We’re not a hypocrites. Loving God and desiring His will is paramount in our lives. But a sinful habit is destroying us, our testimony, and our faith. Perhaps it is smoking, an uncontrollable temper, some form of immorality, or one of a hundred different things. We’ve told ourselves and others agreed, “Just stop”, but we can’t. We increase church attendance, Bible study, and we even pray and fast more. Finally we try to “believe God harder.” We begin to doubt our salvation, because “Christians don’t do these things”. But, after all the work, tears and heartache, no victory comes and the problem gets worse. Why?
St. John 8:36 says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”. When most Christians think of the crucifixion, they relate the work done there as it pertains to salvation. What they don’t realize is, not only was sin’s debt paid, its power was broken too. When Jesus died on the cross and the Roman soldier pierced his side, blood and water came out (St. John 19:34). This revealed that the Lord’s heart had burst. But there is a deeper meaning to this; Christ would pay sin’s debt by giving his innocent blood (1 Peter 1:18-19, St. John 3:16). The blood pouring from his side signified this. However, Christ is also the Word of God manifested in the flesh (St. John 1:1-4, 1 Tim. 3:16). Ephesians 5:26 tells us that the Christian is washed and sanctified by the “washing of the word”. This was signified by the water pouring from the Lord’s side. The important thing to note is, both came from Christ and no other source. The Holy Spirit, through this event, was showing us a great truth. If the Christian doesn’t understand, even though loving the Lord supremely, will cause them to walk in defeat. They are saved, but miserably so. But if on the other hand the Christian understands and believes this truth, they will have the key to a victorious life.
We would ask then, why do Christians fail? Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”. These are the two most powerful laws in the universe. The law of sin and death answers the question as to why the Christian fails. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus answers the question of how to live free from sin and its’ power. Romans 8:13 tells us that it is through the Holy Spirit’s work in us that sinful habits are conquered. We see that it is by His empowerment that we are able to live free from sin and have the “more abundant life” Jesus spoke of in St. John 10:10. We go back to the original question. Why am I failing? It is because the Christian is living under the law of sin and death. This doesn’t mean the person is unsaved or is backsliding, although that can result. We must understand that the Holy Spirit only works in the parameters of the finished work of Christ and the benefits therein. We know this from the phrase, “in Christ Jesus”. In the Bible when this term is used, it always references Christ’s work on the cross of Calvary.
Then what does the Christian need to do so that the Holy Spirit will have access to work in their lives? Hebrews 12:1 tells the Christian to keep their eyes on Jesus, who is the “author and finisher of their faith”. St. John 16:14 tells us that the Holy Spirit will always point individuals, whether saint or sinner, to Christ as the source of all things. The Christian therefore is to look exclusively to Christ for everything he or she needs. 2 Peter 1:1-4 says, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteous of God and our savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is the world through lust”. This tells us that God has provided through Jesus Christ everything the Christian needs to live in victory. The question could then become: “If Peter is right about being partakers of the divine nature, why then am I failing?” 1 John 5:4 tells us, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 Timothy 6:12 says, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses”. This tells us that the Christian’s struggle is to be the “good fight of faith”. But faith how or in what? Colossians 2:6 tells us, “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him”. The word “walk” means to regulate, conduct, and order ones manner. When Christians got saved, they did so by hearing the Gospel presented. They accepted the fact that they couldn’t save themselves, thus accepting Jesus Christ, he having done what they couldn’t do. So this verse tells us that Christians must order their lives for the Lord with this mindset. Meaning Christians must constantly look to the Lord, believing that He has done everything necessary for their salvation, blessings, and freedom from sin. We would ask, what has the Lord done?
Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born again. St. John 3:7. The term “born again” speaks of a rebirth, leaving one life for another. The reason this is necessary is because we all are sinners having been born into original sin, Romans 3:10. Because the wages of sin is death, all are born spiritually dead, Romans 6:23. Thus, the need for the born again experience. But For this to happen, sin’s debt had to be paid. Christ did this at the cross, St. John 3:16. This was symbolized by the blood coming from His side. But remember water also came from him symbolizing the washing of the Word of God and its sanctifying process. Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. St. John 8:32. This denotes a process of “knowing the truth and being made free”. If Christians don’t know the truth they won’t be made free. To be born again then, is to be changed instantaneously 2 Corinthians 5:17 and begin a process of Sanctification; i.e. bringing the Christians condition up to the Christians position in Christ. Colossians 3:3 tells us of that position,” For ye are dead, and your life is hid in Christ in God”. But if one is still breathing, what does “dead” mean? Webster’s Dictionary defines it as deprived of life, lacking power to feel, move, or respond, no longer stirred emotionally or intellectually. The Bible says in James 2:26, “The body without the spirit is dead…” This completes the definition with an important point. Death doesn’t mean the cessation of existence, we know this from the fact that when a person dies, his or her spirit and soul continues to live on throughout eternality. The body is the part that is dead at least until the resurrection. Therefore, death is the cleavage or separation of two or more entities. As we will see, this definition coupled with Webster’s gives us the picture of death. The Bible tells us of five things the Christian is “dead” to.
First, the Christian is dead to sin i.e. the sin nature. In Romans chapter 6 the word sin is a noun, not just the act of sinning. The original text says “the sin”. Verse 2 of this chapter says, “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” Verse 6 tells us, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin”. And verse 11 tells the Christian the attitude they should have towards sin, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. The sin nature -- that is the ability or desire to sin -- is to lie dormant in the Christians life, having no power of control over the Christian. The question would arise then, what causes this sin nature to rise up and control the Christian? The answer is found in part in the next thing the Christian is dead to, that being the law or any man made law.
Jesus said in St. Matthew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill”. Romans 7:4 says, “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God”. Chapter 8:3-4 continues with this thought, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”.
This is where most Christians get ensnared, when they fail they seek forgiveness and restoration. Their sincerity and love for the Lord however demands some sort of punishment and regimen to help them do better. So they embark in making a rule or a law so that they “won’t fail again”. What they don’t realize is, they have just set themselves up to fail again. Romans 7:9 says, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died”. Meaning when the Christian first got saved they did so by accepting it completely by grace and no self-merit. But as they begin to live this life for Christ they realized that at times they failed and sinned. Not wanting to do this and desiring to do better, they make up a rule, law or “commandment”. But to their surprise and chagrin, the sin nature is revived and the failure gets worse. The reason Christians do this is, they don’t realize that “self” was crucified with Christ. Meaning that Christians are dead to self and the man or woman they were before accepting Christ.
Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin”. Galatians 2:20 continues the thought,” I am crucified with Christ: never the less I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”. If Christians will believe it, all evil passions and desires have been crucified in Christ. They aren’t to dominate the Christian anymore, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” Galatians 5:24. Christians therefore are to realize and believe, that every sinful habit, bondage, and fear they had before accepting Christ, have been eradicated. God does this by accounting to the Christian, the efficacious and vicarious death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ not only died for man to be saved from the power of sin, but also from the power of self. This is why Paul said in Colossians 3:3, 9-10,”For if you be dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God….seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man…” The Christian’s old life is dead and their new life is “hidden in Christ”. In this fact lies the next element that the Christian is dead to, the world.
In 1 John 2:16 the Bible says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” This gives us the three types of sin, all others stem from one of these. The scripture tells us these aren’t of God but are of this world system. At the born again experience the Christian becomes dead to these. 1 John 5:4 says, “For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”. This tells us that the Christian is an overcomer by faith in what God has done. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:14 the method; “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”. The Christian therefore has become dead to the world, by the cross of Jesus Christ and the work he did there. This brings us to the last thing the Christian is dead to, Satan and his system.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4,”In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”. This tells us that Satan blinds and enslaves those who aren’t saved. Christ however broke this power at the cross, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly nailing them to his cross”. Colossians 2:14-15. Hebrews 2:14 tells us the result, “…that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” For the believing Christian, Satan’s power has been broken. He is defeated and the Christian is victorious.
At the cross, Jesus defeated and broke the power of sin and the sin nature, the curse of the broken law, self and the flesh, all the evil of this present world system, and Satan’s power and dominion. And if Christians will believe these facts and will constantly look to Christ as the only source for life and godliness, thus allowing the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, they will then walk in victory and have the more abundant life Jesus spoke of in St. John 10:10. The Lord promised in Philippians 1:6,”Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” This is the Christian’s confidence!
