Obtaining Victory Over Sin - NetBibleStudy.com

Victory Over Sin 23accused them before our God day and night.” Satan brings our sins before God --and before us as well.Satan delights in having believers confess the same sin over and over! Hesuggests to our mind, “Why don’t you confess that sin again?” The next day hecomes to us and says, “You probably were not sincere enough, so you better confessthat sin once more, and this time really mean business.” And so it goes, we aretrapped by our own unbelief and become the victim of our own emotions. Theresult is that we do not have the love, joy, or peace, God intends us to have.We miserably sit on the shelf labeled “Unsure of Forgiveness” – a shelf alreadypopulated by scores of spiritually paralyzed saints.How do we avoid this trap? The secret is to thank God for our forgiveness -- eventhough we may still feel guilty.Here’s a suggestion:Use our guilty feelings as a reminderto give praise to God for His forgiveness!Read Psalms 32 and 103 and recite them with thanksgiving to God when thoseguilt feelings surface. This will become a great stepping-stone in your life, foryou will learn to walk by faith, not be emotional sight. And soon your feelingswill catch up with your theology!God promises us cleansing as well as forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 reads, “If weconfess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse usfrom all unrighteousness.” Forgiveness refers to our legal standing before God–- cleansing is the subjective work of God whereby we are actually made clean.A man who had been freed from his lustful thoughts tells how he would oftenfind himself in situations beyond his control and he would be overcome withintense sexual desires. He tells how he would confess his sin, several timesover and over again. But he discovered that, even after confession, thesedesires would continue. He found that rejecting sensual thoughts did not stoplustful passions that had been set in motion. However, he discovered that theantidote to his problem. He said that merely accepting God’s forgiveness didnot seem sufficient – but that he had to also accept God’s cleaning. The way heput it was, “When I determined to accept God’s cleaning, I could feel the lust leavemy body!”3. Finally, as far as possible, experience the healing of all personal relationshipsThe severest guilt feelings usually attack when we have wronged others. Wecan accept our own hurt more easily than, that of our family or friends. Hereagain, forgiveness is the only way to freedom. A telephone call or a casualmeeting with that friend is often needed to satisfy our conscience. And what ifthey will not forgive us? If we have approached them in the right spirit, thenwe can be satisfied that we have done what we could to mend tornrelationships – and we leave the results, and outcome, with God.