On faith, reason, and theology.

Here is an extended quote from Piper on how Christians are to fight sin by faith. It’s from an article called “How Dead People Do Battle with Sin“.

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How do you fight sin with faith?

Suppose I am tempted to lust. Some sexual image pops into my brain and beckons me to pursue it. The way this temptation gets its power is by persuading me to believe that I will be happier if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier. No one sins out of a sense of duty when what they really want is to do right.

So what should I do? Some people would say, “Remember God’s command to be holy (1 Peter 1:16) and exercise your will to obey because he is God!” But something crucial is missing from this advice, namely, FAITH. A lot of people strive for moral improvement who cannot say, “The life I live I live BY FAITH” (Galatians 2:20). A lot of people try to love who don’t realize that, “What counts is FAITH working through love” (Galatians 5:6).

The fight against lust (or greed or fear or any other temptation) is a fight of faith. Otherwise the result is legalism. I’ll try to explain how we fight sin with faith.

When the temptation to lust comes, Romans 8:13 says, “If you kill it by the Spirit you will live.” By the Spirit! What does that mean? Out of all the armor God gives us to fight Satan, only one piece is used for killing—the sword. It is called the sword OF THE SPIRIT (Ephesians 6:17). So when Paul says, “Kill sin by the Spirit,” I take that to mean, Depend on the Spirit, especially his sword.

What is the sword of the Spirit? It’s the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Here’s where faith comes in. . . . The Word of God cuts through the fog of Satan’s lies and shows me where true and lasting happiness is to be found. And so the Word helps me stop trusting in the potential of sin to make me happy, and instead entices me to trust in God’s promise of joy (Psalm 16:11).

. . . This is what Jesus meant when he said, “He who BELIEVES in me shall NEVER THIRST” (John 6:35). If my thirst for joy and meaning and passion are satisfied by the presence and promises of Christ, the power of sin is broken. We do not yield to the offer of sandwich meat when we can see the steak sizzling on the grill. . . .

At first lust begins to trick me into feeling that I would really miss out on some great satisfaction if I followed the path of purity. But then I take up the sword of the Spirit and begin to fight. . . .

And as I pray for my faith to be satisfied with God’s life and peace, the sword of the Spirit carves the sugar coating off the poison of lust. I see it for what it is. And by the grace of God, its alluring power is broken.

In J.C. Ryle’s book Holiness he has a great chapter on Christian Growth.  He addresses the reality, the marks and the means of growing in grace.  I was struck by his closing words, which helped put things in right perspective.

“All things are growing older: the world is growing old; we ourselves are growing older.  A few more summers, a few more winters, a few more sicknesses, a few more sorrows, a few more weddings, a few more funerals, a few more meetings, and a few more partings, and then – what?  Why the grass will be growing over our graves!

Now would it not be well to look within, and put to our souls a simple question?  In religion, in the things that concern our peace, in the great matter of personal holiness, are we getting on?  DO WE GROW?”

In my sermon today on 1 Timothy 6:11-16, I quoted J.C. Ryle from his book Holiness.  Here is the quote in its context.

“True Christianity is a fight. . . There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine Christianity. . . There are thousands of men and women who go to Churches and chapels every Sunday, and call themselves Christians. . . But you never see any “fight” about their religion!  Of spiritual strife, and exertion, and conflict, and self-denial, and watching, and warring, they know literally nothing at all.  Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. . . The true Christian is called to be a solider, and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death.  He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indolence, and security.  He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven, like one travelling in an easy carriage.”