Obtaining Victory Over Sin - NetBibleStudy.com

Victory Over Sin 4Does it seem to you that the Christian life seems to be needlessly difficult attimes? It would be easy to assume -- Surely God (Who possesses all might andauthority) could make it easier for us who love Him and desire to always do what isright. Since so many believers succumb to one sin or another, some even ending in ruin,it seems logical that God would keep a step ahead of us, diffusing the land mines alongour path. If you are wondering how God could do this, consider these suggestions.1. Why Doesn’t God Prohibit Satan From Tempting Us?God could eliminate the devil. In fact, if He had done that at the time of Creation,chances are that Adam and Eve would not have plunged the human race into sin. Mostlikely our first parents would have obeyed God without pausing to consider the fruit ofthe forbidden tree.Adam and Eve were created free-willed agents, we are aware of that, but whycouldn’t God give them the opportunity to choose without outside interference? Theserpent that came to them was beautiful, spoke with authority, and promised a betterlife. As far as we know, Adam and Eve had not been told about the existence of Satan,and so were quite unprepared for this abrupt encounter. If the serpent had been barredfrom the Garden, it certainly seems that Adam and Eve would have been more inclinedto obey God. They might have chose not to eat from the forbidden tree.The presence of Satan in the Garden and his activity on our planet tips the scalein favor of evil choices. This, of course, does not mean that we must follow his sinistersuggestions; but if he were banned from the earth, we certainly could resist temptationmuch more easily.Much of the evil in the world, including our own struggles, can be traced to theinterference of unseen spiritual forces. If God were to annihilate the devil, or at leastconfine him to the pit, we could take giant steps in our walk with Christ. No more of theone-step-forward, two-backward routine! Our battle with temptation would beminimized and we’d be more inclined to resist the enticement of sin. Why doesn’t Godjust obliterate Satan?2. Why Doesn’t God Just Prohibit Satan From Tempting Us?A second suggestion to minimize the casualty toll in the Christian life would befor God to dull the arrows of temptation that harass us from inside. James wrote, “Buteach one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust” (James 1:14). Couldnot God dampen those passions to make moral purity more easily within reach?You and I were born with a “sinful nature” that combines response to outwardstimuli with its inner twisted passions of greed, selfishness, anger, rebellion, and lust.Every honest Christian admits to being overcome by one or more of these desires atsome point in his or her spiritual pilgrimage. Surely God, who knows our frailty, coulddampen those passions just a bit. Then we’d be more likely to be victorious, and a creditto our Redeemer.