Free from the Power of Sin

No one likes being confined. You feel smothered, squeezed in, and as if there's no way out when you're stuck.

Many Christians live with the impression that they are enslaved by sin. While we rejoice in the joy of Christ changing us through the power of the Spirit, there appear to be certain sins from which we all struggle to break free. No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we resolve, that sin returns to us like grass springing through holes in the pavement. Even when we have a long period of victory, sin seems to lurk just beneath the surface, ready to attack the moment we let our guard down.
God’s word has a sweet, refreshing, liberating, hope-infusing word for those who feel trapped in stubborn sins. In Colossians 2:11-12

Paul proclaims to us that, if we are in Christ, we are never trapped in sin. No matter how defeated or wrapped in a sin we may feel, its hold on us is never, ever stronger than the power that surges in us through our union with Christ. 

In Colossians 2:11-12, Paul tells us that by faith in Christ we are “circumcised with a circumcision without hands.” This imagery may seem foreign to us but it is steeped in Old Testament promises to brim with hope.

Even though God's people had a physical covenant with him, which was signified by bodily circumcision, the people were continuously rebelling spiritually in their hearts. The image is clear: if left to their own devices, every one of humanity, even those who have witnessed God's work, will choose sin over God's glory. Promises and commitments established in the flesh will not solve the problem of man's heart's persistent rebellion against God. 

But, in His kindness, God responds with grace, promising in Deuteronomy 30: "The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, that you may love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul, that you may live." God promises to accomplish the job in the heart that cannot be done by human hands to heal the source of sin, transforming our hearts from sinners to God-lovers. 

Paul says that God has done this “through the circumcision of Christ,” which means that God has provided for this work to be done by having Christ cut off on the cross for us. God's power to deliver us from the grips of sin is granted to us freely via what has already been done for us in Christ, not in our own willpower or ability to obey.

Paul goes on to argue that God has empowered us to walk in a new way of life by linking us to the glory of Christ's resurrection, in addition to altering our hearts with the power to love God more than sin through Christ's death. With the same power that raised Christ from the dead, God is working within us to will and act by His good purpose.

Not I, But Christ in Me

So, because this power is based on what Jesus has already done, you will always have the ability needed to walk free from sin. If you believe in Christ, you have a fresh heart to love God and resurrection power to combat sin. Even if you have failed, God's power is still at work in you.
Confess your sin to God, trust that he will manifest that power within you to walk free from that stubborn sin, and then work out in your life what God has already worked out in your heart. Since Christ has already won you will win over this sin. 

The Holy Spirit will help you to fight the good fight.

Confess your sin to God, trust that he will manifest the power inside you to walk away from that persistent sin, and then work out what God has already worked out in you. You will triumph over this sin because Christ has already triumphed for you. Trust in the Holy Spirit to help you fight the good fight.