She knew that she needed to stop this sinful habit. But she couldn’t.
This sin had become so much a part of her life that no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t stop.
And when she was honest with herself, she didn’t know if she really wanted to stop. Yes, she agreed that her sin wasn’t good. But it felt good; she enjoyed it.
So she remained in bondage to sin for years.
Until one day, God opened her eyes to see how evil her sin truly was. It was keeping her from enjoying a deep relationship with God. She was ignoring His voice, denying His grace, and loving the very thing He had come to set her free from.
Once she saw her sin from God’s perspective, she confessed it to her Saviour and asked for grace to walk in freedom. From that moment, God began to transform in her life. By His grace she began to walk in freedom from the sin she had lived in bondage to for years.
Today she is completely free.
I know, because that girl is me.
But Can I Really Change?
Can you relate to my story? What sinful attitudes or actions are you struggling with right now?
Your sin might be anything from habitual lying to lust. From unhealthy eating habits to doing drugs.
But regardless of how “big” or “small” your specific sin seems, do you believe that it is possible for you to experience complete freedom from that sin?
If you answered no – if you don’t think your sin can be overcome – you are believing a lie.
Jen Wilkin, author of “None Like Him,” expresses it this way:
“When confronted with my own entrenched sin, my immediate defence is to say, ‘That’s just who I am. I can’t change.’
“I can’t change. Immutable.
“Lie. Lie from the pit of hell. Whether uttered in hopelessness or defiance, this statement is a lie. Only one person does not change, and that is God. But when faced with the need to turn from sin I answer the question of ‘Who is unchanging?’ with ‘I Am.’
“Just as my assurance of salvation rests in the fact that God cannot change, my hope of sanctification rests in the fact that I can.” (pp. 87)
Sanctification is a process by which God changes our desires so that we increasingly despise sin and love Jesus Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
No one will ever become perfect in this life but if you are a Christian, you should expect to become increasingly victorious over sin.
I’ve tried and I can’t
Maybe you’re thinking, I’ve tried to stop sinning and I’ve failed. I can’t do it.
Well, you’re right.
Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34)
It’s true that we can’t just stop sinning – we are slaves of sin! But the devil wants us to believe that freedom from the sin we are in bondage to is impossible.
Imagine you are a prisoner in the tower of a castle. Your hands are chained behind your back, your feet chained to the floor. This tower is a solid cement room with no way in or out except a small window 25 feet up.
Is it possible for you to break yourself free and escape? Nope. You are a prisoner.
But is it possible for you to be set free? Absolutely!
A knight in shining armour could overpower the guards, scale the castle, climb through the window, break off your chains, and carry you back through the window and away from your prison.
In the same way, we cannot set ourselves free from sin. But that doesn’t mean freedom is impossible. We have a knight in shining armour who has come to deliver us from our chains of sin – Jesus.
Freedom is Possible
After declaring that the voice that whispers, “That’s just who I am. I can’t change” is a liar, Jen Wilkin goes on to say;
“What greater disavowal of the gospel of grace than to claim it is capable of changing every sinner’s heart but mine? What greater egotism? No doubt, as unbelievers we feel the hopelessness of our plight apart from grace. We rightly surmise that, without an intervening miracle, we cannot change for the better. But when the miracle of grace has been applied to our hearts, change becomes gloriously possible. The Unchanging One dispels forever the myth of human immutability, changing a heart that was once stone to a heart of flesh, changing desires that once sought only to glorify self to those that seek to glorify him.” (pp. 87-88)
Before salvation, we feel the hopelessness of ever being set free from sin. “Without an intervening miracle, we cannot change for the better.”
But as children of God, we have a miracle. Romans 6 teaches that “…as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death … our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.” (v3, 6-7, emphasis mine)
God does not deliver us from every sinful temptation when we are saved. But as children of God, we have been set free from the power of sin and given grace to overcome every sinful stronghold in our life.
God doesn’t want you to stay in bondage to sin. He has made a way for you to be set free through the work of Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at a few practical steps from God’s word that help us experience His power and freedom over sin in our lives.
1. Agree with God that your “struggle” is actually sin
Every time God points out sin in my life I begin excusing myself because “It’s not that bad,” or “It doesn’t hurt anyone,” or “I tried and I can’t stop.”
But freedom begins by acknowledging that God is holy and sin keeps us from having an intimate relationship with Him.
We need to confess that our “struggle” is actually sin separating us from God.
Have you come to a place where you truly agree with God that this is sin? Do you have a deep longing to be set free so that you can have unhindered fellowship with your Saviour?
2. Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God
“Reckon yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:11)
That voice saying you can’t change? Stop listening to it.
Stop believing the enemy’s lie that you have to stay in bondage to him and your sin. As long as you believe freedom is impossible you won’t seek Jesus for freedom.
To “reckon” is to consider something to be true and act accordingly. So start believing the truth that you are dead to sin. You have been crucified with Christ and Jesus has set you free from every sinful stronghold.
Even though our sinful desires might feel very much alive and powerful, God’s word says they don’t have any legal power over the Christian.
God’s word says that we are alive to God. Meaning, we are free to obey Him.
When we reckon these things to be true, we realize there is hope for us to change and we act on that hope by going to Christ for grace to overcome our sin.
Start trusting that the Knight who broke into your cement prison is powerful enough to break your chains and help you experience the freedom He has purchased for you with His blood.
3. Confess your sin to others
James 5:16 says “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
This is a scary step, especially if our sin has been a secret. But when we confess our sins to others, God has promised healing.
Often, sin can be traced to deep hurt in our lives. We don’t feel loved so we look for love in all the wrong places. We want an escape from real hurt and stress in our lives, so we look for rest in all the wrong places.
The healing God provides when we confess our sin includes healing from this deep hurt and pain. It also includes freedom from the bondage of sin and healing from many of sin’s consequences.
If you want to experience this kind of healing and freedom in your life I encourage you to find a godly, older woman and confess your sin to her.
When we confess our sin to other Christians their role is to pray for us.
They pray for freedom. For healing. For forgiveness. For a reconciled relationship with God.
4. Get rid of things that tempt you to sin
If you are serious about experiencing God’s freedom from sin, you need to be willing to get rid of anything that tempts you to sin.
Jesus said, “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.” (Matthew 18:8-9)
Notice that the things Jesus says to “cut off” are good things – hands and feet and eyes. This is radical!
He’s not just saying “stop watching bad movies and hanging out with bad friends.” He’s telling us to get rid of even good things if they tempt us to sin.
For me, that meant I had to stop reading a lot of novels I loved. I stopped watching almost all movies. I deleted a ton of “good” music from my phone.
These things aren’t bad in themselves, but they were tempting me to sin, so I had to cut them off.
We need to stop thinking that we are strong enough to sit in front of temptation without giving into sin.
We need to become so serious about allowing the Lord to remove sin from our lives that we get rid of even good things that are causing us to stumble.
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Ultimately, you cannot overcome your own sin. But Jesus Christ already has. He has scaled the castle, climbed through that window, and broken your chains.
He put sin to death on the cross so that you don’t need to stay in bondage to it.
But we will only experience this freedom when we believing that Jesus Christ has already done everything necessary to set us free from sin and allow Him to make that a reality in our lives.
- Can you relate to feeling like “that’s just who I am, I can’t change” when it comes to your sin?
- Have you ever experienced God set you free from a sinful stronghold in your life?