We sin when we’ve been deceived.
Naturally, we desire what feels good, and sin brings temporary pleasure. Often, we don’t recognize when we’re in sin. When David committed adultery, he was confronted by someone else (Nathan) and then he realized what he did. This is David we’re talking about—the man after God’s own heart.
I’ve listened as friends reacted to news about a strong believer committing a grievous sin. Their reaction is often one of shock, disgust, and anger.
They might say, “This person was such a strong Christian, so I never saw this coming.” Or “they seemed so innocent.”
But when I hear that kind of response; I simply wonder if they’re aware of their own depravity. Because anyone can be deceived by sin, including me, you, anyone. It doesn’t take much to go from a look, to a thought, to an action, and then to destruction.
Sin feels good. It promises good. Desires become strong. Small steps lead to big falls. Sins like murder and adultery can be carried out by the godliest of men and women because anger and lust begin in the heart—not in the act.
I’m sure many of us have been tempted in ways that we never expected and with sins that others might be surprised at. There’s “those sins” that we think will never be a temptation for us, until they are, and we don’t even realize it.
I am often deceived by sin that feels good for a time but leaves me feeling empty and ashamed. I write this with compassion because my heart goes out to those who’ve been blinded—like I have been. My heart goes out in compassion to those who’ve fallen. I praise God for the grace He’s shown me by not allowing me to fall deeper into temptations and sins that could have resulted in massive destruction.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain…” (1 Cor. 15:10a).
The First Sin Committed by Man
Let’s look at the very first sin committed by man.
Genesis 3:6 says,
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (emphasis mine).
Notice those words—saw, good, delight, desired. Sin is enticing. Sin is deceiving. Most people don’t even realize they’re in sin, until it’s too late. How could something so bad and so destructive feel so good?
Before Eve took of its fruit, the serpent deceived her, making her question God’s Word. Eve then gave to her husband, Adam who ate. And Adam’s transgression is what brought sin and death into the world. Let me say that again. Sin brought DEATH into the world.
What looked good was bad.
But what did that sin start with? It began with unbelief, a wavering on Eve’s part concerning the Word of God and His goodness. Eve chose to believe the serpent instead of God. Once the serpent got Eve to doubt, she then became allured to counterfeit pleasure that resulted in death.
So how do we overcome sin in our lives?
Three Choices to Overcome Sin
1) Choose the Better Pleasure
Sin looks enticing when we believe the lie that sin is good, and that we’re missing out if we deny our flesh. If Adam and Eve sinned because they were deceived, then today we need to remember that sin is a lie—it’s not what we think it is. We need to think about the fruit of sin, which is death. As soon as a temptation comes—think destruction. As soon as you’re lured into the potential for sinful pleasure, think of the end result—death. We must not let the enemy, our desires, or our emotions deceive us into thinking sin is a good thing, when its end is DEATH.
But on the flip side, when we’re tempted, we can choose to think about life. By choosing not to sin, we’re choosing life. We’re choosing Christ, not just something better, but someone better.
Hebrews 11:24–26 says,
“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (emphasis mine).
I love that. Moses chose to be mistreated with the people of God instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. This verse is helpful because it recognizes that there is a measure of enjoyment and pleasure in sin. Sin does taste good for a little while. But Christ is better than the fleeting pleasures of sin. Loving Christ and enduring the persecution that comes along with it is eternally worth it.
We can choose temporary pleasure, or we can choose eternal pleasure. We choose Christ when we recognize that the value of knowing Christ supersedes everything. “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (emphasis mine).
How do we choose Christ over sin? We recognize that He is more valuable. We look to the reward! We count all things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:7–11). This leads me to my next point.
2) Choose What to Think About
Often choosing the better pleasure, Christ, flows from what we’re meditating on. If we choose eternal pleasure over temporary pleasure, that means we’re setting our hope and faith in Christ and the resurrection. Part of fighting sin is setting our minds on things above, things that are unseen, and things of the Spirit, instead of what we see—“for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Look at the three passages below.
Colossians 3:1–2 says,
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (emphasis mine).
2 Corinthians 4:17–18 says,
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (emphasis mine).
Romans 8:5–8 says,
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
In all three of these verses there is mention of what we look at or set on our minds on. We can either set our mind on temporary earthly things, or we can set our mind on eternal heavenly things. One produces death, the other produces life.
Fight sin by “set[ting] your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2).
3) Choose to Put Your Sin to Death
How did Americans win the Revolutionary War? By death. Soldiers had to lose their lives to gain our freedom. Freedom is won by death.
Believer, you win in the end because Christ won. Christ won your victory over sin on the cross. By faith, you are connected to Christ. Therefore, His death was your death. And His resurrection is your resurrection. Colossians 3:3–4 says, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
We know this is true, but how do we live in light of that truth? The very next verse gives us the answer.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5).
Be conformed to His death. Put your sin to death. Objectively speaking, you are alive in Christ (Col. 2:13–14). That is your identity. You are clean. You are washed by the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 6:11). You are forgiven (1 Jn. 1:9, Acts 10:42–43). Period.
But we still fight sin. Therefore, we must conform ourselves to the reality of who we truly are—we’re alive. We don’t fight sin to gain forgiveness. We fight sin because we are forgiven and we want to live in light of that truth. A child doesn’t obey their parents to become their child. No, he obeys because he is their child.
Jesus didn’t die just so you can be forgiven; He died so you could be free from sin—the very thing that’s causing your death in the first place. First Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
We don’t have to gain our freedom from sin. Our freedom from sin was given to us as a gift by faith (Rom. 3:21–26). The problem is that though we are already free we keep re-enslaving ourselves to the very chains that Christ set us free from on the cross. It’s like the Israelites wanting to return to Egypt after they were rescued.
So how do we keep ourselves from self-inflicted re-enslavement?
We put our sin to death and we fix our eyes on Christ. Hebrews 12:1–2 is a great place to land the plane.
“Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”