Phil Johnson shares an interesting perspective on sin from D. Martin Lloyd-Jones:
I do not know of a single scripture—and I speak advisedly—which tells me to take my sin, the particular thing that gets me down, to God in prayer and ask him to deliver me from it and then trust in faith that he will.
Now that teaching is also often put like this: you must say to a man who is constantly defeated by a particular sin, “I think your only hope is to take it to Christ and Christ will take it from you.” But what does Scripture say in Ephesians 4:28 to the man who finds himself constantly guilty of stealing, to a man who sees something he likes and takes it? What am I to tell such a man? Am I to say, “Take that sin to Christ and ask him to deliver you?” No, what the apostle Paul tells him is this: “Let him that stole, steal no more.” Just that. Stop doing it. And if it is fornication or adultery or lustful thoughts, again: Stop doing it, says Paul. He does not say, “Go and pray to Christ to deliver you.” No. You stop doing that, he says, as becomes children of God.
Read more here.
The advice given is much too simple. Paul lamented that even he did that which he did not want to do, and did not what he wanted to do. (Romans 7:14-25) If one could merely stop committing habitual sin, most would do it. Finished business!
The nature of sin is so closely bound to our fallen natures, we need help to overcome these difficult trials. Christ is explicit in saying that we can do nothing without Him, and that we must pray always lest we be put to the test.
What is needed to overcome habitual sin is prayer. We must pray to be able to act. And pray that our worldliness may become less so. And we must avoid all those things in our lives that have previously led us into sin. There is an old teaching about a drunk who is on the wagon. On his way home from work each day, he had the chose of walking on Main Street, past the three bars he used to visit each day when he drank, or the longer way home via River Street, which pasted none of his former haunts. He really is obliged to take the longer route home to avoid the occasions of sin. And he will if he has mustered the grace to do so by have diligently prayed for the power to do so beforehand.
Allan Wafkowski wrote on May 13th, 2010 at 1:13 pm