Conquer Your Sin

I. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of God's Grace

++A. Be aware of the trap of pride and guilt.

++B. Abandon personal performance and embrace God’s grace.

++C. Continually commit yourself to the foundation of grace (at the start and end of each day)

II. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of the Word

++A. Embrace God’s path of righteousness for yourself.

++B. Engage the Word of God as the power to stay on the path of righteousness.

++C. Continually commit to internalizing the Word throughout your day.

III. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Prayer

++A. Surrender self-sufficiency to God-dependency in every aspect of your life.

++B. Know that surrender leads to peace.

++C. Continually commit to crowding out the world with spiritual longing to talk with God.

IV. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Holiness (Obedience)

++A. Understand your victory in Christ.

++B. Identify how personal your sin is to you and to God

++C. Continually commit to actively putting sin to death

V. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Personal Evangelism

++A. God has called you to share your faith.

++B. God will teach you as you share your faith.

++C. Continually commit to loving others enough to share your faith.

VI. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Serving (Spiritual Gifts)

++A. God fully equips you to fulfill His expectation (call) in you.

++B. You are the Holy Spirit’s spiritual gift to His church.

++C. Continually commit to loving God’s church as “it” (they) loves you.

I. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Redemptive Suffering

++A. God’s grace and love shine brightest in the darkest trials.

++B. See God’s strengthening work.

++C. Continually commit to “Who” and “What” instead of “why.”

I. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Keeping Track

++A. See sin as God sees sin.

++B. Four Questions (Is it helpful—physically, spiritually, and mentally; does it bring me under its power; does it hurt others; does it glorify God)? That leads to Four Steps (identify, confess, repent, retrain) [Jerry Bridges, Pursuit of Holiness, p. 69]

++C. Continually commit to keeping track of challenges and triumphs (journaling)

++D. Find a partner/get going (chronos [time passing] vs. kairos [opportune moment])

Conquer Your Sin

Define

Sin

++A. Taking one’s love (Matt. 22:36-40; 1 Cor. 13:4a, 6b-7) for God and redirecting it to a distorted love of self (13:4b-6a).

++or

++B. Any lack of conformity to God’s law or will; in action, attitude, or nature (1 Jn. 3:4; 5:17).

If we are to rise above, overcome, break the chains of, turn from our sin increasingly, now that we have trusted Christ as our Savior, it seems prudent that we gain clarity on what sin is in the first place.

Two questions that must be asked:

1. Is sin the collective of God’s law or will; through the laborious effort to discover, define, list, and rehearse that which is then broken when not upheld?

or

2. Is sin something much simpler to identify, overcome, and thereby conquer?

What is Sin? (Matt. 22:36-40)

When challenged with the question of how to identify what Law of God is the greatest, the most important, Jesus Christ answered His detractors with a simple view, one that anyone could grasp…adopt…and implement in their lives. He boiled it down to two simple considerations, both of which hung upon one sole action for all to follow.

What is Sin?

1. Love God more than me vv. 36-38

2. Love others more than me v. 39

3. This is all God’s Law v. 40

When challenged with the question of how to conquer sin, it seems we can now return to answer the question we asked in the beginning about a better definition of Sin, was it A or B?

Sin

A. Taking one’s love (Matt. 22:36-40; 1 Cor. 13:4a, 6b-7) for God and redirecting it to a distorted love of self (13:4b-6a).

or

B. Any lack of conformity to God’s law or will; in action, attitude, or nature (1 Jn. 3:4; 5:17).

In support of B,

1 John 3:4 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”

1 John 5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.”

If sin is defined here as lawlessness and unrighteous acts;

...and all those broken laws and actions are covered under one concept of heart, soul, and mind;

...then it is reasonable to accept all sin as a breach of that one single concept, which according to Jesus Christ Himself is love.

It seems that letter A is a better idea of what sin is…it makes it personal as an affront to God, rather than simply a personal failure of one’s own, to uphold an imposed standard.

To put it another way, if I believe God to be who He is; if I believe God to love as he says; then is what I am doing at any given moment, done out of love for me which is offensive...or love for Him?

When someone breaks your trust, is that simply a failure on their part uphold a relational standard that is expected within society or is it a personal affront to you and your relationship with that person?

Sin is: Taking one’s love (Matt. 22:36-40; 1 Cor. 13:4a, 6b-7) for God and redirecting it to a distorted love of self (13:4b-6a).

So, now there is one more question to answer and that is:

What Conquers Sin?

What Conquers Sin (1 Cor. 13:4-7)

If the nature of sin is the lack of love (according to Jesus), then the obstacle to sin…or the path from sin is love itself.

1 Peter 4:7–8 NASB

The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

Verses 9-11 then define what that looks like to love as we ought, ultimately at the end of v. 11, so that we glorify, rather than be an affront, to Jesus Christ, “…to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Consider two things:

What love is not:

What love is not:

++Not Jealous v. 4b

++Doesn’t brag

++Not arrogant

++Doesn’t act unbecomingly (rude, irritating)

++Doesn’t seek its own (insist on it’s own way)

++Not provoked (irritated)

++Doesn’t hold onto wrong suffered (not resentful)

++Doesn’t find joy in doing wrong v. 6

What love is:

What love is:

++Patient (under evil from others) v. 4

++Kind (extends good)

++Rejoices in truth (with/in others) v. 6b

++Bears all things (Contains one’s self in silence) v. 7

++Believes all things (thinks the best of others)

++Hopes all things (hopes the best for others)

++Endures all things (withstand with courage)

Consider these lists and think about our definition of sin:

Taking one’s love (Matt. 22:36-40; 1 Cor. 13:4a, 6b-7) for God and redirecting it to a distorted love of self (13:4b-6a).

All of these descriptions of what love is not and what love is are simply just that, a description. Love is truly just an act of prioritizing, of keeping the main thing, the main thing.

Put God first in your heart, soul, and mind (passions, spiritual pursuits, thoughts).

Put others before yourself in your heart, soul, and mind.

Sin comes when we simply get our heart, soul, or mind off these two priorities.