Grace, Not Resolve

Fighting sin, that is what we'll be doing until the day Christ comes. The Bible sounds the call to passionately fight sin reminding us that no one will see the Lord without sanctification (Hebrews 12:14). But how are we to fight sin? We understand from the Bible that we have a responsibility not to sin. Yet, it is equally taught from Scripture that repentance from sin is a gift from God and therefore, man can not start his fight against sin apart from the grace of God. It is crucial that we understand these two points clearly, or we'll resort to unbiblical methods in our fight against sin and heap upon ourselves many griefs and troubles.

Recently in my fight against sin, I had resolved not to sin by setting standards for myself. For example, I told myself that if I sin a particular sin, I will incur upon myself a certain punishment and in the extreme case, tell myself that I am not a Christian. It was motivated by stories of passionate Christians who resolved to fight against sin with all their strength. I thought it was only right to have such high standards. I'm not saying this is completely wrong, but this method does steer towards legalism. The biggest problem in this method is that we often neglect the grace we need in fighting sin. This elevates our will above the grace of God. At the worst, it is a prideful rebellion.

What then, are we not to do anything? Of course not! This truth should liberate us from the tyranny of legalism, and free us into the magnificent wonder of God's grace. Yes, we are responsible, but apart from God's grace working in our lives, we will not win a single victory over sin. Therefore in our battle against sin, we need to remind ourselves that the battle is already won on the cross through the provision of God's grace! We are no longer enslaved to sin. We need to remind ourselves that salvation from start to finish is God's work, not ours. This is why God will receive all the glory for our salvation, all the credit. We do this instinctively do we not? When we see someone come to Christ, we thank God, not the man. When we overcome a sin in our lives, we thank God, not ourselves. Starting by reminding ourselves these powerful truths is the first step in effectively fighting sin in our lives.

Our primary weapon against fighting sin is the grace that flows from God's throne. The author of Hebrews tell us to "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Let me repeat: God's grace is our primary weapon, not our resolve. It would do well for us to keep this in mind daily as we fight against sin. This does not mean that our resolve is worth nothing. God does want us to be resolved, be passionate in our fight against sin. But the kind of resolve, the kind of passion that God will not bless is that kind of resolve and passion that neglects His grace. Rather, God pities such resolve. He is like a man entering a battle by himself without realizing that the rest of the army is still at camp. God tells such a man, "come buy wine and milk without money and without cost" (Isaiah 55:1). Let us make sure that we look to God's grace as our primary weapon against sin.

Let me close with the words of Jude's benediction which captures this thought so well: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" (Jude 24-26).