Our Struggle Against Sin
Week Twenty Five
June 15, 2025
… to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
— Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV)
Christians struggle with sin.
That’s why Paul’s instruction in this week’s scripture is not a one-time imperative. We still carry around with us an old self that needs to be laid aside. Indeed, we struggle with this old self; nevertheless, we don’t embrace it or resign ourselves to its destructive desires. This de-robing of our old nature is a daily decision resulting from a one-time circumcision of the heart. My grandfather was a bricklayer. At the end of his workday, he would shed his work clothes and change into his after-work attire. My grandmother would not let him sit on her couch unless he did so. In the same way, we daily shed our former man.
We’ve been given a new self, a glorious set of new clothes, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, as he renews our minds, we are able to don this new attire. The nature of our old self is deception and corruption, that’s why we need the Holy Spirit to renew our attitudes towards sin. Do you remember the classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes? The vain emperor in this story was convinced that he was wearing beautiful clothes, when in reality, he was naked, wearing nothing but thin air; so sin deceives, and so we need the help of the Holy Spirit to expose its detractive nature and reveal the regenerate beauty of our new self.
The work of the Holy Spirit in our struggle against sin is critical. Forced obedience done from a cold heart will not suffice. The Spirit works on our hearts, extracting our rebellion and desire for the things of this world while wooing our hearts towards the beauty of Jesus. He helps us want to get dressed.
Putting on the new self is not a matter of behavior modification or a white-washing of bone-filled tombs; it is an active acknowledgement of the fact that we are new creations created to reflect the true likeness of God in righteousness and holiness. We are called to be who we truly are.
The Spirit and the flesh are diametrically opposed to one another. We still have fleshly desires. But now we let the Spirit, not our desires, guide our lives. Oh yes, we fail, but praise God for the Advocate! You don’t have to completely understand your sin-nature to know that it exists and that there is nothing good in it. It wakes up with us in the morning and it lays in bed with us at night: the outburst of anger, the lust, the self-willed attitude, the striving and discord. We see it daily. We feel it daily.
For now we robe ourselves in the new nature as his children, but one day, we will be forever changed, forever freed. We will be like him. This hope has a purifying effect on us. Layer by layer and step by step, we are being made into his likeness by his great power. The Scripture calls this transformation, “glory to glory.” Our part in the process? To come to him and work out what he is working into us.
Know this and be encouraged by it, Pilgrim: one day he will make everything new, and that includes you.
Monday
June 16, 2025
But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.
— James 1:14 (NET)
Temptation is an unwanted, constant companion for the Christian. We are not immune to the alluring promises of pleasure that sin holds out to us. Our old nature can drag us down and drag us away. So, what do we do when we feel the all too familiar pull of evil desire? Blame-shifting is not an option. “The woman you gave me offered me the apple.” “It was the devil who made me do it.” No, we pray, “Deliver us from evil, O Lord — draw us up and away from the lusts that draw us down and away from you and bring us into your purifying presence. Forgive us when we fall; lift us when we fail. Give us strength, O Lord!” Being honest with God is your best option when being tempted.
What could you imagine the Lord saying to you when you are facing temptation? What is his disposition towards you, a sinner?
Do you find it comforting to know that even as a Christian, sin is still a temptation? Does this help you to resist temptation?
Tuesday
June 17, 2025
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
— Romans 7:18 (ESV)
We should not be surprised by our proclivity to sin. Even Paul was familiar with this great conflict, the internal wrestling with that part of us which is not under the influence of the Holy Spirit and which remains untouched by his sanctifying power – our old man. Oh yes, he is dead, but he still haunts us with constant visitations. Martin Luther saw this old man as including not only our flesh proper, but also our reason and our soul. We carry around with us these weak parts which resist divine influence, and there, nothing good dwells. But praise God, he has given us a new self, a new creation, and from there emerges the divine image in our lives.
What are some of the “fruits” or characteristics of the flesh? How do you respond when you see your sinfulness in action?
What do you think Paul meant when he said that he no longer lived, but Christ in him? Does dying to self mean losing your uniqueness and personality?
Wednesday
June 18, 2025
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
— Ephesians 5:8 (NIV)
Impropriety: we see it often. It bedazzles the headlines and makes for sellable fodder to our sensationalism-consuming society. No one is immune to public impropriety. And even though we ourselves may not run the risk of making the headlines, we are still called out of the darkness. When we behave out of character we are as a prince playing the role of a pauper. We are not to live as we once were but as we now are — as children of light. This is who we are. When we sin, we are not behaving out of our new self, we are deviating from it. Your life’s portion is royalty, remember this as you live it.
In what ways do you deviate from who God calls you to be as your new self? How does your view of self affect your behavior?
Why do we at times behave in contrast to who we are as children of the light? How does this affect your relationship to the Father?
Thursday
June 19, 2025
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
— 1 John 2:1 (ESV)
You can be completely confident in the Lord’s faithful love for you. Thomas Goodwin in his work, “The Heart of Christ in Heaven”, writes that when we seem to be at our most sinful disposition, God brings about his mercy and goodness to us “to magnify his love the more.” 1 We boast, not in our victories and strengths, but in his. He is the effective Advocate and we come to the Father freely and confidently because of Jesus’ complete righteousness, not on the basis of our own. Our Savior’s advocacy is louder than any accusation, internal or external, so come freely.
What hinders you from approaching God the Father with confidence? What is the remedy for timidness in our approach to the throne of grace and mercy?
What do you tend to boast in, or focus on, when approaching God in worship? How could you form a habit of replacing self-focus with Christ-focus in worship and prayer?
Friday
June 20, 2025
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
— Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
Contentment: it’s a rare skill, barely learned and often balked at in our culture of entitlement; and we ourselves are not immune to the invasion of this “my rights, my needs” attitude. Sin is deceptive and it often presents itself as something we have a right to, something that will satisfy. Our quest for the “better” fruit leads us away from green pastures and still waters, leaving us holding the bitter fruit of our indiscretions. Discontentment is sin’s constant push at the door of your heart. But God has made a promise: he will strengthen, and he will satisfy with the joy of his presence. Find contentment in what he has provided, and you’ll find your level of fulfillment grows, and your heart will eat its good fruit.
What things do you look to for satisfaction other than the Lord’s provision? What does the Lord’s provision look like? Can you give an example?
What are some of the things that the world offers contentment in that provide only emptiness in the end? What does psalm 21:6 say about the source of all contentment?