WINNING THE WAR AGAINST SIN.

SERIES: HOLINESS- GOD’S WAY TO GREATNESS.

TEXT: HEBREWS 12:4.

When you receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, you automatically enrol yourself into an army, the army of Jesus. There is a defensive war whereby satan attacks every believer to make them get into sin. There is an offensive war whereby the believer attacks the devil’s kingdom to destroy his works and set the captives free from satan. Even if as a born-again believer you don’t attack satan, he himself will not spare you, he will come to attack you. Temptation is satan’s primary weapon to destroy you.

The Bible says that in our war against sin, we have not fought to the point of shedding blood-Hebrews 12:4. Satan is ever attacking us with temptations of sin. The battle against sin is a winnable war. Some quotes about war:-

Know thyself, know thy enemy; a thousand battle, a thousand victories.

Over 70% of christians do not know the enemy, the devil very well.
Over 90% of people doing business with satan are not aware they are doing business with him. Apostle Peter once did it, Jesus turned against Peter and rebuked him, “Satan get behind me”-Matthew 16:23.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

Most battles won by the enemy against believers is due to inadequate preparation before the enemy attacks.

Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword will not separate us from God, but sin separates us from God. Sin separated Adam and Eve from God. We never outgrow temptation against sin even in old age-Romans 15:20-24. To be tempted is not sin but to yield to the temptation is sin. More about the war against sin:-

GOD HAS PREPARED AN ARMOUR FOR THE BELIEVER.

Because of the war against sin, there is an armoury God has put in place where his soldiers can go and take weapons to fight with-Ephesians 6:11.
The weapons God has prepared for the believer are very powerful; they can crush the enemy-2^nd 10:4.
The war you don’t fight you can’t win.

SIN IS A CHOICE.

The blood of Jesus breaks all chains and bonds of sin.
Once the believer has been redeemed, getting into sin is done by choice. God told Israel, “I lay before you life and death, choose life”-Deut. 30:1. God does not choose for you to do sin or not, it is your work to make the choice.
God has not given the devil the power to force us to do sin.

TACTICS OF THE ENEMY.

Deception; satan is a master deceiver. He is subtle-Genesis 3:1. The Bible describes him as one who beguiled Eve into eating of the forbidden fruit-2^nd 11:3.
Patterns of the world-Romans 12:2. Satan has invested in tools that appeal to us to love world patters of life. He has invested a lot in the media; advertisements, worldly music, facebook, novels, movies, Tiktok e.t.c he has also invested in godless chatter among his people that seduced us-2^nd Timothy 2:16.
Seducing us through companions-James 4:4.
Weakening our ability to fight through weakness of boredom, fatigue, loneliness, frustration, anxiety, etc.
Confusion; be sober, be vigilant-1^st Peter 5:8.

POWERFUL TOOLS WITH WHICH TO FIGHT.

Discipline and self-control-1^st 9:27; Prov. 25:28.
Prayer; praying is fighting the devil in the spiritual realms. A battle won in the spiritual realm translates to victory in the physical realm. Prayer with fasting goes a mile further.
Bible reading: the scriptures are a cleansing instrument from sin-John 15:3.
Journaling: keeping written records of your time to time spiritual challenges.
Request God’s help; when facing temptations ask for God’s help-1^st 10:13.
Temptation starts small; fight right at the beginning of the temptation. It is easier to win at the very beginning of the temptation than at the end. It is easier to uproot a seedling than to cut a big tree.

CONCLUSION