How would you like to fight an
enemy
who, just when you had him on the
ropes,
could duck into a cave or tunnel where
you couldn't follow? An enemy who
could hide just out of reach, letting
you rest long enough to think he was
gone for good, then drop from nowhere
onto your back? This is the advantage
of indwelling sin -- it lurks in an
unsearchable and deceitful fortress,
where you can't find him.
Christians are in an ongoing
battle. Never does this
battle give us a break to
relax our guard or take a
breather. It is constant,
relentless, and at times
overwhelming. Because of our
humanity and living in the
aftermath of the Fall, we will
never be completely separated
from it. We will always be
engaged in this battle.
In this battle we face one
mighty enemy and the enemy is
sin. Sin affects all that we
are, all that we do, think or
say. The task of the believer
is to defeat this enemy and
reshape our lives according to
biblical principles.
Kris Lundgaard has written a
helpful book for dealing with
this enemy. Drawing heavily
from one of history’s greatest
theologians, John Owens, he
gives some straight talk about
the power and defeat of sin.
His examination of sin is
detailed in 3 sections: The
Power of Sin in What It Is,
The Power of Sin in How It
Works and The Power of Sin in
What It Does. The fourth
section is dedicated to the
total eradication of sin and
is titled, Nailing the Lid on
Sin’s Coffin.
If the believer’s task is to
defeat sin, he must first
understand sin’s attacks.
Lundgaard helps us identify
that. It’s in the arena of
the mind. Sin hits us where
we think. Chapter 7 was
perhaps one of the most
helpful in that he gives solid
ways of implementing the great
tools of the mind: meditation
and private prayer. By
meditating on God with God, on
the Word in the Word, and on
self in the Word and with God,
“prayer and meditation sound
the depths of your soul,
dredge up the schemes and
plots of the law of sin, and
drag them into the light of
God’s presence”(p.73). He
follows that with a warning:
“Your flesh will not sit still
for meditation and prayer any
more than a wounded wolverine
would submit to surgery”(p.73).
The Enemy Within is a
refreshing, biblical study of
the nature and effects of sin.
Contrary to much of the
teaching from deliverance
ministries, most of our
struggle with sin is from
within, not from external
“spirits” persecuting us. As
those who have been raised up
with Christ, we are to
“mortify”, or put to death the
members of our earthly bodies
(see Col. 3:1-11). For more
information about sin see
Cornelius Plantinga’s “Not the
Way it’s Supposed to Be”, “The
Mortification of Sin” and “The
Indwelling Sin in Believers,”
both by John Owens. Read ‘em &
Reap!
-
Brad
