“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…” Such quiet, peaceful songs give many of us a glimpse into the heart of Christianity. It is a religion whose greatest commandment is to love – to love God and to love others. It is a religion whose God tells us to live peaceably with our brothers and sisters, as long as it relies upon us (Rom. 12:18). The life of Martin Luther King Jr. depicts perfectly the type of passion Christians should have for truth and justice. Yet his passion was demonstrated through peace, not violence. Even Christ taught his disciples to live a life of peace, rather than violence. When Jesus is arrested, Peter pulls out his sword in a fit of rage and strikes one of the officers, cutting off his ear. In response, Jesus heals the man’s ear and tells Peter to put his sword away, for “all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52). By and large, the teachings of Christ and Christianity as a whole do not promote violence. In fact, it is forbidden. However, there is one area where God not only allows, but commands, Christians to go the extreme. God does call us to violence: violence against sin.
“What then is this killing of sin? It is the constant battle against sin which we fight daily – the refusal to allow the eye to wander, the mind to contemplate, the affections to run after anything which will draw us from Christ. It is the deliberate rejection of any sinful thought, suggestion, desire, aspiration, deed, circumstance or provocation at the moment we become conscious of its existence.” – Sinclair Ferguson
When the Bible talks about sin, it speaks of killing (Rom. 8:12-13), arming ourselves with weapons (2 Cor. 10:4), putting on armor (Eph. 6:10-20), waging war (1 Tim. 1:18), fighting (2 Tim. 4:7), resisting to the point of shedding blood (Heb. 12:4), and even cutting off limbs (Matt. 5:29-30; 18:7-9; Mark 9:42-49). Based on those terms, this relationship with sin sounds like a very violent one. Needless to say, God is serious about sin. Sin is a matter of eternal significance. “But wait!” you might say. “God has forgiven us, so a little white lie really isn’t of eternal significance. Yeah it’s bad, but it’s not that big of a deal as long as I repent and ask for forgiveness.” This is dangerous thinking! This is a very serious mistake many Christians, including myself, have made. Every lustful thought, every little temptation to steal, every time pride starts to creep up, we are fighting for our souls.Yes we are forgiven, but this doesn’t change the significance of every single battle we have with sin. If you think it’s no big deal, then take a look at the cross. Our forgiveness was not free. It cost the Son of God His life. That “little white lie” left the Messiah humiliated, beaten, bruised, and ultimately killed. His torture and death was an unspeakable scene of violence. Perhaps this is an illustration of the very same violence we are called to employ against sin.
“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.” – C.S. Lewis
The battle against sin is the most important battle of the Christian life. God has called us to be holy, just as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15). Hebrews 12:1 pleads with the Christian to make the sacrifices necessary in order to pursue this holiness. “…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that was set before us…” Is watching that movie a sin? Perhaps not. Is going to that party a direct contradiction of God’s laws? No. What about hanging out with those people? I don’t think that it is. But, if any of those things causes us to stumble, we must lay it aside. If for a single moment our eyes shift away from the beauties of our God and towards the sinful pleasures of this world, then it’s just not worth it. Don’t play games with a relationship with God. This is not passive participation. This is a battle. We have an active role. We must put on the armor, pick up our weapons, and kill our sin. It will be tiring and it will seem like we are missing out. But the reward is worth it in the end. God has promised us that.
What about the days that we fail? For me, that seems to be everyday. We will lose battles. A lot of them. Thankfully, the outcome of the war has already been decided. Christ defeated sin and death once and for all through His death and resurrection, leaving Christians with the sure hope of ultimate victory. Verse 2 of Hebrews 12 tells us how to press on in this fight when we are weak: “…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.” We do not run looking at the floor. We do not even run looking around at all the trials that get in our way. Instead, we look at Jesus, the one who perfects our faith. Scripture promises that one day the struggle will be over. The fight will be done. Granted, we will have some bumps and bruises along the way as we stumble and fall, but the victory is ours.