Last week’s sermon passage showed us that self-mutilation is preferable to sin (Matt 5:27-30). Why? Because sin is the opposite of the meaning of life. It is rebelling against God, as opposed to ‘bringing glory to God and enjoying him forever’. Yet as we saw, our hearts would rather enjoy sin a little more than fight it. So what can we do?
The best way to fight sin is to look to Jesus! There is a direct correlation in the Bible between a person’s view of God and their view of sin. For example, Ps 36:1 tells us the wicked (the non-believer) has ‘no fear of God before his eyes’. They neither see God as he is, nor do they want to. The next verse tells us the wicked are too proud to even detect their sin.
On the other hand are those who find themselves in the direct presence of God. When Isaiah is taken into the throne room of God (Isaiah 6), he cries out ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips’. Being confronted with the infinite holiness of God immediately leads him to lament just how sinful he is.
Thus the clearer a view we have of God, the clearer a view we gain of our sin; which leads to a greater desire to rid our lives of it. So, if your heart is playing catch-up with your head – i.e. your head says ‘fight sin’, but your heart says ‘play with it some more’ – then start by looking for the glory of God, in the face of Christ. With the Spirit’s help (Eph 3:14-19), the more we read God’s word, and meditate on it, the greater our desire to fight sin will be.
Brendan McLaughlin
