is the word dunamis. This is where we get the English words dynamite, dynamo or dynamic. Want to be a powerful and victorious believer who conquers sin? Consume God’s word. Want to have strong moral convictions and be fearless in a hopeless and Godless world? Feed on God’s word.

This is what Ezra the scribe set his heart to do:

For Ezra had 1) prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and 2) to do it, and 3) to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7:10).  

Someone wisely said, “The Bible keeps you away from sin, but sin keeps you away from the Bible.”

What Is The Seeker Sensitive Church?

 Seeker sensitive Churches basis is emotional more than doctrinal. They base their faith heavily on experience. Those that lead these types of Churches will use an entertainment atmosphere - light shows, hype music to draw in the unchurched. The target audience are young people. From what I have seen online, seeker sensitive centers are often large Mega Churches with plenty of money. The preacher’s message is non-offensive. He / she rarely discusses the need for repenting of sin for that is negative. Rather, it often is a “positive” message about living your best life now. It’s about positive affirmations and “good vibrations.”

Seeker centers are primarily based on two factors: the speaker and the audience, not on God. It focuses on the speaker because they’re often very loud, demonstrative and charismatic. Their presence is so powerful it can be hypnotic. Secondly, these centers focus on the parishioner because they react to the heretical message being delivered. They respond by shouting Amen, jumping up and down and running around the sanctuary. Jesus’ name is mentioned, but it’s not the Jesus of the Bible. One individual even had the gall to say that Jesus was a stripper because He died naked on the cross! Go search it out on YouTube. 

The thought process of these types of churches [(and I use the word church(es) loosely] is like this: cater the church service to the sinner and not the Christian. Use secular music so the sinner is comfortable when they enter the building. Churches are to be kind to all people, but that does not mean the gospel should be abandoned to conform to the world. Those that are in God’s house must hear God’s truth. The music must be worshipful to God not to man. Everything the world is used to doing outside of the Church should never be in the Church. The two must remain separate.

No one in the Church needs a motivational message about their goals and dreams. We need the word of God so that we can be reinvigorated with strength so that we can continue to fight the good fight of faith (2 Timothy 4:7-8). We need the word of God so that we can combat falsehood and earnestly contend for the faith (1 Peter 3:15). Those are the best feel good messages one can receive; to know that you are in the will of God (Ephesians 5:17).

When one seeks God and His righteousness, everything in our lives falls in order  (Matthew 6:33).

What must the unsaved hear when they enter God’s house?

Jesus started His public ministry by commanding everyone to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17). Jesus went right to the heart of man’s problem, his sinful nature. Why did He do this? Because He was preaching the good news, the gospel. The goal of the faithful Pastor is to persuade the sinner why he or she needs to be saved. We do all we can do in the natural to compel people why they must repent, and leave it up to God to convert the soul through the dynamic power of the word of God (Psalm 19:7). It amazes me the power that so many Pastors have (i.e. the word of God), yet they fail to use it all because they want the unchurched to receive their watered down powerless message. The weak Pastor to me is the greatest enemy of the unsaved when they teach a user-friendly message. Why? They have disguised themselves as a sheep when they’re a wolf. The role of the Pastor is to warn the unsaved by telling them of pending eternal destruction and hell if they refuse to repent. Despite what many believe, preaching a message about avoiding hell is not hateful, it is loving if taught with the understanding you have a burden for that person’s soul. (Ephesians 4:15).

When Paul was before King Herod Agrippa and shared his testimony about his conversion to Jesus, he was so compelling that Herod said, “You almost persuaded me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). These are the types of penetrating messages that must be preached. Same thing happened when Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. In verse 37 it says they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” 

Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:37-39). In verse 40b Peter said, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”

 It is like Peter is speaking these words today although he spoke them 2000 years ago. We too must be saved from this perverse generation. This is the message that everyone must hear-the message that pricks men’s heart so that they can repent and be saved so they do not eternally perish. The seeker friendly message does nothing but brings the world into the church, makes them comfortable in their sin instead of uncomfortable because God has been de-fanged of His power, and everyone's ears are tickled due to a toxic candyland message.

Shame on those who teach a different gospel other than what Jesus, the apostles and the men and women have preached throughout church history. The judgment for those who preach a false gospel will eternally regret it (Galatians 1:8).