One of my points in the sermon was the seriousness of sin, and that as Christians forgiven and made new in Jesus Christ, we need to really take the fight against sin serious. For the accompanying handout, I produced the following list of questions and steps to help with “sin-busting”, compiling together various Biblical commands and advice. I’ve started working through it myself, and have found facing up to some of the ways in which I go my own way and don’t love God very challenging. I find it’s helpful to write things down because it makes it more real to me and less abstract – it’s easy to be vague, to forget about and to avoid something you’ve only thought about in your head. I’ll put the questions up here, and I hope you might find them helpful:
Identifying the problem
- Where in your life is God calling you to repent?
Identify specific sins and write them down, e.g. slacking off in work, watching porn, gossiping, not forgiving someone, doing Christian activities out of legalism and duty rather than love, etc. - Have you confessed your sin to God and asked for forgiveness?
If not, do so – God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9). - Who have you sinned against? Write down their names.
- Have you confessed your sin to them and asked for their forgiveness? (James 5:16)
This can be very difficult and costly, and you may need help in dealing with your sin and the fall-out. - What damage has your sin done that you need to put right? (Luke 19:8-10)
The battle for your mind
- What lies are you believing when you sin? How do you try and justify your sin to yourself?
- Why is God’s way better? Seek to develop a deep understanding of why God’s commands are good – fight lies with truth. Don’t just believe the truth, but love the truth (Psalm 18:9).
- Pray and study the Bible to understand why your sin is displeasing to God, identifying counter-arguments to your sinful self-justifications and making your thoughts obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
- Memorise Bible verses that speak truth to counter the lies you are listening to. (Psalm 119:11)
The battle for your will
- Are you looking to Jesus for strength? “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10) – not strong in yourself.
- How can you flee from sin and pursue righteousness? (1 Timothy 6:11) Where and when do you typically fall into sin, and how can you avoid or limit these situations? What do you need to cut out of your life (Matt 5:29-30)? What positive influences can you seek out?
- Who will you turn to for help? Find Christian friends who you can trust who will hold you accountable. We all need the support of community.
The battle for your heart
- Where do you find your greatest pleasure? What are you valuing more than God when you sin? e.g. peer approval, career, education, family, relationships, reputation, being seen as a good Christian, etc.
- Where do you find your identity? We need to find our sense of worth and identity in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:16-17). Being in Christ is a gift of grace, and so frees us from the anxiety of working to maintain our sense of identity and self-worth, freeing us to love God.
- Why do you want to change? It’s easy to fight sin out of wrong motives – pride, to please other Christians, to feel better about yourself. But this just replaces your sin with a less obvious sin. The opposite of sin is not rule-keeping, but a love of God which produces obedience (John 14:21)
- Develop a deeper longing for God. Don’t “Just say no!” to sin but say “Yes!” to Christ (Titus 2:12-13) – fight desire with desire. Again, pray and read the Bible to develop a hunger for God.