You and I sin. John told us in 1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” As a Christian, you should not be an individual that continually practices sin. From time to time, you may sin by saying or doing something contrary to the will of God. When you do, you will want to humbly confess your sin. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The apostle James describes the temptation/sin process. James 1:13-15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” There is the desire or temptation, the enticement, the commitment of the sin, and the full growth of sin that brings forth death.
It is not wrong to be tempted. Jesus was tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” We are told of three temptations that the devil gave Him at that time. Jesus resisted the devil and responded to each of the temptations by quoting appropriate truths from the word of God. Jesus committed no sin. The wrong comes when you yield to the temptation and commit the sin.
I want to consider two ways that sin can come upon you. The first way is that sin overtakes you. The apostle Paul describes this in Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” In this case, the man was perhaps surprised by the sin. He didn’t plan on being sinful. Perhaps he was weak and easily yielded to the sin. An example of this might be to say something wrong or hurtful without giving much thought to what you are saying and later you realize you should not have said what you did.
The second way is planning for sin. The apostle Paul put it this way – Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” The flesh here is the old, corrupt nature. It incessantly cries to be pampered with comfort, luxury, illicit sexual indulgence, empty amusements, worldly pleasures, dissipation, materialism and so forth. The first step in making provision for the flesh might be to entertain the thought of fulfilling your lusts. This leads to being enticed to sin. To avoid sin, you must not allow your mind to dwell on possible sinful actions. Instead, you should focus on spiritual things. Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Romans 8:5-6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” To avoid sin, you should set your mind on spiritual things and not on things of the flesh.
The second step in making provision for the flesh is to intentionally give yourself opportunity to sin. I suggest that this might be to plan and make arrangements to fulfill your lusts. Perhaps a plan would involve spending time or money to fulfill your lust. A plan might involve going to a place that would make it easy to fulfill your lust. In the world, a premeditated crime is given a worse punishment than a similar crime committed on impulse. For example, premeditated murder is given a worse punishment than murder committed on impulse. Making provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts, suggests to me a premeditated sin.
Rather than making provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, you are instructed to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. What does that mean? As a Christian, you are, by definition, a disciple of Jesus Christ. To put on Jesus Christ is to make your actions like His actions, your attitude like His attitude, and your desire to please the Father as was His desire to please His Father. Consider Philippians 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Jesus could have exalted Himself. Instead, He humbled Himself, chose to be a bondservant and became obedient to the Father, even to the point of giving Himself to die on the cross. When you are tempted, consider what Jesus would do. Remember what the Bible says about the matter, pray to God for strength, and turn your back on the sin.
Be reminded of why you want to deny yourself. Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” When you are tempted to sin, remember God’s marvelous grace He has given you. Because of His grace, you don’t have to suffer for your sins. He loves you so much that He sent His son to the earth to die in your place and take your penalty. Considering that love and that grace, does they not teach you to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and instead live soberly, righteously, and godly?
I encourage you to make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Turn your thoughts away from the sin; don’t make any plans to sin. Instead, have the same mind as Jesus Christ and be obedient to the Father and please Him.