The Battle is the Lord’s
I believe that the Christian walk in the battle over sin is sorely misguided by an almost legalistic teaching within the American church today. We constantly hear that we should abstain from sin but never told the true remedy over sin’s power. Many Christians walk thinking the battle over sin is all up to them – and this leads only to failure. It’s not by fighting with our strength but by always looking to Christ. (Colossians 3:2) Yes, we are told to make war with sin (Matthew 5:29-30) but we must also take the full counsel of Scripture anytime we are given a command to act. Scripture is clear that we are unable to act alone but only by looking to Christ – for only in Him can we be victorious. Remember, our Lord tells us that “apart from Him we can do nothing” (John 15:5) and that must be our fighting motto. The directives and commands in Holy Scripture cannot be separated from this glorious truth! Oh how we all need to understand this and look upward and see Him there – our perfect spotless righteousness! The great unchangeable I AM.
This gem of a Puritan prayer sums up the pure, Biblical teaching on how a Christian truly fights sin. Let this amazing prayer written by the Puritans sink in….
MY FATHER,
When Thou art angry towards me for my wrongs I try to pacify Thee by abstaining from future sin; but teach me that I cannot satisfy Thy law, that this effort is a resting in my righteousness, that only Christ’s righteousness, ready made, already finished, is fit for that purpose; that Thy chastising me for my sin is not that I should try to reform, but only that I may be more humbled, afflicted, and made righteous in Christ by faith; that a sense of my sufficiency and ability in Him is one means of my being immovable; that I can never be so by resting on my own faith, but by trusting in Thee as my only support, by faith; that if I cast away my faith I cast away Thee, for by faith I apprehend Thee, and as Thou art very precious, so is my faith very precious to me; that I fall short of the purity Thou requires, because in thinking I am holy I do not seek holiness, or, by believing I am impotent, I do no more.
Humble me for not being as holy as I should be, or as holy as I might be through Christ, for Thou art all, and to possess Thee is to possess all. But to make the creature something is to make it stand between Thee and me, so that I do not walk humbly and holily. Lord, forgive me for this.
From Valley of Vision – a Collection of Puritan Prayers
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