I believe that many believers struggle in the battle for holiness.  Jerry Bridges is a wonderful author and he shares this personal story of his own struggle to be victorious:

“The shrill ring of the telephone shattered the stillness of the beautiful, crisp Colorado morning. On the other end was one of those utterly impossible individuals God seems to have sprinkled around here on earth to test the grace and the patience of His children. He was in top form that morning – arrogant, impatient, demanding. I hung up the phone seething  inside with anger, resentment, and perhaps even hatred. Grabbing my jacket, I walked out into the cold air to try to regain my composure. The quietness of my soul, so carefully cultivated in my “quiet time” with God that morning had been ripped into shreds and replaced with a volatile steaming emotional volcano.

As my emotions subsided, my anger turned to utter discouragement. It was only 8:30 in the morning and my day was ruined. Not only was I discouraged, I was confused. Only two hours before I had read Paul’s emphatic declaration, “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” But despite this nice sounding promise of victory over sin, there I was locked in the vice-like grip of anger and resentment.  With all my heart I desired to live an obedient, holy life; yet there I was utterly defeated by one phone call.”

I don’t know if you see yourself in that story. I know that I do! I have struggled to keep anger out of my heart many times. But I do believe that we all struggle in many ways as we strive to win our personal battle in becoming like Christ.  Your circumstances may be a little different. It could your struggle is anger with your children or your temper at work.  It might be an immoral habit you feel like you cannot overcome. Or maybe be several “besetting sins” that dog your life day in and day out.  But the struggle is the same for all believers.

I have discovered that many Christians have come to believe that in certain areas of their lives they just can’t change. Some believers struggle for many years with particular sins or deficiencies of character.  They may even pray about these areas. I will guarantee you that the enemy uses these areas against them to hold them back, to discourage them.  While they are not living in gross sin, it is sad to say that they have given up ever attaining a life of holiness.

It is sad to see when people settle in to a life of moral mediocrity and if you talk to people who are in that state they will most often tell you that they are not happy about it and they know that the Lord is not pleased with it.  They “want to” is there, but an understanding of “how to do it” is not.  Somehow because of the struggle, they have decided that either they can never do it or the enemy has convinced them that it is just not really that important.

I want to tell you that living in a right way is important.  Living a life separated from sin is important.  Let me give you some reasons:

  • God said we are to be holy as He is holy.
  • You are the only Bible many people will ever read.
  • Sin has its consequences.
  • Your prayers will be hindered if you continue in a life of sin.
  • The discipline and the chastening of the Lord will come your way.
  • You influence on your family maybe diminished.

There is plenty of motivation to want to live a holy life.

The theological word we use to describe the process God uses in the battle for holiness is Sanctification.  I know that is kind of a big word. It simply describes the process of being set apart for God. It is that process that each one of us are in – because Gods desire for us is that we become like Jesus.

Another Bible word is holiness. Some may think that this article isn’t for them, but I don’t want you to wriggle off the hook this morning.  I want to preface this message by saying that every believer struggles with sin at some point. Maybe you feel like you have it all conquered. One powerful scripture written to Christians in the book of 1 John tells us not to feel proud about the spiritual place we have attained.

1 John 1:8-10 NIV   “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 

That passage tells me something. None of us can have a holier than thou attitude. If there is anything that bothers me it is someone who approaches Christianity with a holier than thou attitude. When I was a Youth pastor, one of the parents of a teen in my youth group, claimed that since he accepted Jesus, he never sinned.   No pride there. (that was sarcasm) I remember one particular Sunday, while we taking communion and the whole church was searching their hearts before the Lord, this proud man sat there reading a magazine.  Proud and arrogant.

What I have discovered is the softer you become and the more open to the Holy Spirit you become, the more areas you will find in your life that need attention.  My mother had a huge concave mirror with lights all around it. I remember the first time I looked at my face in that mirror.  I did not know, I had craters the size of the moon on my face. I thought I was pretty handsome, until I took a close look in plenty of light. I hope you grasp the spiritual meaning!  The more light you have, and the closer you look, the more you are going to see imperfections. That is good. Because we want to become like Jesus.

My prayer for you as you read this article is that any of those religious holier than thou  attitudes would be gone from me and it would be gone for you.  Just admit it… this morning.  You are a fellow struggler.  I am approaching this subject from the perspective of a fellow struggler.

Just as much as I want to tell you that God forgives sin, and God loves you and my heart wants to extend grace to all my fellow strugglers in sin.  There is another part of my Spirit man that wants to declare to every person here today.

The battle for holiness begins with the cross.

That Jesus death on the cross did more for us than provide forgiveness for our sins. I believe that on that Cross, Jesus broke the power of sin.  He defeated it. He defeated it in his life by living a perfectly obedient life.  Jesus was tempted in all ways like we are, yet he never sinned.  He defeated it on the cross, by paying for sins penalty.  The bible makes bold statements about our freedom.

John 8:36 NIV says “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Free indeed isn’t partial compromise.  Amen?  Free indeed isn’t continual perpetual habits of disobedience.  It is very plain in the New Testament.  We are turn away from wickedness.

2 Timothy 2:19 NIV says  “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a slave to sin. I want to be a slave to God.  Romans 6:6-7  “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

I am telling you that the God you and I serve, has done everything necessary in order that you and I might be free from sin.  I think every Christian does not want sin to get a grip on them.  But the question is how.  How do I fight the battle for freedom and win? I want empower you with Gods word, and we are going to go to work on our lives. This is the first of a series of articles you will find on this website.

I am inviting you on a journey.  Let me just say that Gods word is powerful. It will produce fruit in your life.  But you have to take the journey. Before I left to go on a trip a couple of weeks ago, I got the map out. I traced the highways. I knew what interstates I was going to take.  I knew exactly how to get there. That knowledge did not get me to my destination.   Knowing the way didn’t get me there. Getting in the car and driving got me there.

A lot of believers think that Christianity is about gaining knowledge. It is not. Knowledge is good.  Knowing what the word says is good.  But knowledge alone will not bring you to freedom.  The only thing that will bring you to freedom is putting your hand in the hand of Jesus.  And saying, Lord, I am going to follow you.  I am not only going to know the paths to freedom, I am going to actually make it my point to journey there.

If freedom has been promised in the battle for holiness, how then do obtain it?  Let me give you some beginning steps today.

  1. YOU MUST KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN JESUS

Before we go on to describe the fight for freedom and what it all entails. There is something that you need to settle in your soul once and for all. That you belong to Jesus. As we take a good deep look into what it means to live for God and die to sin and we look at the biblical implications of “Be holy because I am Holy.”  We will see more of our sinfulness.  We will see the sinfulness of our hearts.  We will see the deceitfulness of our hearts and how we have missed the mark.

As that happens to you and as you attempt to live a life more surrendered to God, and you see your own sinfulness,  it is important that you understand the righteousness of Christ, and that this righteousness is credited to you. I want to tell you about your Savior.  I want to remind you of him today.

Part of what he did for us is that he lived a perfect life. On numerous occasions the scriptures testify that  Jesus during his time on earth lived a perfectly holy life.

  • Hebrews 4:15 He is described as “without sin.”
  • 1 Peter 2:22 He is described as one who “committed no sin”
  • 2 Corinthians 5:21 He is described as “Him who had no sin.”
  • John said in 1 John 3:5 “In Him is no sin.”
  • The Old Testament describes him prophetically in Isaiah 53:11as “the Righteous One.”

All of these statements speak of the fact that Jesus did not sin.  He was perfect.  On one occasion Jesus looked the Pharisees squarely in the eye and asked in John 8:46 “Can any of you prove Me guilty of Sin?” NIV   I am declaring to you today that Jesus defeated sin on every hand. And this has to do with not only the fact that he didn’t commit any acts of sin, but that he also completely yielded his life in absolute obedience to God.  He fulfilled Gods will perfectly.  You see holiness has to do with more than just acts, it has to do with motives.  Not only were his actions right, his heart was right, his motives were right.

It is important for every believer to understand this about their Savior. Because our acceptance to a holy God has to do with the righteousness of  Jesus.  Why does God accept us? It is not because of anything we have done.  Our righteousness is as filthy rags before him.  It is because of what Jesus did for us.  One of the most powerful verses in God’s word is 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus became sin for us so that in him we might become the Righteousness of God.  This verse refers to your standing before God.

When God looks at you, when you stand before him, He does not see your sin. Your sins were taken care of on the cross.  He has removed your sin as far as the east is from the west. What God sees is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Thank God for his atoning work!  Nothing can separate you from his love.  Is it any wonder that communion is meant to be a celebration of what Jesus did for us?

As you contemplate the holiness of God – He is so holy.  He is so pure. He is so fearfully holy that nothing impure can be in his presence.  That is why without the shed blood of Jesus, it is a fearful thing to stand before a holy God.  I felt it necessary to stress this truth as I begin to challenge our hearts in the battle for holiness because this truth is foundational to who you are in Jesus.

The author of Romans writes in 4:6-8   “David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven,  whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

God has forgiven your sin. You need to know who you are in Jesus. You can look the devil in the eye and say:

  • I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
  • I am a child of the king.
  • I am redeemed
  • I have been set free.
  • I have been given a new identity.
  • I am a new person.
  • I have been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his dear Son!

Why is that important? Because if you set out in your heart to say, I am going to live for God. I am going to fight sin.  You had better be prepared for the attack Satan. Because the closer you get to Jesus, the more sin will be revealed. Here is what happens -the Holy Spirit makes us more aware of our lack of holiness to stimulate us to deeper yearning and striving for holiness. But Satan will attempt to use the Holy Spirits work to try to discourage us!

One of Satan’s attacks is to try to convince you that you are not a genuine Christian after all. He will say “A true Christian wouldn’t have thought the evil thoughts you’ve been thinking.”   Six months ago the devil wouldn’t have told you that, because you weren’t trying to defeat sin, but now that the Holy Spirit is dealing with you about how sinful thoughts of lust, and resentment, and pride really are. You begin to have doubts.

That is why you must be convinced that you belong to Jesus.  You tell the devil, “I have settled it all. I belong to Jesus. His blood has washed my sin away. Because of that I am not going to continue in my sin. I am going to turn from it…fully put myself in the battle for holiness.”

2.  YOU MUST RECOGNIZE THE BATTLE FRONTS

You will fight this on three battlefronts.

The first thing we need to do in the struggle to live a righteous life is to identify those three battle fronts from God’s word.  Paul writes to the Ephesians, in three verses he mentions all three battle fronts.  We will define them a little better in a moment but for now let’s identify them.

  • The world
  • The devil
  • The flesh

The key verse for this series is found in Ephesians 2:1-2b NIV “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…”

 (Let me just say something this morning.  Just because you get saved, that doesn’t mean that the influence the world has on you is completely broken.  The ways of the world are programmed into you. You are going to have to renew your mind.  How many of you see that really Christianity is a struggle against the ways of the world? So that is the first battlefront. It is the world.)

 The World is the unhealthy social environment in which we live This includes the ungodly aspects of culture, peer pressure, values, traditions, “what is in.” “what is cool,” customs, philosophies, and attitudes.  The world represents the prevailing worldview assumptions of the day that stand contrary to the biblical understanding of reality and biblical values.

Our culture has an incredibly profound influence on the way we think and act.   It provides us with a complete script for how we conduct our lives – what we do when we get sick, how we act  toward the opposite sex, how we spend our money, what we pursue in life, what we think about people who are different than us, and so on.   After coming to Christ Christians then embark on the lifelong task of discerning where these unhealthy influences are still operative in their lives, rooting them out, and adopting godly attitudes and values. That is the first battlefront you must recognize is the world.

 Ephesians 2:2b …and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

 (There is our second battle front – it is a battle against a supernatural enemy who the Bible calls the devil.  Whether you want to believe it or not – there is a real devil and there are real demonic forces in the world today. You had better be prepared to wrestle against principalities and powers. But the scripture doesn’t stop there.)

The Devil is an intelligent, powerful spirit-being that is thoroughly evil and is directly involved in perpetrating evil in the lives of individuals as well as on a much larger scale. Satan is the tempter and an enemy of God and thus our enemy as well. He is also to be defeated and his defeat can only be brought about by spiritual means.

That is the second battle front.  Ephesians 2:3  “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.” That identifies the third battle front. It is with what the NIV calls the sinful nature.  NKJV and the KJV calls it the flesh.  The Greek word is sarx.  Literally translated it means the flesh. It is that inward part of you that desires to have your own way. The flesh, the sinful nature.

The Flesh is the inner propensity or inclination to do evil.   It is the part of our creatureliness tainted by the fall that remains with us until the day we die. It is our continuing connection to this present evil age, which is destined to perish but against which we must struggle now.

As Christians, however, we are new creatures and the compelling influence of the cross has been broken by Christ’s death on the cross. Nevertheless, this inner compulsion continually seeks to reassert its claim and we can only resist it by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so this is what you are up against. As you live for God, If you are going to be a conqueror, if you are going to be victorious. You will have to have a battle plan for all three of these fronts.

You can see these categories as well in James when he is talking about wordly wisdom. James 3:15 NKJV “This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.”

 Earthly means from the worlds point of view.

Sensual means having to do with the senses – having to do with the flesh and what it wants.

Demonic –that is coming from Satan’s realm. The evil beings and forces in the world.

We ask ourselves.  Why is it hard to overcome sin? Here is the reason. You as a Christian warrior are fighting the battle on three different fronts!

  • You must overcome the world around you.
  • You must overcome your own inner desires to do evil.
  • You also are engaged in a spiritual conflict with demonic forces.

There are a lot of people who looking at this scenario, throw their hands in the air and say How in the world can I ever win the battle for holiness? I want you to know  something…on your own you would surely fail.  But it is through Jesus that you can beat these three battle fronts.

When it comes to the devil. Jesus is bigger than the devil.  1 John 4:4b KJV says, “…because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Jesus is greater than your flesh.  Paul writes of his struggle with sin in Romans 7 and he refers to his flesh as a body of death.  He says in  Romans 7:24:25 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

 Jesus is bigger than the world! Romans 8:37 NIV “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

1 John 5:4 KJV “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

 Romans 12:2 NIV “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

I am declaring to you today, that on these three fronts you can have victory.  These verses declare. You say, I wish I knew how. I will share more articles to show you how.  I am going to give you warfare strategies in these three areas.  This is too big of a subject to pack into one article

      3. YOU MUST NEVER GIVE UP

 I want to end this article on a note of encouragement.  The only way you are going to lose the fight for freedom is if you give up on the battle.   Galatians 6:9  “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Johnathan Edwards was a pastor who lived in the early days of this country.  He was involved in what has been come to known the Great Awakening. There are two resolutions that he made in regard to personal holiness.

Number 1, resolved, never to do anything i would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.

In other words, he was determined to live a life of holiness. A life set aside for God. But he didn’t stop there. He made a second resolution:

Number 2, I resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

In other words, he resolved never to give up the fight.  Some may look at that and say, well, he must not have been too sincere making the first resolution.  I disagree, I think he knew that this was a struggle that would cost him, time energy and effort.

Don’t give up. You can be all that God wants you to be and hear Jesus say, Well done, good and faithful servant!

NOTES FOR USE WHILE LISTENING TO THE TEACHING

1 John 1:8-10 NIV   “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

 John 8:36 NIV “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

2 Timothy 2:19 NIV “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Romans 6:6-7 NIV “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

IN ORDER NOT TO GIVE UP THE FIGHT YOU MUST:

  1. KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST

a JESUS LIVED A PERFECT LIFE

Hebrews 4:15 “without sin.”

1 Peter 2:22  “committed no sin”

2 Corinthians 5:21 “Him who had no sin.”

1 John 3:5 “In Him is no sin.”

Isaiah 53:11 “the Righteous One.”

John 8:46b “Can any of you prove Me guilty of Sin?”

b .   WE ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

  1. RECOGNIZE THE THREE BATTLE FRONTS

Battlefront Number One The World :

Ephesians 2:1-2b NIV “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…”

The World is the unhealthy social environment in which we live This includes the ungodly aspects of culture, peer pressure, values, traditions, “what is in.” “what is cool,” customs, philosophies, and attitudes. The world represents the prevailing worldview assumptions of the day that stand contrary to the biblical understanding of reality and biblical values.

 Battlefront Number Two The Devil:

Ephesians 2:2-3 “…and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”

 The Devil is an intelligent, powerful spirit-being that is thoroughly evil and is directly involved in perpetrating evil in the lives of individuals as well as on a much larger scale. Satan is the tempter and an enemy of God and thus our enemy as well.

Battlefront Number Three The Flesh:

 Ephesians 2:3 “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.”

The Flesh is the inner propensity or inclination to do evil.  It is the part of our creatureliness tainted by the fall that remains with us until the day we die.  It is our continuing connection to this present evil age, which is destined to perish but against which we must struggle now.

James 3:15 NKJV “This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.”

 1 John 4:4b KJV “…because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Romans 7:24:25 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Romans 8:37 NIV “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

1 John 5:4 KJV “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

 Romans 12:2 NIV “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

      3. NEVER GIVE UP

 Galatians 6:9  “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”