Romans 8:13 tells us: “…for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Someone once told me that Christians should never have a militant attitude when faced with sin, that to aggressively confront sin and falsehood will only push people away rather than bring them closer to Christ.
We need to remember as Christians we should NEVER come across mean and unloving to anyone – period. There is no need to resort to foul name-calling, over-the-top bashing, personal ridicule, and borderline hate. That hate-monger style of preaching is not Christ-like and never was.
However, when Christ confronted sin and falsehood in Matthew 23 there is no denying His rebuke was extremely militant and aggressive. It had to be, for these so-called religious leaders were supposed to lead the people to the Truth, yet were misleading them with hypocritical examples and false teachings, it was a direct attack on the souls of everyone who followed and supported them and needed to be aggressively confronted.
This same aggression should be directed to the sins in our lives as well…In fact it is so intense the Apostle Paul says we are to “PUT TO DEATH” (kill) our sin.
John MacArthur had a blog series last year (which I highly recommend everyone to read) titled “Killing Sin Pt.1, Pt.2“. In this series he says: “Killing sin is a constant discipline in the believer’s life. Destroying and mortifying sinful habits and patterns is a lifelong battle we must wage for the sake of our spiritual growth.”
Whenever I just think of my past lifestyle my stomach cringe with disgust, I hate everything about it. And although I know Christ have forgiven me I still cry out for His mercies and grace…that’s how much I hate it.
Friends, If we are not at war with the sin in our life and if we are not aggressively attacking and killing it, then we may not be a Christian at all. Some superficial Christians believe just because Christ has forgiven us that we can carelessly wallow in sin always finding forgiveness in Christ, if that’s our attitude then we may have to evaluate our Christianity.
Listen, Peter tells us that sin “wages war with our souls” (1 Peter 2:11), Satan is the father of all sin, if we are not in war with our sins then Satan must be our ally, and if we are not at war Satan then we must be at peace with him. I don’t know about you but just the thought of being at peace with Satan and having him as our friend is beyond me.
“How much we ought to hate sin! Instead of loving it, cleaving to it, dallying with it, excusing it, playing with it, we ought to hate it with a deadly hatred. Sin is the great murderer, and thief, and pestilence, and nuisance of this world. Let us make no peace with it. Let us wage a ceaseless warfare against it.”
~ J.C. Ryle | Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 209.
No matter what our sins are: whether we are living in a sinful relationship outside of marriage; constantly jealous living in the past and finding it hard to let go of the sins of others; continuing in our worldly lifestyle of material gain, love for success and self, drunkenness, lust; supporting falsehood and contrary teachings to the Words of Christ and refusing any type of counsel…Then we are not at war with our sin.
Yes when we truly repent Christ will forgive us of our sins (1 John 1:9), however if we haven’t “turned away” from our past lifestyles (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17), if we continue to carelessly “live” in sin (cf. Rom. 6:1-23, 1 Cor. 15:16-18) and if we do not care to diligently destroy our sin on a daily basis then we truly need to ask ourselves – are we living for Christ or for Satan?
Think About It. – Marc
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Let No Evil Remain
And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers. (Deuteronomy 13:17)
Israel must conquer idolatrous cities and destroy all the spoil, regarding all that had been polluted by idolatry as an accursed thing to be burned with fire. Now, sin of all sorts must be treated by Christians in the same manner. We must not allow a single evil habit to remain. It is now war to the knife with sins of all sorts and sizes, whether of the body, the mind, or the spirit. We do not look upon this giving up of evil as deserving mercy, but we regard it as a fruit of the grace of God, which we would on no account miss.
When God causes us to have no mercy on our sins, then He has great mercy on us. When we are angry with evil, God is no more angry with us. When we multiply our efforts against iniquity, the Lord multiplies our blessings. The way of peace, of growth, of safety, of joy in Christ Jesus will be found by following out these words: “There shall nought of the cursed thing cleave to thine hand.” Lord, purify me this day. Compassion, prosperity, increase, and joy will surely be given to those who put away sin with solemn resolution.
Charles H. Spurgeon
1 Thess. 5:21 