Nuggets from An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith by Dave Hunt - Victory Over Sin

Nuggets from An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith by Dave Hunt – Victory over Sin

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” – 2 Corinthians:15:57
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Torn between their sincere desire to serve and honor their Lord and the inner turmoil of fleshly lusts and the seductive pull of worldly pleasures and honors, many Christians struggle to live for Christ. For them, Christianity involves great effort, little joy, much frustration and disillusionment, and the loss (when they have enough willpower to deny themselves) of so much they once enjoyed in life. They struggle to avoid Paul’s list of “don'ts” in Colossians:3:5-8 [5] Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: [6] For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: [7] In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. [8] But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
See All...: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornications, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness, which is idolatry…put off all these: anger, wrath, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” Failing repeatedly, they repent remorsefully and puzzle over their inability to live as they know they should – but seemingly can’t.

They fare no better with Paul’s list of “do’s” that follows (verses 12-17): “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving…put on charity….Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Is it really possible to be sweet, kind, humble, loving, and forgiving at all times? The spirit is willing, but the flesh proves ever to be embarrassingly weak. How can one live up to the high standards the Bible sets for Christian living? Is there some secret to victory we are overlooking?

The two key expressions, “mortify” in verse 5 and “put on” in verse 12, only increase the bewilderment and sense of failure. Is it really possible to “put to death” ungodly desires and, shedding that body of evil, as it were, to be clothed in a resurrection body of godliness? Surely Paul, led of the Holy Spirit, is not taunting us with goals that cannot be attained and that, in fact, are not at all practical. Was he not himself an example of this kind of life, and did he not say more than once, “Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians:4:16Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
See All...; 11:1)? Then why do we fail? From whence comes the motivation and the strength to accomplish what is at once so desirable and yet so seemingly impossible? [to be continued…]