Chapter 5: The Power Cure
CHAPTER 5
THE POWER CURE
Remember that double cure for sin that we talked about in the last chapter? Cleansing from guilt was the first part. The wonderful gospel truth that God forgives our sin through the death of His Son makes it possible to face the reality of our sin and actually begin fighting against it.
But guilt is only half the problem when it comes to sin. The other half involves the power sin has over us. Sometimes it feels like sin’s in charge and we’re helpless to resist. That’s why we need the second half of the gospel’s double cure — the power to break us free from sin’s grip.
How does that work? It helps to think of the process as happening in two stages.
The first is our deliverance from the rule of sin in our lives. This happens when we first become believers. It’s like an evil dictator is overthrown and run out of the country. It’s done. Finito. Sin isn’t in charge anymore. Jesus is.
But after the regime of sin in our lives has ended, there’s still work to be done. As we’ve seen, the flesh is still active in our lives, and it keeps on fighting. It’s as if the deposed dictator still has insurgents in the country who carry out guerrilla warfare in his behalf. So the second stage of cleansing our lives from sin’s power involves rooting out the remaining presence and activity of sin in our lives. That’s an ongoing process that continues throughout our lives on earth.
Paul helps us see this twofold deliverance in Romans 6.
In verse 2 he wrote that we “died to sin” when we became Christians, and in verse 8 he said, “We have died with Christ.” This is something God did for us at the moment of our salvation. Nothing we do after that can add to or subtract from the fact that sin is no longer in charge of our lives. It’s a done deal. The dictator is gone.
But then, in verse 12, Paul urged us to “let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” How can sin possibly reign if we have died to it? Here Paul was referring to the continued presence and ceaseless activity of sin in the flesh — that leftover guerrilla presence that keeps fighting for control.
We experience the struggle between the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit every day of our lives. And putting that stubborn sin to death is the work of a lifetime (see Romans 8:13). Sometimes it feels like we’re not making any progress at all. Or sometimes it seems that we’ve turned a corner, only to find that we’ve merely gone around the block and are facing the same sin once again. Guerrilla sins can become entrenched and resistant, and sometimes we feel powerless against them.
But we’re not.
You may be thinking, It’s fine to be told sin no longer has rule over me, but it sure doesn’t feel that way in my daily life. How can I even hope to see progress?
Paul supplied an answer in Galatians 5:16: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
To walk by the Spirit is to live under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit and in dependence upon Him. This is the only way we can resist the remaining presence and activity of sin in our lives. It’s the only answer to our ongoing power struggle with guerrilla sin.
But what does this mean in practical terms? How do we go about walking with the Spirit?
Spending time in the Bible helps. The more we expose our minds to Scripture, the better our ability to understand God’s laws and “hear” what the Spirit wants from us.
Prayer is essential too. We need to pray continually for the Spirit’s direction and the power to do what we need to do. We need to listen as well, taking the time to be quiet, allowing time for the still, small voice of the Spirit to reach our spiritual ears.
And then … we do our best. We try to make right decisions and act in obedience to what we have learned, trusting that the Spirit will make all this possible and that when — not if ! — we mess up, we will be forgiven and strengthened to keep trying.
There’s an important principle of the Christian life involved here. I call it dependent responsibility. It means we are responsible before God to obey His Word and to put to death the sins in our lives, both the so-called acceptable sins and the obviously unacceptable ones. We have to make choices — to do something. At the same time, there’s no way we can do this by ourselves. We have to rely on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. So we are both responsible and dependent. Dealing with the guerrilla sin in our lives is both up to us, in the sense that we keep fighting and trying, and not up to us, in the sense that we are never left to do this alone. Over time, if we persist, we will see the Spirit working in us and through us to cleanse us from the remaining power of sin in our lives.
You may notice, by the way, that biblical writers sometimes speak of God the Father or Jesus the Son as doing this work in us. That’s not a contradiction. All three members of the divine Trinity are involved in our spiritual transformation, but the Father and the Son work through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us (see 1 Corinthians 6:19). For example, Paul prayed to the Father that we will be strengthened with power through His Spirit in our inner being (see Ephesians 3:16). So when I speak of the power of the Holy Spirit, I am speaking of the power of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as it is worked out in us by the Spirit.
How exactly does the Spirit work in our lives? The process can be mysterious. We won’t always be able to comprehend or explain it. But if we persist, bathing our minds in Scripture and prayer and doing our best to live obediently, we will begin to see evidence of what He is doing in our lives. Here are just a few of the ways this may happen.
First, the Spirit may convict us of sin. That is, we’ll become aware that a particular action or attitude or pattern is sinful and that we need to do something about it. The Spirit does this through Scripture, which He inspired (see 2 Timothy 3:16). He works through our consciences as they are enlightened and sensitized by exposure to His Word. I have even known Him to bring a specific act to my memory and use that to point out a pattern of subtle sin in my life.
But the Spirit doesn’t just convict us of sin. He also strengthens us to deal with that sin (see Philippians 4:13). We probably won’t feel this power, though, until we actually do something. We don’t just sit around waiting to feel stronger. Instead, we take a step in obedience and the Spirit moves in to help. (It’s that responsible dependence again.)
There are also times when the Holy Spirit works in us without our conscious involvement. Hebrews 13:20-21 speaks of God “working in us that which is pleasing in his sight.” I find this especially encouraging. Even in our most dismal days, when sin seems to be winning, we can be sure the Holy Spirit is at work behind the scenes. He might even use our setbacks to humble us and cause us to depend on Him more.
The Holy Spirit definitely works for our transformation by arranging events and experiences to challenge us and help us grow. If you are prone to sinful anger, you can be sure you’ll encounter circumstances that make you mad. If you tend to be judgmental, you’ll probably have plenty of opportunity to judge others or refrain from it. While God does not tempt us to sin (see James 1:13-14), He does bring or allow circumstances that give us opportunity to put our particular subtle sins to death.
Obviously, none of this would work if God wasn’t in complete control. But He is! Many passages of Scripture affirm this, but Lamentations 3:37-38 states it most explicitly: “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?” The takeaway from this Scripture is that God is indeed in control of our circumstances and can use every event of our lives — often in some mysterious way — to make us more like Jesus.
Step by step, as we walk with the Spirit, the Spirit will set us free.
YOUR TURN
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)
ENGAGE
1. Has there been a time in your life when you felt helpless to fight a particular sin? Why do you think that was?
2. What does the term “dependent responsibility” mean? How does it apply to the process of getting sin out of your life?
3. This chapter lists four ways that the Spirit often works in our lives. What are they? Have you experienced any of these in your own life?
BRING IT TO GOD
Choose a particular sin in your life that has been resisting your efforts to put it to death. Write out a prayer for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and power as you fight this sin. Write today’s date on the prayer and put it aside until the end of this study.