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Dec 10, 2023 06:00am

Are You In The Fire?

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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:1–4)

It seems that every day I struggle with the same sins over and over.

Sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is discouraging, and other times I am in such despair that I break down crying and pleading for God to help me. I always ask, “Why do I keep on sinning?” And sometimes, “Why do I keep doing this same sin over and over? Shouldn’t I be able to get a handle on this by now?”

I know that because of my broken, sinful nature I will keep sinning until I die. I also know that as a believer, the grace of Christ reigns in my life and my sins are no longer held against me. Does that mean we should not worry when we sin because it’s just the way we were made and we have already been forgiven? After all, we have grace, right?

In Romans 6, Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

He continues, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.”

It is clear that we are no longer supposed to live in sin, but I am failing. If you are like me then you may be asking, “What are we supposed to do? Why is this so hard?”

It is now that we must truly consider Hebrews 12:3–4:

“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

There are those words—in your struggle against sin.

My struggle? Many of us have heard the Christian life described as a path, a race, a fight, but here we see it called a struggle! Have you ever considered that? That our life would be a struggle? That we aren’t promised it will be easy to be a Christian but are actually told the opposite?

Matthew 7:13–14 says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

First Peter 4:12–13 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

And 1 Timothy 6:12 says, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

We have to fight! We must fight our sin with everything in us and keep watch over our hearts! We have to be alert! Knowing this life is going to be a struggle is an advantage to us. If we know it is going to be hard, then we can gear up for it; gird our loins to be prepared for action; put on the full armor of God and go to our battle stations!

And what is our best weapon? “The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” and “praying at all times in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17).

The very fact that we are believers means we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us giving us power and strength to fight. The fact that Jesus took upon himself all of the Father’s wrath that we deserved for our sin and made the perfect payment (perfect in his power to completely remove all our sin and perfect in his worth—a sacrifice holy, unblemished and acceptable to his Father) means that we no longer have to sin.

Christ defeated the power sin had over us by what He did on the cross. We are free people. Sin is no longer our master. We are called to live as free people and like Christ’s sacrificial death actually means something to us. We are to live like Christ.

Ephesians 4:1 says, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”

Then what are we to do when the Christian life gets hard? When it gets so tough to fight our sin that we feel like giving up or giving in?

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:3-4)

Consider what Christ went through. Our Savior hung for six hours on a cross—tired, bruised, beaten, bleeding, gasping for every breath, dying. On top of that suffering, He endured the most painful thing imaginable: the full wrath of His Father God being poured out on Him for our sin. And yet He endured, for He considered what glory His death would bring the Father and what joy there would be in redeeming a people for Himself.

If we are in Christ, we never have to take that punishment upon ourselves. We will never have to shed our blood to free ourselves from sin. Christ already accomplished it all. But we do have to fight our temptations and our sins every day and fight with everything in us. And when you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, that is a lot of power!

If we are looking to our Savior and considering what He endured to win this battle over sin for us, then we will not grow weary or fainthearted. What might we have to give up to fight our sin? Some time, energy, sleep, selfishness, or even something or someone very dear to us? What is that compared to what our Savior sacrificed—His very life.

With that in mind, there are some questions we must consider:

Are we fighting our sin? Are we putting forth great effort and exertion to put off sinful desires, selfishness, and pride, and to put on Christ and live the way He has called us to live?

If we are not fighting our sin, why is that? Have we sunk into Christian complacency, living as if the moment of our salvation is enough to carry us through to the end? If this is you, I urge you to consider these words from the late great preacher, John Owen, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Sin is not complacent; it is crouching at our doorstep, and it wants to have mastery over us.

Our Lord warned us in Matthew 24:13, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Similarly, James wrote about remaining steadfast under trial: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4), and “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

We must fight and we must endure, and we must do it with all joy so that in the end we may obtain the crown of life. Are you enduring or coasting?

If this all sounds like a foreign concept to you and you don’t really understand what you have just read, my question to you is: Do you know Jesus Christ the Savior and His redeeming power? Do you have a relationship with the one true God who made you—the only One who can free you from a life of sin?
If you do not know Him, I urge you to call out to God and seek His salvation—be free from the bondage of sin, obtain the crown of life that is only given to us in Christ, and look to Him as you run the race with endurance, following in the faithful footsteps of the saints who ran before you.