If I Have Victory In Jesus, Why Do I Still Struggle? Series

1. We have been given victory in Jesus over the power of sin, evil, and death

Last week on Easter Sunday we looked at the Scriptures which reveal that we who have faith in the resurrected Jesus have been given victory over sin and death. We find forgiveness through Jesus for our past sin, and we are given victory over death, because those who are in Jesus will never die but have eternal life. But I also mentioned last week that the Scripture teaches we have also been given victory over present and future sin, and the power of evil (Satan).

Rom. 6:6 Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life.

We haven’t just been forgiven of our sin, we have been set free from the power of sin now and forever. Sin no longer has control over us. In other words we shouldn’t sin any longer. We have been made into new creations in Christ Jesus. We are given a fresh start, a new life.

We are also delivered and kept safe from the power of Satan and his influence on our life. In other words, Satan’s got nothing on us anymore, he has no power over us.

NLT 1 John 5:18 We know that those who have become part of God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot get his hands on them.

Through Jesus believers have been given victory over sin, death, and the power of Satan. I remind you these promises are only for those who have faith in Jesus Christ. Without faith God does not guarantee you will have victory over darkness. You can apply the principles I will be teaching today and over the next four weeks and it will help some, but without the power of God’s Holy Spirit, who comes to live within those who believe, you will continue to face defeat and darkness. My first recommendation is that if you have not put your faith in Jesus and given your life to him, make that your first priority because otherwise you will continue to struggle.

However even Christians continue to struggle with temptation, with sin, with anger and evil thoughts, with anxiety, fear, or worry, with addictions, or even depression. Why is this? Is this the way God wants it to be? I believe God wants to bring victory over all of these to every Christian believer. So why then do we struggle with these areas?

We’re going to get into some of these areas specifically over the next few weeks, but I’ll tell you why we as believers struggle with sin and evil, it is because we lose the battle for our mind. I didn’t say you are losing your mind. Although you may wonder about that from time to time. No, we struggle because we lose the battle over our thoughts.

2. We still struggle with sin, temptation, and the influence of Satan because we haven’t allowed Christ to have control of our thoughts.

First, we need to realize our thoughts control our behavior. You will rarely, if ever do something without thinking it first, even if only briefly. Although I have known some people whom I wonder if they talk without thinking first, but rarely do we do anything without first making the decision to do so in our mind, especially when it comes to temptation and sin.

In the comic strip, Cathy, we see the internal struggle with temptation and sin. In the first frame Cathy thinks “I will take a drive but I won’t go to the grocery store.”

In the next frame, “I will drive to the grocery store but I won’t go in.”

“I will go in the grocery store, but I will not walk down the aisle where the Halloween candy is on sale.”

“I will look at the candy, but not pick it up.”

“I will pick up it up, but not buy it.”

“I will buy it, but not open it.”

“Open it, but not smell it.”

“Smell it, but not taste it.”

“Taste it, but not eat it.”

“Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!”

The battle is lost in the mind first before it is acted upon. Someone who commits adultery at one point thought, “my spouse isn’t meeting my needs, I deserve this, it will be worth it, no one will find out.” Someone who battles alcoholism will think, “it won’t hurt if I drink just one beer, and then what will one more beer hurt” and they have that glass, and another and another, until they are drunk again. Someone with anxiety problems is already thinking the worst case scenario, “but what if this happens or that happens,” which leads to a panic attack, ulcer, or other health problems. A person with anorexia or bulimia is looking in the mirror thinking, “I’m too fat, I’m eating too much”. It begins up here [pointing to head]. So if we are going to win the victory over our struggles we have to face up to what is going on in our mind, and then change what we are thinking.