Victory Over Sin

Key Verse to Read and Treasure

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:57)

For Insight

It’s true, in an abiding relationship with Christ we take on the nature of Christ and enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We become productive people, enjoying a new level of peace, contentment, and happiness. All the things that can only be experienced through a mutual abiding. We will talk more about those later.

But there is also another result of the abiding relationship and that is the one thing Satan does not want us to know about or enjoy: we receive victory over sin.

A biblical definition of an abiding relationship with Christ is when we give him all our burdens and draw from him strength, healing, life, and wisdom, to name a few benefits. But there is also another part of abiding and that is abandoning all known sin and to live a life that conforms to God’s will. Meaning obedience to God is also a part of our abiding in Christ.    

Just think how all the misery in this world is a result of sin. Dating all the way back to the first man and woman when they were disobedient to God. Every suffering we have experienced has come through sin one man, Adam. While we will never be able to undo or reverse the fact that we are now all born into sin and sinful from birth. What can be reversed when we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us is being a slave to sin. That is the reason Jesus went to the cross to die for us so we are now set free and no longer in bondage to sin.

The devil does not want us to know the chains are powerless. They are nothing more than a spiritual illusion. He loves to play a mind-game with us. They are not powerful enough to hold us. We can kick them to the curb and walk away. We are not to be like the seven-ton elephant tethered with a ten-pound chain around his ankle who thinks he is chained to that spot and cannot move freely. When all he must do is take a step and the chains will fall away. They are not strong enough to hold him.

Christ died to set us free, and the abiding relationship gives us the power we need to kick the sins that have been holding us back and holding us down, the sins that keep us in bondage, steal from us, ruin our relationships and life, make us unhappy and want to master us, yet have no real power over us; kick them off and go free.

It does not matter how strong a hold these sins have had over us in the past or seem to have over us now, they are not strong enough to control us and as we abide in Christ and he is us, anger, unforgiveness, hatred, jealously, greed, lust, dependency, sexual immorality, impatience, discontent, lack of self-control, envy, timidity, fear, and the like are no match for the strength to resist and release Christ brings and sows into our inner being.  

Satan wants it to be a well-kept secret and something we never fully understand. He does not want us to have that abiding relationship with Christ and his goal is to keep us from it any way he can. But, just like the psalmists says, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Read Psalm 34:8).

Once we get a taste of the abiding relationship and all that comes with it we will never turn back. We will never be separated from Christ, we will never reject the Holy Spirit, we will never sin against God lightly, but we will seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the good, beautiful, righteous and pleasing things will be added unto us.

Jesus may I always abide in you and you in me so I can have victory over sin and never again be bound or enslaved to sin. In Your name I pray, Amen

For Application

What sin has you bound or enslaved to the enemy? See, how weak the chains of sin are and that you have victory over sin when you abide in Christ and he abides in you!

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