Romans 6:11-14 - “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Victory over sin is never accomplished through trying harder, it is only realized through dying to the old man and allowing Him to live His life through me (Gal.2:20); but that’s just half the battle. When Paul discusses offering ourselves to God and allowing ourselves to be used as instruments of righteousness He is describing a life actively lived for God’s purposes - a battle fought for His ends (2 Tim.2:4). A soldier only has 2 things on his mind: survival and victory. If I just survive I won’t necessarily win but if I win I always survive. That’s profound. So many Christians have such inferior and earthly expectations (and you get what you expect): “If I can just make it to church a little more often and get through a few weeks without falling into that secret repetitive sin again, I’ll be fine.” That is setting your sights on survival and if that’s your goal it’s doubtful you’ll make it through the battle. Going through the motions gets me nowhere I want or need to go. If we would just commit to winning the fight He’s put us in, accomplishing His Great Commission in our lifetimes (Mt.28:18-20), we would also survive the battle with sin. This all reminds me of King David, who stayed out of the fight and ended up falling into hideous sin (2 Sam.11). Passively surviving shackles me to defeat while active participation in the fight secures me victory in the battle and over sin, so let’s fight this fight to win it, by faith and in His Holy Spirit’s power.
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