More Than Conquerers: Claiming Victory Over SinSample

Confession

Christians sin, but Christians don’t continue in sin. There is a difference.

As long as we live in our human bodies, we will continue to struggle against sin. That struggle does not mean that you do not belong to God. It just means that God is not finished transforming you into the image of Jesus yet and that your flesh keeps getting in the way of what you know is right.

However, the absence of struggle against sin in a person’s life is cause for genuine concern. Those who belong to Jesus Christ, although they may sin, cannot continue in a pattern of sin for any length of time. The Holy Spirit inside them just won’t let them rest or find contentment in a way of life that defies God because He is God.

Those who are able to find contentment and happiness in a sinful way of life beyond the initial thrill that rebellion sometimes brings, do not belong to God. Their complacency where sin is concerned proves the absence rather than the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit’s presence is what proves a person’s status as a child of God.

Christians who sin need not let that sin keep them down or discourage them. The same Heavenly Father who forgave our sin to begin with stands ready to pick us up and point us in the right direction again when we fail.

All you have to do is confess sin when the Holy Spirit points it out to you, trust God to forgive you as He’s promised to do, and continue on in obedience to Him.

• Taking all of this information into consideration, is the sting of conviction a good or bad thing?
• Is it something to be welcomed or resisted?
• How will you respond next time you feel it?

   

  Read 1 John 3:9, 24, Ephesians 4:30, and 1 John 1:9.