SAINTS NOT SINNERS: HOW TO OVERCOME SIN

Christian believer are u saints now or sinners? Am a saint God’s word say so (Acts 9:32, 41, Rom. 1:7, 1 Cor. 1:2, Eph. 13:13, Phil. 1:1, Col.1:12, Rev. 5:8). These are things that I live by, that have completely changed my life and set me free. I went for 6 years, being trapped in sin and hating myself for it because I knew God wanted me to do good, but I couldn’t do it. That’s reminiscent of Romans 7, the chapter that most Christians will use to say, “See look, my constant struggle with sin is normal and Paul went through it too!” But if you read the context of the chapter, Paul is talking to people under the law, not people under grace. The previous chapter in Romans 6, is where Paul was talking to people under grace about sin. If Paul was talking about his current situation in Romans 7, he completely contradicts himself in Romans 6. Romans 6: “I’m free from sin! It doesn’t control me anymore. I’m no longer a slave to sin!” Romans 7: “I know the good I want to do, but I cannot carry it out because sin lives in me.” It’s a contradiction if Paul was talking about his current life, rather than his life under the law, in which many Christians are still living. This piece is kind of lengthy, but I hope it will set you free and move you into walking in constant victory, instead of constant defeat. Romans 8:29 says that we are being CONFORMED to Christ’s likeness, not being TRANSFORMED into it, as many Christians think and call “sanctification”.

We are already like Jesus is (1 Jn. 4:17), but we are learning how to walk it out. Getting rid of your sin is not what makes you holy; being holy is what makes you get rid of your sin; because holy people don’t sin, sinners’ sin. If you think you’re a sinner, you will be stuck in your sin, because you believe it’s who you are and it’s your nature to sin. If you know you’re holy, you will be stuck in holiness because you will know that sinning is contrary to who you are. Does that mean you will lose your ability to sin? No. Adam sinned without a sin nature, so can we. But the more wrapped up we are in who we are, the less likely we are to do things that are contrary to our character. But that goes both ways:

The more wrapped up I am in how much of a sinner I think I am, the less likely I am to do things that are holy. The more wrapped up I am in how holy I know I am, the less likely I am to do things that are sinful. With a sin nature I have to try not to sin. With a holy nature I have to try to sin, because sin now becomes a choice, as opposed to being prone to it. The Bible says, “BE holy because I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:14-16) It doesn’t say, “BECOME holy because I am holy.” Do you see the difference? You are already holy (Hebrews 10:10), so being holy is the natural way for a Christian to live. As opposed to, “You’re a smelly sinner who needs to stop sinning so you can become holy.” Here’s the rest of the verse: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”Some things I want to point out in this verse. Peter said, “Do not conform to the evil desires…” One of the definitions for “conform” is “adapt”.

So this can be said another way, “Do not adapt to the evil desires…” The implication is that they did not currently have those evil desires; therefore they would have to adapt them. And the rest of the verse proves it…One of the things I used to always miss while reading the Bible were the teeny words that gave meaning to the entire verse. Often times we are so determined to find something deep that we miss the treasure on the surface. Peter said, “Do not conform (adapt) to the evil desires you… had…when you… lived… in ignorance. He didn’t say that they currently had evil desires and they must pray and fast for God to make them holy. He said that when they used to live in ignorance of God, they… had… evil desires. He does not say it as if they still have them. I want to make that clear. When you were an old creation, you had evil desires… but you are a new creation in Christ. “Behold! All things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Many Christians still think they have evil desires when they don’t. It doesn’t mean you can’t think bad things on your own or that every bad thought is a devil, you still have to manage your thoughts and take every thought captive. But your nature is to have a mind that is set on the things above, because you have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), and Christ does not have, for example, a lustful mind. You have to learn to manage your own thoughts. But, bless God! You already have everything needed to do so (2 Peter 1:3). I’ll make myself vulnerable. Sometimes I get lustful thoughts *gasp*. Sometimes the “pull,” or whatever you want to call it, gets incredibly strong to where it goes from a passing thought, into a full on battle. I used to think that that was my sinful, evil nature, trying to lead me into sin and destruction, so I would begin to beg God for forgiveness, and tear myself to bits with my words.

But in reality, it’s a demonic attack, and that’s when you start exercising your authority (Luke 10:19) and commanding the devil to leave and take that stupid stuff with him. The trick of the devil is just that, when you think it’s you, you won’t exercise your authority over him, the real culprit. It’s like if a guy broke into your house and stole all of your furniture, and then convinced you that it was you who did it. You’re not going to get angry and go after him if you think you’re the one to blame. Make sense? Other times it’s not a devil, but my mind begins to wonder, and I have to start taking thoughts captive and say, “Nope. I’m not even going to go there.” Just to be clear, while I’m on the subject of lust. Having a desire to have sex is not evil; God gave us a sex drive. But in that, we also have to learn how to be in control of it. Back before I knew any better, I’d get frustrated and upset when I started thinking about that stuff, and go, “No! That’s evil and gross! I’m so dumb! Forgive me for having a lustful heart, Jesus!” Having a sex drive does not make you evil, but it does need to be managed, and as Paul put it, we have to make our bodies our slave instead of becoming a slave to our bodies. But one thing that has helped me tremendously in managing my thoughts is learning that I’m already holy. Now I know that it is not my nature to lust after girls, because that nature and those desires are dead (Galatians 5:24), so I can easily overcome those moments where I start to. Though not every battle is easy, every battle is winnable (2 Cor. 2:14), because you have all power and authority, the devil has none.

The devil only has authority when you give it to him; you give him permission to harm you when you come into agreement with the lies he tells you. You being a sinner is one of those lies. This knowledge of identity makes sin so much easier to battle because it’s not a struggle of, “I want to do good, but I know I’m going to lose this battle because I’m evil!” It’s a victory because you begin to live out of Christ’s victory and say, “I’m a saint, and saints don’t do that.” This is usually the part where people say, “But do you still sin?” Yes. “So, doesn’t that make you a sinner?” Nope, my identity is in Him. Who I am based on His works, not my own. Why? So no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-10). If who I am were based on what I do, I can legally rub it in your face if I obey more rules than you do. But since my actions do not give me my identity, His do, I cannot brag about anything but what He has done because the same thing that is available to me is available to every single human being on this planet, whenever they choose to have faith in His work.

That’s how Paul could say, “If anyone boasts, let them boast in the Lord,”(1 Corinthians 1:30-31) because Jesus is the one who did it all for us, not us. We can only boast in His work because our work and performance cannot add to or take away from what He has already done. So now we have two choices: refuse His work and continue in our own (also known as the law of sin and death, or self-righteousness), or rest in His work and accept that we are already sanctified and holy, and are already His righteousness (Hebrews 4:10-11, Hebrews 10:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21). You are not a sinner who is prone to sin, you are a saint who is prone to righteousness, because righteousness is who you are, and the you that was prone to sin is dead (Romans 6:2, Romans 6:7, Romans 6:10-11, Galatians 5:24, Colossians 2:11). The reason you cannot be a sinner, even if you sin, is because who you are is no longer based on what you do, who you are is based on what He’s done. Remember: You are dead! It’s no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. If you believe that, but also believe you are a sinner, you believe Christ is a sinner because He is the one living in you and through you. We are not God’s righteousness because we did something for it, we are God’s righteousness because He did something for it and we chose to receive. It’s not just by grace you have been saved, it’s by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10).

That simply means that you have to put your faith in what grace has already made available. Grace is what made this stuff available, but faith is what makes this stuff a reality that you will walk out. Just like grace made salvation available, but faith is what makes it a reality in someone’s life. It is simply repenting (changing how you think) and putting all of your faith in His work, and none of your faith in your own works, whether good or bad. His finished work outranks your good work; His finished work outranks your bad work. You can never sin enough to be a sinner because you can never taint the righteousness of God, which is who you are (2 Corinthians 5:21). He has forever perfected those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14), and yet, you have already been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:10).

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2). Not by the effort of your prayers. Not by the length of your fasting. Not by the volume of your crying. Not by how genuinely you sing in church. Not by how well you can avoid sin. Not by how often you read the Bible. Not by how well you quote the bible. Not by how well you preach the bible. Not by how well you learn the bible. But only by renewing your mind and changing the way you think. If you are struggling with sin, change the way you think. Renew your mind. That simply means to bring your mind into a new covenant way of thinking about things. That you are not the victim of sin, but the overcomer of it through Jesus’ finished work. That is how you will be transformed and begins living it out. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5:19. Recommended Resource: Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen. Dynamic of Holiness as taught by Pastor Awongo, Word of Life Bible Institute (Salvation Ministries). Have question you may write: [email protected]. Stay blessed.

Written By Dr. Lewis Akpogena