If renowned minister D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (if you are not familiar with him-you must be! start here) had used videos during his sermons as illustrations, I think he might have used this one:
Why so? Here is what he had to say on our struggles with sin. Yes, you guessed it, "stop it!" Jones says:
I do not know of a single scripture—and I speak advisedly—which tells me to take my sin, the particular thing that gets me down, to God in prayer and ask him to deliver me from it and then trust in faith that he will.Now that teaching is also often put like this: you must say to a man who is constantly defeated by a particular sin, “I think your only hope is to take it to Christ and Christ will take it from you.” But what does Scripture say in Ephesians 4:28 to the man who finds himself constantly guilty of stealing, to a man who sees something he likes and takes it? What am I to tell such a man? Am I to say, “Take that sin to Christ and ask him to deliver you?” No, what the apostle Paul tells him is this: “Let him that stole, steal no more.” Just that. Stop doing it. And if it is fornication or adultery or lustful thoughts, again: Stop doing it, says Paul. He does not say, “Go and pray to Christ to deliver you.” No. You stop doing that, he says, as becomes children of God.
Well I agree with you and Dr. Lloyd-Jones. However, I think people get this idea from two verses that I can think of:
1 Cor. 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Matthew 6:13 "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
I think people take these verses that talk about temptation and apply them to sin. And that's always trouble.
I think one of the problems in one saying, “I will take my sins to God in prayer and ask Him to deliver me from it and then trust in faith that He will," is that if I do not overcome my sin, then God can be blamed. I can then say, "I trusted God in faith to take away my sin, and He didn't do it. It is His fault I still struggle with this sin." I know I have struggled with this in the past, because I think that of course God wants me to stop sinning, so there's nothing wrong with me asking for his help. And, of course, there's not anything wrong with that. The problem, as I said, is blaming him for not getting rid of it entirely, for the desire still being present to do other than I ought. It is difficult, knowing God is sovereign in all things, knowing that I cannot overcome sin but by his grace, and still recognizing my own need to act, to obey. I think this is difficult in all aspects of living as a Christian, reconciling God's sovereignty and our active obedience. I think, perhaps, just saying "Stop it" is important, because, in an age driven by psychoanalysis, we desire someone to say, "It's okay that you sin in this way. Everyone struggles, and, so long as you're struggling, you are living well." Perhaps, even for one to say our sin might have stemmed from the way our parents treated us or the way we were bullied in school, anything to take the blame away from us, but for us to still be aware we’re “struggling.” However, though this attitude needs to be overcome, we do need to realize that, but for God's grace, we cannot overcome our sin. I think many Christians would rather “struggle” with sin than overcome it, however. As I said, the issue is sovereignty and obedience; how can we see them appropriately, biblically?
I am the Church Planter/Pastor of ekklesia Blacksburg, a new SBC church located in Blacksburg, Virginia. I graduated from the University of Maryland and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and have been in pastoral ministry since 1997. I have a wonderful wife and three great kids and two dogs and I work at Starbuck's on the side to keep the insurance bills paid.
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Well I agree with you and Dr. Lloyd-Jones. However, I think people get this idea from two verses that I can think of:
1 Cor. 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Matthew 6:13 "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
I think people take these verses that talk about temptation and apply them to sin. And that's always trouble.
I think one of the problems in one saying, “I will take my sins to God in prayer and ask Him to deliver me from it and then trust in faith that He will," is that if I do not overcome my sin, then God can be blamed. I can then say, "I trusted God in faith to take away my sin, and He didn't do it. It is His fault I still struggle with this sin." I know I have struggled with this in the past, because I think that of course God wants me to stop sinning, so there's nothing wrong with me asking for his help. And, of course, there's not anything wrong with that. The problem, as I said, is blaming him for not getting rid of it entirely, for the desire still being present to do other than I ought. It is difficult, knowing God is sovereign in all things, knowing that I cannot overcome sin but by his grace, and still recognizing my own need to act, to obey. I think this is difficult in all aspects of living as a Christian, reconciling God's sovereignty and our active obedience. I think, perhaps, just saying "Stop it" is important, because, in an age driven by psychoanalysis, we desire someone to say, "It's okay that you sin in this way. Everyone struggles, and, so long as you're struggling, you are living well." Perhaps, even for one to say our sin might have stemmed from the way our parents treated us or the way we were bullied in school, anything to take the blame away from us, but for us to still be aware we’re “struggling.” However, though this attitude needs to be overcome, we do need to realize that, but for God's grace, we cannot overcome our sin. I think many Christians would rather “struggle” with sin than overcome it, however. As I said, the issue is sovereignty and obedience; how can we see them appropriately, biblically?
~Neal
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