35 Strategies for Fighting Sin (Part 1)

(1)   Substitute Grace for Legalism in Your Theology From the outset is necessary to emphasize that these 35 strategies are not meant to convey a message of works based salvation. There is no rescue from God’s wrath in performing them, nor is there security in salvation in them. Our only hope of reconciliation with God is the cross, death, burial and resurrection of our beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Where we tend towards legalism we must beware and resist the urge to pat ourselves on the back for our relationship with God and our fight against sin. The only hope man has of successfully fighting sin on a regular basis is the abounding grace and mercy of God. Much of this grace is given in the means of these 35 strategies, but the efforts themselves do not garner any spiritual life or strength. So at the outset of our discussion it must be said that while you are urged to commit to these strategies in the fight against sin, only God can save you, keep you, and sanctify you.

(2)   Read and Study the Bible Daily As we struggle with sin daily so we should seek help from the source of strength and the witness to righteousness daily. God’s word has laid out all that is necessary for faith and life. If, then, we struggle with doubt, lack of assurance, and the daily trials of life then should we not seek spiritual armor and ammunition from the Word of God. A Word-saturated mind is one that filters all events, thoughts, temptations, and attitudes through the Christian worldview. It is a view of life that is so affected by the Gospel that it knows plainly sin and righteousness and exalts the latter. It is a mind that is full of verses from the Scriptures that serve as ammunition against the enemy and as a shield against his fiery darts. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” “Put to death, therefore, the deeds of the flesh…” these verses are our weapons in the fight against sin, but we only know them and how to use them if we read and study the Bible daily.

(3)   Pray Daily A casual relationship with God that ignores Him for days leaves the soul withered and weak. But communing with God daily through the spiritual discipline of prayer invigorates the soul, delights it in that great person of God, and despises to sin against Him. Furthermore praying for aid and strength from the all sufficient God, who supplies our every need, is a must as we face trials daily. God says we do not have “because you do not ask.” Ask the Lord in your prayers.

(4)   Attend the Preaching of the Word Weekly God works through the gospel preaching of His ministers to awaken sinners, convict all, and grant faith which leads unto repentance. We must attend and be attentive to the preaching of the word each week as the local church gathers. Here we will hear the word of God opened up before us, explained, and applied to our hearts, situations, and sins. To fight sin let the word convict you as often as you can! Preaching is a major means by which God bring sin to light in His people.

(5)   Join a Church The church was established by God for His people to worship Him together, to grow together, and to hold one another accountable. If we avoid the local church, disdain commitment to it, we face the Christian life as loners outside of both the encouragement and discipline of the local church. God has established local churches to hold individual Christians accountable. As the body of Christ, and His undershepherds, care for your soul they will point out sin and help you fight it. Do not let the cultural resistance to authority keep you from this necessary means to fighting sin. The church is where the word is preached and taught, where Christians are prayed for, discipled, and where we partake of the Lord’s Supper together. All these are obligations for the Christians, as stated by Jesus Himself.

(6)   Pray that God Would Increase Your Hatred of Sin and Love of Jesus A frequent failure to abandon sin in my own heart has been a simple fact that I loved my sin. To fight it looked more to me like a loss than a release. It takes a work of the Spirit of God in our hearts to turn us from a love for sin. We have need of God’s working in us here, this is not something we can do. So we must pray specifically for a hatred of sin and an increased lover for Jesus. There are means by which we can grow to hate our sin (with grace’s aid): study the sinfulness of sin,[1] study the doctrine of God’s holiness, of hell, of judgment and the wrath of God. Read biographies of men who had a real knowledge of themselves (i.e. David Brainerd and Martin Luther). There are also means by which we might, with grace supporting and leading us, increase our love for Jesus: study the glory of Christ,[2] pour over the descriptions of the risen Lord in Revelation 1, and read good literature that helps us to see and savor Christ Jesus.[3] But ultimately we must pray. Turn, in humble weakness, to God almighty and seek His intervention in our hearts. He must turn sin to ash in our mouths and Christ as to sweetness, and so we pray for it as those who are desperate.

(7)   Meditate on the Cross Daily The real cure of our sin is the cross and so what better subject is there to meditate upon, each day, to help us resist the urges to sin which still linger in our fallen bodies. The Cross, where Christ Jesus died in the place of sinners, bearing their punishment and sin that they might be saved, is our delight and foundation. Meditate on the cross by singing songs about the cross[4], pray in light of the cross, read the cross in scripture and in other literature, and preach the cross to ourselves daily. Never let the gospel slip into a secondary place, or become casual to you. Meditate on it daily to fight off sin.

(8)   Get an Accountability Partner Never think you are above being held accountable. All Christians need wise counsel and careful warning from godly friends. Let your brother or sister in Christ be a look out for you and warn you of your sins, correct you when you go astray, and encourage you when you fall. God did not make us to be “lone-ranger” Christians. We grow together in the local church and we are to help one another grow as fellow pilgrims on the pathway to Zion. Find a spiritually mature Christian, of the same sex preferably, who can ask you hard questions, who knows when you are lying, and who will treat your sin seriously (and graciously) as you struggle together to live in a manner that honors the gospel.

(9)   Pray for God to Reveal the Root and Causes of Your Greatest Temptation To fight sin we must know how it works and the means by which it attacks our thoughts and attitudes. Sin is an internal problem, not an external one. We all are born sinners and so our greatest sins stem from our hearts. There is some heart issue that is causing us to sin and lending a foothold to temptation. Ask God to reveal this to you and give you wisdom on how to fight it and severe the power of sin in your life. Again this is something only He can do ultimately, so we pray as we search out the answer.

(10) Avoid Idleness It is absolutely true, if somewhat cliché, that “idle hands are a devil’s play thing.” When we put ourselves in a place to be bored we put ourselves in a place to sin. Sin can certainly grow in the business of doing things for God, too, but its weeds quickly blossom in a garden that is not worked and pruned. Orchestrate a game plan for yourself that keeps you from walking mindlessly into Satan’s traps. The Christian life is one of actively pursuing God and fighting sin, not passively hanging out until we find something better to do. Fight sin by giving it no time to plant ideas in your thoughts and heart.

[1] Cf. Ralph Venning, The Sinfulness of Sin. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, ).

[2] Cf. John Owen, The Glory of Christ. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, ).

[3] Almost anything by John Piper falls into this last category.

[4] Cf. Songs for the Cross Centered Life available at www.sovereigngodministries.com