Sin is anything that sets its self up against the Lord our God. It is anything that contaminates the heart and mind and takes the thoughts and motivations away from loving the Lord or serving the Lord. It is the ultimate idol of the human heart that infiltrates our thinking and spoils our communion with the Father in heaven. It can build up over time, or come upon us suddenly in a mighty wave of temptation. 

It is so dangerous for us, because the bent of our human hearts is towards its pleadings and it convinces us that it is ok to do this thing or think in this way. It is insidious in its infiltration and will quickly destroy all the good we have known. Sin must be dealt with ruthlessly and without mercy. It must be put to flight and put to death the instant it raises its ugly head. 

The problem for us is that we don’t think it is that ugly and we easily excuse it and let it fester in our minds. The mind is the first line of attack and defence. The thoughts come to us and we justify them and then we say and do. Our thought processes must be grounded in the Word of God, and we guard the citadel of our minds with great jealousy. This means we keep out the contamination that would encourage the weeds of unbelief and pride to grow. These are the chief sins that plague the human psyche. Unbelief that God is holy, and that He will excuse our failings and weak fightings, and pride, that we can fend of these intruders on our own. 

We can understand all we like about sin, but unless the power of the effecting blood of Christ has been applied to them, we will fail in our fight against this rampant foe. Our sins must be forgiven and they are only forgiven through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus, who gave His life for our sake. Only He can set us free from the power and effect of sin and give us the new life that will enable us to have the victory over the sin that so easily besets us. 

Confession and humility is the key to forgiveness. We recognise our sins through the honest examination of our consciences and the work of the powerful Holy Spirit in our minds and souls, and are humbled into the submission necessary for the confession of those sins that they be forgiven. 

“If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

1 John 1:6-7

To enjoy this fellowship we must be truthful with ourselves and face that reality of what we are like and have done. Only then can we be in a state to sort it out and come to God. Keeping ourselves in the love of God is so important, as we cannot walk for a minute without Him. Only He can keep us pure and strong in His strength and enable us to walk the difficult road that is the Christian pathway. We need to keep in step with the Spirit of God and walk in His worth manner.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Galatians 5:22-26

There are passions and desires that have to go and be put to death by the Christian. Everything that is to do with our fleshly human wants and desires, goes on the altar of faith and love for God. We do not seek our own, but the things to do with God and His will and purposes. This is very difficult for us, because it goes against what we want! This is the point of it. It is the thing that make the Christian life difficult. We are not saved from sin and then sit back and relax and everything is done for us. It is a war of attrition right to the end, to keep the will and mind in check and purify all we say and do. 

“Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.”

1 John 3:2-3

This is the true hearted desire of every Christian, that they be like Christ. Everything in us will war against that desire, and those are the desires that must be put to death. We give up all our sinful mindset to the love of Christ and the desire to be like Him. Then we will have the motivation to put away the sin that so easily besets us and walk worthy lives for our precious Lord Jesus. Even as I write this I feel ashamed that I do not walk closely to Him all the time. It is all part of the fight, and we fight and overcome every day, because we have been bought out of the slavery of sin by that precious blood spilt for us. 

When we reach the end of the pathway of our lives, we face the last enemy who is already beaten by what Jesus did on the cross. As we have overcome in our fight with sin, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so we will over come in death and our Saviour will take us safely home to heaven. Then the fight will be over and the glory will be ours, because of Him. 

Do not give up, but let us acquiesce to the love of God today and put all other loves away from us. As we love Him and obey, all our other loves will come fully and freely back into play and we can love others properly and have true fellowship with sisters and brothers in Christ. God will renew and restore all that sin has spoiled and He will have the victory for our sake.