Overcoming Sin

0 Amens

Amen

 

Prompted by a message from Charles Stanley

 

Text: Romans 7:15-20

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.   Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

 

P R A Y E R

 

Introduction: How many of us believe that God intends for us to lead a life free from sin?

 

Proposition or Thesis: How many of us, though we believe God intends us to live a life free from sin continue to struggle?  Why is that?

 

Transition: Victory is God's will for the believer's life. But sometimes we can find ourselves falling repeatedly into the same sin. As a result, our prayer life is marked by broken promises to end wrongdoing. We tell the Lord that we yearn to do what is right, but often our desire wanes when virtue is no longer convenient, pleasurable, or profitable.

 

I. Sometimes we become angry with God for not delivering us from our sin

 

  1. Sin is a choice that WE make - not one that God forces on us
  2. God will allow us to be tempted, but will never cause us to fail
  3. God's desire is for us all to be overcomers of the sin we have in our daily life (Romans 8:37 - No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.)

 

Transition: So if God wants us to overcome and conquer sin, why is it that we still sin?

 

II. One of the reasons we continue to sin is incomplete repentance

 

  1. Grief, embarrassment and shame are emotional responses and are not spiritual conviction
  2. Repentance has nothing to do with emotion - it has to do with a change of mind - and direction (turning from)
    1. Not just turning away from to something else
    2. Turning away from to God!
  1. When the heart changes direction, our actions follow after (Matthew 6:21 - Where your treasure is (what you value) there your heart will be also (your actions)

 

Transition:

 

III. Another reason we continue to sin (and not fully repent) is an inadequate view of our true identity in the Lord.

 

  1. We are not some loser floating around on the street - we are Sons (daughters) of the Most High God (Galatians 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus)
  2. We have Christ living inside of us to empower us (1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.)
  3. If we grasp these concepts, we can no longer rationalize that sin is acceptable in our life!
    1. Our genuine repentance REQUIRES us to understand truly who we are!
    2. When we put these two truths together, a powerful tool against Satan and temptation is created. Our Father wants us to be victorious, and we triumph over failure when we remember that Jesus Christ is our life.

 

Conclusion:

 

  1. Even though we continue to live in this world, we are called by God - our Father - to no longer sin
  2. Sin is nothing more than a CHOICE that we make
  3. God desires ALL of us to become overcomers
  4. The way to overcome is through complete repentance and understanding our true identity 
Read More