How to Kill your Sin

——Please Open to Colossians chapter 3——

I wish to speak today of a matter of grave importance for the believer—one that is oft neglected.

It is this – that the death and resurrection of Christ have necessary consequences in how we live our lives.

You may say to me – “this is obvious,” to which I reply, “it is astonishingly neglected”—to the detriment of our Christian lives and churches.

We must live holy lives, and put away our sin.

And we must realize – there are grave consequences when we do not.

Sin is a monster with unsatiable hunger…sin begets greater sin, it is not innocuous, consider:

Hebrews 3:13 warns us that quote “none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Sin hardens your soul. It darkens your desires. It twists your mind.

Who here is not aware of this, and yet….let me ask you: Do you take seriously the task of killing your sins?

Sin makes the heart indifferent to sin.

As a Christian, you should be repulsed by what God is repulsed by…

As yourself - are you utterly repulsed by the cave of dragons dwelling in your heart?

Now, I know, I KNOW we are quick to hate external wickedness “out there”—I’m not talking about that right now…

Are you repulsed by yourself, Christian?

If you find yourself content to co-habitate with sin, you’ve been hardened by its deceitfulness.

And sin left living and thriving in you will make you earthly, carnal, impossible to satisfy, restless and ultimately joyless.

Consider David’s experience with sin in Psalm 32:

“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

Our text this morning is a fairly straightforward text—but let it judge you: do you concern yourselves with killing sin like you ought to?

My aim this morning is to offer aid to the soul that struggles with indwelling sin—to exhort you and encourage you to have mastery over it.

Please open to Colossians chapter 3, and let us read our text this morning: verses 1-8

[Read 3:1-8 & Pray]

Let us briefly consider what Colossians has taught thusfar about the mortification of our sin:

Chapter 1:22 says that Christ,

22 has now reconciled [you] in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith...

Christ, the image of the invisible God, the Creator, the head of all things, the one in whom the fulness of God dwells…

…died……so that you could be reconciled to God, being presented as holy and blameless.

The task of killing our sin was one of the aims for which Christ died!

Yet we may question - how can the power to be holy and blameless be conferred on weak and sinful beings like ourselves?

Colossians 1:26-27 says By means of “the glorious mystery once hidden but now disclosed”: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

There exists a spiritual union between Christ and His people—the same union that MARRIAGE was created to illustrate.

“Christ in us” CHANGES things…how could it not?

Chapter 2:11-12 then says “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

2 things happen as a result of us being “in Him”:

1) We are circumcised in heart—resulting in being buried with him.

2) We are raised with him to new life.

Circumcision: This was a physical act – and yet it pointed to the hope of a spiritual reality:

Deuteronomy 30:6 says "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. "

Without THIS circumcision, one cannot hope to love God with all their hearts and souls.

Without circumcision of heart, we cannot have eternal life, and without it we cannot hope to have mastery over sin.

Paul tells us: all those "in Christ" have been circumcised “with a circumcision made without hands:”

If faith binds you to Christ, then your “body of the flesh” has been cut off and thrown away. And In THIS way - we were buried with Christ!

Our old self perished at Calvary, You DIED on that cross, and your old self died too.

But there was not only a DEATH in Christ, there was also a RESURRECTIONwith Him.

God made us alive together with Christ.

That old man is dead, including his eternal debts and penalties…in its place is a new life, a new man, modeled after Christ…

One that yearns for obedience, that hates things opposed to God, that strives for holiness and blamelessness.

And here we find the Apostolic expectation for we who have "Christ in us":

we must stop our indulgence of the flesh.

Part of why Jesus died was to help us mortify our sin, and He dwells in us (in part) to aid in that pursuit.

With this as background, Let us begin with chapter 3:1 - If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Paul, the writer of Colossians, begins with a conditional—if you have been raised with Christ….IF….

If you have been given a new life, your old self being circumcised and buried, then here is the command of the Holy Spirit:

SEEK the things above. Seek the things above.

What are the things that are above?

The Spirit, knowing our question, inspired this clarification: "the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God."

In a reference to Psalm 110, Paul speaks of Christ in the presence of God—at His right hand.

What heavenly qualities are present in proximity to the Lord of Hosts?

Holiness, Righteousness, Justice, Love, Mercy, Grace, Immortality and Eternal Life…

…those things that are in accordance with God’s perfect unchanging nature!

These are “the things that are above.”

No suggestions are offered in this verse—make no mistake, this is a command.

A specific Greek construction actually, called an imperative.

This is an expectation for you O Church: To seek, that is—to strivefor, to yearn. [Pause]

[PW] Brothers and sisters: Why do you seek after worldly things?

Why do you desire them, above heavenly things?

What do you think this world can give you that Christ cannot? [/PW]

We seek what we desire – desire heavenly things!

We lose half the battle here – we want this world!

We want our recreations and our TV shows and our Social Media and our Fame and our Money

[PW] Why do we want that? [/PW]

Fill your heart with delight for the things for God!

Don’t be diluted in this matter—maybe you need to hear this—you’re not commanded to seek the world.

“Be in the world and not of it”…We’ve become IN the world AND of the world!

Heavenly realities are communicated to us in Christ—who right now sits at the right hand of God…

…and you’re GORGING yourself on…what…?

A further command is given in verse 2: Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth

A contrast here presents itself. We are men of two worlds, a citizen of one, dwelling in another.

Torn in our minds between the things that are above, and earthly things.

Notice again the command here, this imperative: “Set your minds,”Literally..."think about"

This is not only an act of the mind, but of the WILL.

CHOOSE to think of heavenly things, and not to be consumed by the earthly.

Ponder this question: what occupies your thoughts.

What we think about…we yearn for [beat heart] HERE. What we yearn for, we think of.

Do you find sin present in abundance? Consider what it is you set your mind on.

You may guard your actions tightly, but if you have no watchman over your mind—the battle will be swiftly lost.

What entangles you with worldly desire? What draws your eyes down from the magnificence of the Almighty?

Here is the warning implicit in these commands:

DO NOT PERMIT your mind to be saturatedby this world—

or it will be invaded, penetrated and entangledwith the thick weeds of earthly things.

Such weeds are insidious, they reattach your heart strings to temporal things,

they make you more interested in broken dull articles of man rather than the surpassing excellencies of God.

A great error of us American Christians: We are fattened by a diet of things most inconsequential.

Satan need not direct persecution towards us to turn our hearts cold…

He must only distract our minds with things most hollow.

How can one slay their sins if their minds are always preoccupied with their news feed?

So apply you mind, your intellect, your thoughts to things above.

Why should we do this? Verses 3-4 reiterate:

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

For you have died... To this world. To yourself! To sin!

Why bother with your old masters? The world, sin, death—these things do not command you.

They may whisper in your ear, but you are free from their chains!

With Christ, in the presence of God, our lives are now located.

They are hidden in heaven, untouchable by our old masters

And while this may be an invisible reality for now, one day it shall become manifest—when Christ appears at His coming.

And so - we are not presently citizens of earth, we are citizens of heaven.

Do you so despise this truth, church, as to neglect the duties of a citizen of the Kingdom of God?

For those who are regenerate - take heed: it is easy for us to roll our eyes at the flagrant evil of our day.

Such obvious evils offend our conscience.

Far harder is it to recognize that our minds and hearts roll in the mud of worldly entertainment and silly toysinvented to distract our minds and fill our bellies.

As the world spirals away, it tempts you, chides you, hates you…but most subtly, it distractsyou

And Satan will craftily make use of your ignorance to slit the throat of your soul…

…like a city without fortification or watchman, your sin uses your fixation on frivolous gimicks as an opportunity to sneak in all manner of lusts.

And beware: If you can genuinely identify no change in thinking, in attitude, in desires, or in character before and then after you were saved…

…you must ask yourself: have you genuinely died in Christ and been raised to new life? Is your life hidden with Christ in God?

“Christ in us” changes us. It is the unavoidable truth.

If you are not found in Christ by faith – then you must, of FIRST concern, look upon Christ for the forgiveness of sins!

You cannot hope to tame your soul, you cannot hope to manage your sin if you have not Christ in you!

If you imagine yourself acceptable to God because of effortsto manage your sin apart from Christ,

you deceive yourself with hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

Like the man who spits on a building to put out the fire, without Christ, there is no hope of extinguishing your sin.

Turn to him in faith, give up your strivings, and have assurance of eternal life.

[Pause]

The Apostle's first point here is made:

The mystery of Christ changes our relationship to the world, it changes our mindsetand our thinking, and it changes our desires.

But Paul's goal is to admonish us to crush the indulgence of the flesh.

The external things of the world lure our hearts, and we must focusour hearts and minds on heavenly things…

But the more insidious problems come from within, from our flesh.

V5-8: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. "

Another imperative: put your sin to death. KILL it. Later – put your sins away. This is called “Mortification.”

Put to death, I don’t think, communicates the violence necessary for this task…

We are to kill what is “earthly” in our BODY, in our MEMBERS.

He speaks of a hidden battle, a secret war with our inner-self.

It is here I want to spend the remainder of our time, for this is a topic far to neglected in our day.

We oftensay "stop sinning." We regularly express a needfor holiness.

But indeed how rare it seems to be to find a man who has mortifiedhis sin.

Permit me, for a moment, to give you 3 things that mortification is NOT, in order to properly define what it IS:

1) Mortification is not the complete removal of all our sin.

This will not come until glorification, and 1 John tells us that if we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves.

Yet this is still our aim and goal, and we must fight for it with every tool at our disposal.

Finding remnants of old lusts does not necessarily mean that we have failedthe ongoing task of mortification. [Pause]

Next is a common snare, which leads many to false believe they have victory when indeed they are entangled:

2) Mortification is not simply CHANGING howwe sin.

Let us consider a man given to great outbursts of anger:

Perhaps this man no longer screams at his wife, yet finds his mouth running instead to speak slanderously about her...he has not put his sin to death.

It has craftily outwitted him, lureing him into false peace and security, whispering to him that he has succeeded in conquering that most vile iniquity.

The sin remains with but a different mask.

If you once struggled with sexual immorality, yet have given that up to now only picture obscene and impure things in your mind…

…do not deceive yourself, that lust is alive and well.

3) Mortification does NOT mean that we have a purely temporary victory over sin.

Suppose a man struggles with greed, and that greed builds and finally manifests itself in blatant theft.

Recognizing the severity of his offense, the man returns the stolen item, and suffers the consequences—His conscience trembling under the weight of his sin.

For a time, the man becomes exceedingly generous, keeping a tight watch over his desires.

But that lust was not killed, it lies there, waiting for his resolve to diminish.

After a particularly devastating failure, many who struggle with pornography are tormented with remorse.

They firmly resolve to never frequent such sites again... But after a time, their resolve grows weak…

They forget the vile stench of their prior sins….

And so lust rises within their hearts and strikes once more.

Temporary victory over certain sins is not mortification.

That lust lies merely asleep, waiting for the most opportune moment to strike.

Psalm 78 seems to speak something of this experience – this Psalm recounts the failures and covenant unfaithfulness of Israel. Verse 34-37 says:

When [God] killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. (v34-37)

When God struck the people down, the repented, they remembered Him...

But v36 says that they flattered him and lied to him... their hearts were not steadfast and they were notfaithful

For a time, they turned from sin, yet they eventually drifted back to their iniquities, like a dog to its vomit.

Such things are NOT Mortification.

With this in mind, let us proceed to consider what true mortification is…

Mortification is a cooperative workwe do by the power of the Holy Spirit to daily fight against our sins, resulting in the weakening of our lusts, and some degree of success over our sin. [x2]

1) The Spirit of God is given to Christians for the task of Mortification:

By cooperative work, I mean that we work alongside the Spirit in us.

Mortification does not happen without acts of our own will, and neither can Mortification happen apart from the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is He who removes our stony hearts and causes us to be born again.

He intercedes for us in prayer, and works all things for our good—that is specifically—our sanctification.

He binds us to Christ, reminding us of our forgiveness in Him when we DO fail…

…and refines us by acts of providence, fellowship with other Saints, Lord’s Supper, by Scripture, by preaching, so on and so forth

He causes us to bear good fruit and conforms us to the image of the Son.

Now, BE WARNED: Some have used this truth as an excuse to absolve themselves of their responsibility to mortify sin.

They foolishly reason – "since it is the Spirit's work, if I am not sanctified, that is His failure, not mine!"

To which I simply respond – you did not find that reasoning in Scripture.

2) True Mortification finds Christians daily fighting against sin by the God-given weapons of mortification.

Mortification is a CONSTANT battle in which there are no compromises. There are no concessions. Mortification is war.

And therefore, we craftily and diligently use every God-ordained means available to crush our lusts…

devoting tremendous resources to the task.

Part of this daily warfare is gathering intelligence!

To fight these sins…we must KNOW them. Their battle plans, their allies, their weaknesses.

John Owen writes this: "This is how men deal with their enemies. They search out their plans, ponder their goals, and consider how and by what means they have prevailed over them in the past…Without this kind of strategic thinking, warfare is very primitive...This is our enemy; this is his ways and his methods, these are his advantages, this is the way he has prevailed, and he will do this, if he is not prevented."

We must keep watch over our souls by knowing our weaknesses.

Do not permit sin to catch you in an ambush.

If you knew that your lust would rise up when on a work trip…

– to mortify your sin is go on that trip preparedfor battle, with safeguards in place…or to not go on the trip at all.

The work of Mortification does not ignore sins, blindly hoping they gets better over time.

3) True Mortification results in our internal lusts growing weaker and more famished.

We do not feed these desires any more.

They do not grip us as they once did. Their dominion over our will: emptied.

Our desires shift, our love for things that above grows!

4) Last marker – True Mortification results in some degree of success in consistently routing sin.

Let us now return to the text, Paul gives us two lists of vices representativeof the “earthly” things we must put to death.

He tailers his lists for vices he knows are present among the Colossians – but these sins broadly epitomize attitudes of self-indulgence.

Here’s Paul’s hit list:

1) Sexual Immorality

Fittingly at the top. All forms of this, fornication. Adultery.

Sexual Immorality demonstrates an attitude self-indulgence and worldliness.

Church – the Holy Spirit here says to you:

IF there is even a hint of sexual impurity in your heart, you must hunt it down, track it, and slay it, for the sake of your soul.

Few things will harden and damage your heart more than allowing sexual immorality to go unchallenged.

And do not fall prey to this twisted act of the mind: Comparative holiness.

Yes, you could be WORSE, but this only provides sin with the justification needed to flourish without challenge.

2) Impurity

Here is a broader term, though one still tied to sexual sin.

Impurity - things that defile you, things that prick your conscience.

You know these things. You know them.

Paul speaks not only of the overt vices, but the subtle things that strangle the soul.

An extra gaze upon the magazines at the store.

A stroll down a certain aisle to glimpse what you ought not glimpse.

These are defiling actions and thoughts.

We musn’t settle to war only against external actions, but it is our calling to destroyour hearts secret indulgence in the impure.

3) Passion and Evil Desires

Strong urges and desires.

Paul think of sinful passions and appetites that may plague us.

Not only our actions, not only our impure thoughts, but also our DESIRES are to be put to death.

The WANT, the CRAVING, the LONGING for forbidden things — we must mortify these as well.

These are impulses of the deep heart, hidden from all but the eyes of our Lord

No man can look at you and rebuke your evil desires...no man can peer into the soul of man and know his hidden lusts….but God sees all.

Do we not so often neglect the care of our souls in this matter?

Do we not so frequently permit desires for wicked things seep into the dark crevices of our heart to pitch a tent and reside without challenge?

Fellow Christian – Put such things to death.

4) Covetousness, greediness, which is idolatry

Desiring those things which are not yours to have.

To covet is to value things above God, to worship created things, rather than the creator.

[Pause]

This list is but a taste of the storm of wicked desires that swirl in our minds.

Observe what such actions reap: verse 6:

- V6-7: "On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them."

The wrath of God hurtles towards THESE things.

THESE were your problem in the first place…the things that Jesus SAVED you FROM!

[PW] You used to walk in these, when you lived in them.

But no more Christian. No more. [/PW]

We once were characterized by these things. Saturated with them, drawnto them.

But now – if your life is hidden in Christ, if you LIVE in Christ, then you must also WALK in Him!

Christian whose heart is dulled and whose conscience is seared—hear God’s Word here: These things are not the toys of Christians.

If you want only to play with them, then deceive yourself no longer—drop the name of Christ.

But if you ARE a Christian, then you must know, these sins are not our precious marbles.

These are toys of Satan, snares of sin, traps of transgression.

Yours are something different, something glorious…and you must see — they are far superior.

Verse 8 ends this section: But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Therefore - Having established the need for mortification - let us spend the remainder of our time on this subject: how do we mortify our sin?

Let us first consider 5 things we ought do to PREPARE for battle, BEFORE temptation arises.

1) Prepare for the battle by being aware of ALL your sins.

Christian - you cannot hope to kill one sin if you ignore another sin!

If you struggle with pride, and yet regularly neglect weekly gathering with the saints, how can you expect dominion over that in?

If you yearn for humility, yet neglect your communion with God through prayer...how can you expect victory?

You must prepare for the battle by learning to HATE all your sin. All of it.

Beware: do not hate sin only for its consequences; hate sin because your GOD hates it.

Despise not only the desires that stir your conscience and cause you great lament, but learn to hate everything which God hates…

…even the things your conscience has learned to ignore!

Many men lose the battle here: in bloody warfare against the forces of anger, one’s lack of hatred towards their laziness may cause indifference.

You may learn to ignore the soldiers wearing the uniform of laziness, permitting them free access to your gated cities—to your own swift destruction.

Any allowance of sin affects the whole man, weakensyour resolve, and leads to deeply entrenched sins that will devastateyour soul.

2) Prepare for the battle by recognizing the seriousness of some of your sins.

To those who have been enchained to a sin for many years, who have made a habitual practice of a sin,

…you must know, this is a most grave condition.

Do not underestimate the toll this takes on you.

Those who regularly give way to the same lust are likely no longer bothered by its presence.

Its true ugliness has been masked to you.

Ask yourself this question:

If no external restraint was placed on you, if there was no fear of being discovered, no apparent consequences—would you freely give yourself to this sin?

If so, Do not misunderstand, You reside in an exceedingly perilous place, you deeply love sin.

…it affects every part of you. It is a parasite, sucking the vitality from you. You may be SO HARDEND that you may not even see how it has affected you..

If your sin is utterly unaltered by Scripture, unaffectedby rebuke, unmoved by preaching –

Then your heart CONSISTENTLY quenches the work of the Spirit in the ordinary means of grace!

You are in a devastating condition, and there are two options you must consider:

Ø You either are so hardened by sin that the most critical functions of a believer's heart: love for God, hatred of sin, have been frozen over by hell's schemes...

Ø OR you have not the Spirit, and deludeyourself into believing you are regenerate, when you are not.

If you are not a Christian – your only recourse is to cry out for mercy TODAYthat you would be saved…

…for a far worse fate awaits you if you do not.

If, however, you ARE regenerate, then you must know this:

Your sin is not going to die by itself, and it will incresingly rob you of contentment, peace, love, and all good things until it is gone.

Killing this sin will take extraordinary means—a dramatic and concerted effort…but hear this: it is your solemn DUTY to do so.

3) Prepare for the battle by encouraging your conscience to be afflicted by sin.

The sins of a Christian, while forgiven, are most offensive to God. You have DESPISED God's mercy and grace and goodness.

You have grieved the Holy Spirit, offended your Savior who WILLINGLY gave Himself for you.

Do not too hastily push aside feelings of remorse.

Be emotionally AWARE of the vileness of sin…this will help you in your hatred for all things wicked.

We cannot be prepared to fight unless we really see sin as the enemy, and grow in our instinctive reaction AGAINST it.

If you struggle in this regard -- I recommend you spend time in the Old Testament, especially the prophets.

See God's hatred and wrath manifested against the sins of the nations.

4) Prepare for the battle by permitting no secret sins room in your soul.

Secrecy allows your sin to grow in the dark until it is so implanted in your heart that you will struggle to despise it.

Regularly fellowship with believers, and regularly practice confession: specific, detailed, accurate confession.

Let another believer know with specifics where all your spiderwebs are, and let their influence and watchful eyes protect you.

A good time to do this – in a prayer slot with your small groups.

The aim: have a couple mature Christians know ALL your junk and struggles, watch for you, lift you up in prayer, rebuke you, and encourage you.

Listen - if you have secret sins you harbor without confession – cut that out TODAY.

5) Prepare for the battle by clothingyourself with good works and the regular practice of the spiritual disciplines:

Prayer, Scripture reading, fasting, examining yourself, communion, church attendance, confession...

These things aren’t MAGIC, they aren't a cure in and of themselves…

But they are the MEANS BY WHICH the Spirit mends our wounded souls.

How can a man who never communes with God through His Word or in prayer meekly go to him for aid in mortification?

Galatians 5:16-17: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will notgratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other...."

One cannot bear fruit of the flesh AND fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the spirit are poison to works of the flesh.

Paul continues on past our text this morning in Colossians 3 to tell us, “Put on GOOD deeds! LOVE one another! Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly!”

Grow practiced in good deeds, and you will find your desire for wickednessdiminishing.

Having prepared with these things for battle, consider how we act when a temptation arises and your lust flares up within you:

1) When sin arises within you – do not compromise, show no mercy, and do NOT trust yourself.

Do not flee from the battle, do not retreat, do not delay dealing with the lust out of a vain hope it will just disappear.

And do not surrender, do not stop fighting.

This is your obligation. Your DUTY as a Christian. THIS is your spiritual offering to God.

Be aware - if sin finds any crack in the dam, it will burst forth with unimaginable pressure.

Know yourself Christian - you have far less willpower than you’d like to think.

Many claim "I would NEVER do such a deed" until they find themselves practically able to do so—

…suddenly their resolve crumbles beneath the weight of their sin.

Some deceive themselves by saying "I will commit this little transgression as to let off some pent-up steam. At least it isn't as bad as this OTHER sin, and it will help me resist in the future."

Instead of committing adultery, I’ll regularly view porn…That’ll help!

Utter foolishness – All sins are defiling. All sins are abhorrent. Allsins harden you.

Fight the battle by using every weapon in your arsenal. Neglect nothing.

Fast. Pray. Meditate on Scripture. Call a Christian brother or sister. Fight.

2) When lust arises within you – consciously cling to the mercies of Christ and the spiritual realities of his death

Immediately fall on your knees. Confess your weakness of heart.

Cry out to the Lord for help and assistance that very moment.

PLEAD for mercy, and do not leave your knees until your heart is stilled.

Cling to this fact: Christ dwells in you, you have been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.

You’ve been baptized into his death. You’ve been raised with him.

If Christ is unable or unwilling to help you, who can?

John 15:5 – I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

Christ shall not fail his task. He died (in part) for our good works and abstaining from lawlessness.

Titus 2:14 – "[Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

Ephesians 5 – "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

Christian, put on your armor, pick up your sword, and fight until you are bloody and wounded and the enemy lies dead on the field.

And take heart – with man this is impossible, yet with God all things are possible.

Christ has overcome the world, and He can overcome even your greatest lusts.

————

A few of the practical helps I made here are not original, but rather came from John Owen's seminal work: the Mortification of Sin.

I rephrased, reordered, and adapted his thinking to be as helpful as I could.

If you’d like a fuller exposition on this topic, I commend that book along with his works “Indwelling Sin in Believers” and “Temptation Resisted and Repulsed”