Struggling with Sin: Victory in Christ

So in the last post I talked about how we all struggle with sin and some reasons why I believe its important to share. So this time I thought I'd share about another aspect of dealing with sin, realising the victory we have because we are found in Christ Jesus. Paul says in Corinthians,

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15 v 56 & 57

God promises us through his word that, when we depend upon him he will give us the victory over sin. A lot of the time, christians walk around as if it is impossible for them to defeat their sin. In one sense, they are right! In our own strength, we are powerless to defeat sin. God knew this and, in his mercy, he sent Christ as fully God, fully man to pay the final sacrifice. Lots of people will stop there but we can go further. Christ payed the final sacrifice so that we may no longer fear sin but have victory in Christ over it. Jesus did not come just to free us from sin but to stand up and do battle with it in the knowledge that victory is sure for those who are found in him.

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Romans 8 : 2-4

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

1 John 4:4

When we really live these verses out in our daily lives, the change and effect is extraordinary. In realising these truths, we can stand strong against sin. As christians, yes we will still fall because we will never be perfect until we reach heaven but, if we keep reminding ourselves that we are no longer "Slaves to sin" but are now "bond-servants to God", our sin can become less frequent.

Victory in Christ is amazing when we realise it. Bear in mind that Satan does not want you to realise your victory in Christ because when we do, we realise how truly powerless he is over us. The one thing he can do to us as christians is weigh us down with our sin and cause us to stumble instead of living our lives for God. Realise your enemy, realise your sin and then realise that they need not have power over you because you serve a conquering king. To him be the glory.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6: 10-17

Suffering Silently with your Sin: 5 Reasons to Share

Probably one of the top five problems amongst christians and churches today is how we deal with and look at sin. So many of us try to hide it, cover it up and pretend that it doesn't exist in our lives. Of course, when sin comes up as a discussion we will say "I sin all the time and I know my sin displeases God" and we are right to say that. But so often we are vague and sketchy about our sin when discussing it with other people. Why is this the case? I suppose the simple answer is found in the gospel of John "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." - John 3:19 . Yes as christians we are saved by Christ’s blood which covers all our sin, but we still sin and the sinful nature's reaction is to cover it up and pretend its not there. So here are five reasons to break this mould and to share your sin with those closest to you.

1. Accountability

The first thing to mention when searching for someone to have as a one to one accountability partner is that they need to be a christian, a close friend and dependable. Once that person has been found it's important to be completely honest with them. Pauls instructions for Christians living in Ephesians 4:25 say “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body.” If honesty is lacking in the relationship then the accountability sessions will be fruitless. However, once you share openly and honest with someone, they will then be aware of your particular sins and be able to look out, rebuke, encourage and correct you.

This is probably the hardest part of the whole process. We don’t like being completely honest about our sin and we like to cover things up. I know that is one of my traits and it has been a massive battle to face up to some of the things I’ve done. But take it from someone who has been through that fire, the rewards are life changing.

2. Study Together

One of the key ways of tackling your sin is studying with someone. This can be really useful as you can look at scripture in reference to sin or even the particular sin that you are struggling with. Studying God's word has a direct effect on tackling sin. David writes "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you" in Psalm 119:3. See the link, when we study, meditate and keep Gods word it can keep us from sinning. God's word also gives us instruction in what to replace our sin with in Romans 6:13 "Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness."  If we realise that we need to completely submit ourselves to God, willingly and gladly, then sin will have much less of a foothold in your life.

3. Pray Together

After studying, its always great to pray with each other and continue praying for each other as the week goes on.  Sometimes it can just be a great encouragement and spur you on not to sin when you know a brother or sister in Christ is praying for you. We can also pray that God would help us to see our sin as He see's it. We know that God despises the sin that we do and that Christ has died for that sin. When we realise the anguish and pain it brought our Saviour, our desire should be to turn from it. James also encourages us to help each other in this. In chapter 5 verse 20 he says "Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins." Praying with each other means that you can lead each other to confessing your sin before God which in turn means you can both...

4. Lead each other to the Gospel

This is probably the most beautiful part of being accountable to someone. There can be times when you feel so weighed down and buried by sin that you cannot lead yourself to the cross and forgiveness. There have been so many times when I've felt like my sin was just too big for Jesus to deal with. There have been times when I've felt like I've hurt so many people in so many ways that there is no way God would want to hear from me. By God's grace, at these times he has always provided someone to give me a wake-up call and point me to the gospel. They'’ve brought me verses such as Ephesians 1:7 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace" and Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,". My personal favourite is Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, that's how far God has removed our sins from us". God, because of the work of Christ on the cross, has banished my sins as far away as possible from me. He remembers them no more and I am clothed in the perfect life of Christ, a saint.

5. Understand Grace Better

The ultimate experience of this is that you have a deeper understanding of Gods grace which in turn leads to falling more in love with him. When we understand grace more then the more we will be gracious to others. Paul tells us to "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:6. When we are more gracious to people, the more likely they will be to confide in you and the more likely you will be able to help them and build people up for the kingdom. Also, see how the process has come around full circle. We started off struggling with our own sin, and now we have come round to a position where we can help and guide other struggling christians.

So if you struggle with sin realise you are not alone. I have never met a christian who doesn't struggle with sin. Find a good christian friend, be open and honest and lead each other to the cross and the blood that washes us whiter than snow. 

An apology, A retraction and a blog.

1. Firstly I'd like to apologise. I did promise to blog this at the end of last week. I had final assignments and dissertation in uni so I didn't have any time to post...Better late than ever.


2. Secondly in a recent blog entitled Worship - Being accurate in what we sing where I said I didn't like the phrase of Gods heart breaking. However it has been pointed out to me that God does reference to his heart breaking in the old testament. For this I am sorry. I suppose it just shows that we have to constantly look at our opinions and reform them as our biblical knowledge increases.


3. So down to the blog. Basically here are some common comments or questions that I've come across regarding singing old songs. I hope you find them useful. Obviously they are just my opinion and you are free to disagree.


As a preface, let me make clear that I am not against new and modern songs. Some of the people I look up to most in worship are still alive today. I go to a church where we sing modern and older songs and I love that we have both.




Won't people just get confused by some of the big words in the songs, especially if their new christians?
Firstly, it is definitely true that for new christians, some biblical terms are new and confusing. But I don't believe that the way around this is just not to sing the songs. Instead, perhaps explain some of the difficult terms before you sing the song. It doesn't have to be long and it only needs to take a minute. That way you are tackling people's confusion and not just avoiding it.  Also it is worth pointing out that there are versions that use different words which are designed to be more contemporary and easier to understand. These have their place and can be really useful. Personally I feel that sometimes, these versions lose some of their meaning. 




The older hymns have a really old style of music that doesn't fit in with the style that my congregation sings.
Again it is true that some of the tunes and styles of writing of hymns are old and sometimes even complicated. There are three great ways around this. One is to contemporise the original tune. For ideas on this why not listen to some of the Enfield Hymn Sessions by resolved music. They have modernised the tunes of songs such as And Can It Be and O The Deep Deep Love Of Jesus.  Alternatively you could find a new tune already written.  There are plenty of these around, some good some not so great. My favourite is  Phatfish and their new tune to To God Be The Glory.  The third option is to try your hand at writing your own tune. I think its really important for people who lead worship or are involved in worship to be writing their own songs. Firstly you will always write for your congregation and secondly I think it can be massively beneficial for you personally, I know that is my experience. 




Older hymns aren't relevant in todays society. We've moved on!
In response to this, I'd say that any song that is based around the truth of God's word and glorifies him is relevant today.  The need for people to find and trust in Jesus is no less today than it was a hundred years ago.  People who feel trapped by sin still need to be re-assured that 
"The vilest offender who truly believes, 
that moment from Jesus a pardon receives" 
     And all christians in anticipation for heaven can belt out 
"When He comes our glorious King, 
All his ransomed home to bring, 
Then anew this song we'll sing
HALLELUJAH what a Saviour!"




Older Hymns are always too long and people tend to get bogged down by them.
Again there are definitely those hymns that seem to go on forever. Some even have 12 verses each eight lines long. True these can make even the most enthusiastic worshipper weary but why not try singing those verses which are more relevant to the topic or series you are covering.  There are also those verses which can always be left out. For example in our church,  when we sing the song  How Great Thou Art, we leave out the verse which talks about the birds in the trees. It just seems to make more sense going from God in creation to Jesus sacrifice on the cross to His return as ruler of all.  The other verse just doesn't seem to fit there.




I don't like hymns so I wont sing them when I lead worship.
This is the type of comment that saddens me most. To people who say this firstly I would encourage you to remember that worship isn't about the date the song was written but about its content. If a song glorifies God and magnifies Christ as our only saviour then it is worth singing. If the song speaks the truths of the bible describing how sinners sick with sin can be healed and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb then it is worth shouting from the rooftops.


Above all we should remember that God is to be glorified in our worship. He is to be the centre because...well, He is. He is the one who gives me the ability to type on this computer. He is the one who has given me breath, clothes, food, family and friends.


How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful unchangeable Friend!
His love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end!

Worship - Can a Song be Too Old For Us To Sing?

Ok so this is a question and an issue that has been around for a long time. The two ends of the spectrum look something like this.

"I believe we should only sing older songs. These are songs written by Godly men who really knew what it was to seek God. They are theologically accurate and the tunes which are written for these songs are reverent and fitting for the worship of a Holy God. Modern day songs focus on the driving beat and align themselves to closely to the world in the style of music and often present weak theology"

on the other hand we have views such as

"I believe we should only sing modern, bang up to date songs. These songs are up to date culturally and are presented in a familiar style to the non-christian meaning that church isn't a scary or unusual place to enter. The words are also easy to understand and make sense whilst still presenting biblical truths. Older songs present out of date English which is hard to understand and often clumsy to sing. The tunes sung also come across as depressing and lifeless."

Two very contrasting views both with elements of truth but both misguided in areas. Before dealing with these two views, it's probably a good idea to think about what we should look for in a song.

Firstly, all the songs we sing in church should be God centred and God directed. Basically if your song doesn't talk about God or Christ, there are probably better songs worth singing. God should be the centre of our lives and the centre of our affections. Philippians 1:21 says "To live is Christ". If Christ is the centre of our lives so should he be the centre of our worship including singing!

Secondly, our songs should be filled with the truth and word of God. This should be the case for two reasons. One, as christians, we constantly need reminding of who God is and the truth that he has given us in his word. For the christian, being reminded of the truth should refresh and revitalise us like the rain quenches the thirst of the dry ground. Secondly, when non-christians come into our church, we want them to have an encounter with God and ultimately come to have a living relationship with him. The only way that this can happen is if the truth of Gods word is proclaimed to them whether in song, prayer or preaching. Jesus said "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" - John 8:32 

Thirdly, we should make sure that we sing a variety of songs that talk about all aspects of God. When you look at Psalms (the Bible's songbook) we see that it covers topics like confession, meditation, seeking God, Gods holiness, Gods justice, Gods mercy, Gods Kingship and God as creator as well as many more. It is important that we sing about all aspects of God otherwise we end up only conveying a God of Love or a God of mercy. Of course God is all these things but he is also a God of Justice who we need to confess our sins to. When we sing about every aspect of God, we remind ourselves and present to others a FULL GOD!

In my opinion, if a song has these three elements in them then they are fit and useful for sung worship whether written by Charles Wesley or Tim Hughes. Its not about when the song was written or who wrote it. The important point is that the content is sufficient in aiding people to worship God. Too often we get tied up with who wrote a song or when it was written and fail to analyse whether or not it glorifies God. I believe it is important that we sing both old and new songs. Singing old songs means that we relate with the church universal reminding us that we are part of a massive family not only worldwide but from various ages. By singing older songs we remind ourselves of the gifts that God gave to our forefathers and recognise the blessing he poured out on them in their time. We realise that God has been faithful through all ages and by singing these older songs we stand uniting with those who have run the race before us. In singing newer songs, we recognise that God is still blessing people in being able to write new songs which still describe and glorify him. We realise that God is still moving  and active in the world and still pours out his Holy Spirit to provide people with the gift of writing music to his praise.

In my discussions with various worship leaders in various churches, I've come across various questions from both camps about how they cope with new and old songs or why they don't sing them. In my next post I hope to deal with some of these questions and how I would respond to them. What are your views? Do you have any issues with singing old/new songs?