Help in the Daily Battle

Rom.6:11 “So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Remember a few weeks back, how we discussed that we were born in sin and therefore we were slaves to sin, and because we were bound in slavery, we committed sins.

We’ve been set free from that kingdom, and we’ve been transferred into the kingdom of light, into the Kingdom of God, and transformed…at least we are in the process of being transformed by the renewal of our mind.

And, remember that our entire study is digging into the fact that we are called to be holy because God is holy.

Now, let us wrestle with this: In His infinite wisdom, God has deemed it right and necessary that we continue our daily battle with indwelling sin rather than simply remove it altogether.

However, though we continue to do battle with our sinful nature, God has not left us to fight on our own! We are not only dead to sin, but we are alive to God in Christ Jesus. Where we once were slaves to sin and darkness, we are now slaves to righteousness (Rom.6:18 “and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.”)

So, what difference does this all make, being set free from slavery to sin in order to become a slave to Christ?

We are united with Christ in all His power.

Phil.4:11-13 “I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Paul is content in any circumstance. Why? Because Christ gives him strength.

Holiness is not conformity to a list of do’s and don’ts. Instead, it is being set apart for God and mirroring His character in the world.

Paul prays a prayer that mimics Phil.4:13’s language in Col 1:11 (“being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully”) and again in Eph.3:16 (“I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,”) and Eph.3:19 (“and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”) And how does Paul end this prayer in Eph.3? By reminding the Ephesians that God is able to do abundantly more than we could ask or even think!

The first implication of being “alive to God” is that we are united with the One who works in us to give us strength according to His mighty power.

Here’s the deal: you’re not hopeless in your fight against the flesh. God gives us the strength we need, but we must form the habit of remembering we are dead to sin and filled with Holy Spirit power.

He has given us His Spirit to live in us.

Truthfully, this is point one fleshed out. The means by which we are united with Christ is the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Consider Rom.8:9-11 “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.”

In 1 Thes.4:7-8 (“For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.”) Paul connects holy living with the giving of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit first enables us to see our need for holiness.

When we are convicted by the Word of God, it is the Spirit of God guiding us into all truth. But, as we noted last week, our deceitful hearts often convince us that conviction = obedience. It does not. James 1:22 (“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”) reminds us that the Word requires response.

Just as the prophet Nathan did when he confronted David over his sin with Bathsheba, the Spirit comes to us reminding us that, “You are the man!” who has walked in sin.

But more than just revealing our need for holiness, the Spirit also creates within us a desire for holiness and righteousness.

Phil.2:13 “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.”

Before we can act, we must will!

So far, we understand that God’s Spirit takes God’s Word and reveals to us both a need for holiness and creates a desire in us for holiness. Here again the two-fold, His-responsibility, our-responsibility aspect arises again. His Spirit uses the Word which means we must first be in the Word.

We must develop dependence on the Holy Spirit.

We first do this by a humble and consistent intake of the Scripture.

Why is humility necessary to Scriptural intake?

Why is consistency necessary to Scriptural intake?

How do you intake Scripture humbly and consistently?

We do this secondly by praying for holiness.

Why do you think it necessary to pray for holiness?

Are there any Scriptures that come to mind that commend this practice to us?

Passages above (Col.1:11; Eph.3:16, 19).

Mt.6:13

1 Thes.5:23 — “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify your completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thes.3:12-13 — “And may the Lord…make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father...”

Wouldn’t it be nice if holiness was as simple as reading the Bible, discovering God’s will, and then going out and doing it? We should be getting to the point that we realize this is only half of the battle.

If there is a desire for holiness, that’s the Spirit (if no desire for holiness, weigh your salvation!)

Even when there is a desire for holiness, we lack the strength on our own to live out God’s standard. We need the Spirit’s strength!