Your Problem with Sin and Why You Can’t Stop It

Go and Sin No More

If it were only that easy…

Those are the famous words of Jesus spoken to the woman who had been caught in the act of adultery in John chapter 8. The scribes and Pharisees dragged this woman before Jesus proclaiming that the Law of Moses commanded she be stoned to death for her sinful act. “What do you say?” they asked Jesus hoping that He might agree with them. His famous response still echoes loudly to this day, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

The purpose of this article isn’t to discuss whether we are with or without sin. Paul is clear in Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” or as the NLT puts it, “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” None of us are without sin, so we ought not to be throwing stones at one another. But that does NOT mean that we ought to identify ourselves as sinners once we have been forgiven and set free from our sins by the blood of Jesus.

Identity Matters

I’m a huge fan of helping others who are struggling with addiction, but I in no way believe that labeling yourself by your addiction helps you get free from that addiction. I’m speaking primarily of Alcoholics Anonymous. Though they do great things in helping people with their addictions, I don’t like the fact that each person continually confesses, HI, MY NAME IS ______ AND I’M AN ALCOHOLIC.

Yes, the first step to freedom is admitting you have a problem. But we ought to confess our new identity once we are set free. How about this for the overcoming alcoholic instead  – HI, MY NAME IS ______ AND I WAS AN ALCOHOLIC? We agree with our new identity and not the old. We speak life, not death!

Sinner Saved by Grace?

Much like alcoholics who repeatedly speak their old identity over themselves, Christians do the same thing when they say, I’M JUST A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE. They identify with and label themselves as being sinful. I was definitely a sinner before I met Christ, but He set me free from my sin and made me a saint. Have you ever noticed how Paul addresses his letters to the churches? He doesn’t address them as sinners, he addresses them as saints. (1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:12 etc.)

When we label and identify ourselves as sinners, we are setting an expectation to be sinful. What do sinners do? They sin! So by this identification with sin we keep ourselves in a cycle of conviction (or most likely condemnation), confession and continuing in our sin, never being set free. We MUST identify ourselves as being saints who have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into His marvelous light, into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

My Greatest Revelation

One of the greatest revelations I ever had as a new believer was when I visited a revival service in Pensacola, Florida. If you are unaware of what took place at The Brownsville Revival at the Brownsville Assembly of God in the late 1990s then I would highly recommend you check it out online but be aware of the cessationist critics!

About 18 months after being radically set free from drug and alcohol addiction (read my testimony here), and becoming a sold-out believer, I began to give into temptations and started doing things that I knew I shouldn’t be doing. I wouldn’t say those things were sinful at first, but rather they were areas of disobedience to the Holy Spirit. But those things slowly turned into sinful actions, and I became the epitome of 2 Peter 2:22, a dog returning to its vomit.

For a great book on walking free from the power of sin, check out Go and Sin No More by Dr. Michael Brown.

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“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil”

Proverbs 8:13

A Hatred for Sin

While at this revival meeting, I responded to the altar call given by evangelist, Steve Hill. It was the typical confess your sin and get right with God type of altar call and while up front an old sage of a man began to pray for me.

As I confessed my sin to this man, he asked the Lord for something that I wish I had from the beginning of my walk with Christ. He asked the Lord to give me a hatred for sin. I remember being back at my hotel later that night and the Lord revealing to me, “You don’t have a hatred for sin and this is a big part of your problem.”

This became an effectual fervent prayer of mine – “Lord, give me a hatred for sin!” You see, I began recalling all that sin had stolen from me, and all that sin had stolen from my family. Years of drug addiction and alcoholism ran through the veins of my family members, even stealing their very lives. And now, I was done with sin and its effects on my life, and I never wanted to return to it again.

You Have Not Because You Ask Not

The Lord began to answer that earnest prayer mine. He began to give me a hatred for sin, and to this day, twenty-one years later, I still carry a deep hatred for sin, Satan, and the kingdom of darkness that so many people are trapped in. I want them all to know that there is power in the name of Jesus, that there is freedom from sin through the blood of Jesus, and that there is great authority granted to the saints to overcome the temptations of this world and to walk in holiness and righteousness.

If you find yourself still trapped in a sinful lifestyle then I would encourage you to read this article.

Prayer

Lord, I confess my sin to you. I ask You to do what You say in Your word that You will do – forgive me of my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) I repent and turn from my wickedness today. I close every door that I have opened to the enemy today!

I ask you today to give me a hatred for sin. Let me despise darkness and everything that the enemy has done to me and through me through my sinfulness. Grant me freedom from my sin and give me power over the temptations that come to me regularly. Fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit that I may walk in holiness and righteousness. Give me the strength today to keep every demonic door of darkness closed! Give me a love for holiness and let the fear of the Lord be ever present in my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.