Hosanna Restoration Church

I doubt that I am the only person who ever came to Christ and wished that I would never again be tempted and if I was tempted that I would be incapable of sin. We all know only too well, that temptation stands near waiting for the opportunity to destroy us. Fortunately in Christ, we have the power to fight sin off.

Do you remember Joseph when his boss’s wife was trying to seduce him? Do you remember Joseph’s final declaration before he ran away from the sin? He said he could not sin against God. He did not say I have no desire for you. He did not say that he was not tempted. He said he could not sin against God and then ran from that appearance of evil and defeated the temptation.

Jesus gives us the power to overcome. He gives us wisdom to recognize and strength to defeat. Fortunately, He also forgives us if we are overcome.

For a long time, I had a hard time with what Paul said in this passage of scripture. I though he must have been writing about the past. I thought certainly that he must beyond doing anything that he knew he should not do, and yet there he was telling us that there was still sin in him!

I guess it only makes sense that we would not need the Holy Spirit to convict us or to empower us to overcome temptation if we could not be tempted. He enables us to be sin fighters! The trouble we must avoid is getting caught up in fighting everyone’s sins but our own.

We need to remember that God wants us. His first concern is you and me. The same Holy Spirit that drew us is drawing everyone. We can very easily get in the way of what He is doing when we become a distraction with all of our reactions.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for taking stands; I am just not interested in taking things out of God’s hands! I am reminded of Paul stating that it would be a bad deal if he got so busy with the business of the Kingdom that He lost sight of His own salvation.

We are called to be first, and to do second. It is out of our inner most being that rivers of living water flow. We all know only too well that we are still capable of sin if we give in to it. I remember before Christ in my life that there were many things that I said I would never do, only find over time that I did many if not all of those things I was certain I would not do. As Christians, if we are not quick to fight we surely can fall right into what we know is not right. Thank God, like Paul, we can recognize this and take the victory that Jesus gives us.