Victory made simple

In their struggle against sin, many Christians make the mistake of praying and expecting God to take away their tendencies towards sin, so that they will no longer feel tempted. But victory does not mean the absence of temptation, but overcoming the temptation and not yielding to it (Jas.1:14,15). Everyone will agree that Jesus never sinned but enjoyed victory all His earthly life as a Man. That Jesus was tempted like us tells us that it is not a sin to be tempted, and also that it is possible to overcome (He.4:15).

So, temptation is to be presented with an option to disobey God and please ourselves, when we are attracted by the pleasure or earthly advantage that sin offers. Then victory is simply to deny ourselves in order to obey God. Without this, we cannot follow Jesus or become like Him (Lk.9:23). God's plan for us is that we should get victory and stop sinning (1Jn.2:1). Obviously, this cannot happen all of a sudden but only as we face each temptation as it comes to us, deny ourselves and obey Jesus.

"Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God" (1Pe.4:1,2). If we want to experience victory and live our life no longer pleasing ourselves but doing the will of God, the secret given here is that we must have a determination to 'suffer in the flesh'. One mistake is that some people do not understand the meaning of flesh here, and assume it is referring to the body (See NIV). But it should be obvious that those who suffer in their body do not stop sinning, but most people sin more!

The word flesh (Gk. sarx) is different from body (Gk. soma). Many times the word flesh is used for the place from where our sinful lusts come (Ga.5:24). When we deny these lusts, the flesh will suffer – they are placed on the cross and assigned to die. As we know, the cross does not kill anyone on it instantly but over a long period of time. But if we place our sinful lusts on the cross consistently and refuse to feed them, they will ultimately lose their power in our life. That is what Peter is saying in the passage above.

Long prayers or even fasting will not give us the victory unless we deny ourselves when we are tempted. We need to pray much, sometimes with fasting, in order to plead with the Father for strength to deny ourselves and do His will. The other mistake people make is to imagine that they are going to get victory without the help of God. When we pray, God gives us power through the Holy Spirit and then we are able to deny ourselves and do His will (Ro.8:13). God works in us, giving us the direction to do His will and the power to do it, and then we learn to follow in His ways and receive the victory (Php.2:12,13). Sin came when Eve chose it above God, and we get victory when we choose God over sin.