Don’t be concerned with status symbols. Trying to keep up with the “in” crowd is a race you can’t win. No matter how big your house is, someone you know or know about will have one bigger. No matter how many cars you own, some friend will own one more. No matter how fabulous the party you give, someone across town will throw one even more amazing. These things and others like them take money and lots of it. But even if you could afford them and finally outdid everybody else, it wouldn’t be long until you would find yourself running behind again. “Be content with such things as ye have” is a great Bible maxim for overcoming the insatiable desire for having that which is bigger and better than anyone else. Status symbols are only symbols and not the real thing. Don’t waste your time and money on them.

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Battling Against Sin in 2013

Ben Fetterolf

From Romans 6:5-11, we have learned that our union with Christ means that sin has no power over us, and we are assured of a future resurrection. Last time, in Part 2, we also learned that how this applies to us presently is that we must consider (or believe) presently that we are dead to sin. In the moment of temptation, we need to believe what is true because of our union with Christ.

            But if we stopped there, it would seem like we are still left to fight sin on our own. But this is not the case. Living the Christian life is not a do-it-yourself operation. Earlier we concluded from verse eight that being united with Christ assures us of future resurrection life. But verse eleven goes further than that. It tells us that our union with Christ also assures us of present resurrection life. This is why we are told, secondly, to consider (or believe) ourselves to be alive to God. This phrase “alive to God” means that we have the power of God working inside of us to help us defeat temptation. Not only does sin no longer have power over us, but we now have the power of God working inside of us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now working inside of us to help us defeat temptation. Another way that Scripture talks about this reality is that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us to help us battle against temptation (see Gal. 5:16-26).

            So, when tempted, we need to actively believe these two things that are presently true of every believer: we are presently dead to sin, and we are presently alive to God. Sin has no power over us, and we have the power of God working in us to help us overcome temptation. These are not things that we need to believe only once, right now. We need to actively believe these truths 1,000 times this week, each time we are tempted. 

            But you might still have a question at this point. If these things are true, why do we sin? Why is it so difficult in the moment of temptation to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God? The reason is because these two things are not our only options to believe. When we are tempted, the Devil is also feeding us lies that, if believed, will lead us into sin, lies like the following:

• You can handle this temptation on your own without God’s help.
• If God loved you, he wouldn’t let you be tempted.
• This temptation is too powerful; I just can’t resist it.
• One time is not a big deal.
• Go ahead and enjoy the sin; you can always ask God to forgive you later.
• This is a really small sin.
• You deserve this pleasure.
• Just one more time, and I will never sin in this way again.
• You are doing pretty good; you probably won’t ever be tempted in that way again.

The battle against sin is first a battle of belief. Will we choose to believe the lies that the Devil feeds us or will we choose to believe what we know to be true: we are dead to sin and alive to God?

            This new year will bring with it new temptations and the same old temptations that we have struggled with for years. Let me encourage you not to begin your year by promising yourself that you will never do this or that particular sin ever again. Don’t put your trust in your own resolve. Put your trust in Jesus and what he has accomplished on your behalf! And in every moment of temptation, choose to believe what you know to be true as a result of your union with Jesus: sin has no power over you, and you have the power of God working inside of you to help you defeat temptation. Your victory over sin this year will not come first by deciding something or by doing something but rather by believing something.

Battling Against Sin in 2013

Ben Fetterolf

Battling against sin is not about deciding once and for all to never sin again but rather about believing what we know to be true. This is what we learned last time from Romans 6:5-11. In these verses, Paul teaches that because of our union with Christ, sin has no power over us as believers, and we are assured of a future resurrection. In this post, we will look further at Romans 6 to see how our union with Christ affects our lives today.

            So, being united with Christ in his death and resurrection means that we have been set free from the penalty and power of sin and that we are assured of future resurrection life. But what does union with Christ mean for today? What does this truth have to do with my battle against sin right now? The answer to this comes in verse eleven: “So [conclusion, based on previous verses], you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” This is where this truth gets personal and helpful in the “nitty-gritty” daily battle against sin. Union with Christ doesn’t just assure us of future resurrection life, it also promises us present resurrection life. Let me add two words into verse eleven that I think will help make this clear: “So, you also must consider yourselves [presently] dead to sin and [presently] alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

            This is why in the first post, I said that victory in fighting against sin does not come by first deciding something or by doing something but rather by believing something. If we want to be victorious in our battle against sin, we must believe what verse eleven says to be true. First, we must consider ourselves dead to sin. The reason we need to consider (or believe) ourselves to be dead to sin is because we continue to be tempted by sin even after we are converted. Being united with Christ does not save us from being tempted. However, it does save us from the power of sin. So, when we are tempted, we need to believe that we are presently dead to sin. When tempted, the first step isn’t to do something but to believe something: I am dead to sin, and it has no power over me.

In Part 3, the final post in this series, we will look at the second truth from this verse that we need to believe as well as what makes these truths difficult to believe in the midst of temptation.