Struggling with sin question

If you are struggling with sin or know someone who is - here is the question of questions.

When I struggled with sin I did know that I felt assured that there was in Christ all I needed, but the practical question was how to get it out.

Is there no rescue? Must it be like this till the end - constant conflict and, instead of victory, too often defeat?

How, too, could I preach with sincerity that to those who receive Jesus, "to them gave He power to become the sons of God, " (i.e. God-like) when it was not so in my experience? Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin; and no wonder, for faith and even hope were getting very low. I hated myself; I hated my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it

I knew Christ was rich, but I was poor; He was strong, but I was weak. I knew full well that there was in the vine, in the root, the stem, abundant fatness; but how to get it into my puny little branch was the question.

I knew that if I could only abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not. I thought the answer was to keep looking to Jesus. I would begin each day with prayer, fully determined not to take my eye from Him for a moment, but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, constant interruptions, often very wearing, would cause me to forget Him. Then one's nerves get so fretted in this climate that temptations to irritability, hard thoughts and sometimes unkind words are all the more difficult to control. Each day brought its register of sin, failure, and lack of power. To will was indeed present with me, but I never could perform any if it..

I knew that faith was the only prerequisite to laying hold of His fullness and making it my own. But I also knew that I had not this faith . . .

I strove for it, but it would not come; I tried to exercise it, but in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus, the fullness of our precious Savior - my helplessness and guilt seemed to increase.

Sins committed appeared but as trifles compared with the sin of unbelief which was their cause, which could not or would not take God at His word, but rather made Him a liar! Unbelief was, I felt, the damning sin of the world - yet I indulged in it. I prayed for faith but it did not come.

What was I to do?

Letter from McCarthy to Taylor

"Do you know, I now think that this striving, longing, hoping for better days to come is not the true way to holiness, happiness or usefulness.It is better, no doubt, far better than being satisfied with poor attainments, but not the best way after all. I have been struck with a passage from a book . . . entitled Christ is All. It says,How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith . . . but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity.

"The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete. . . "

This (grace of faith) is the chain which binds the soul to Christ, and makes the savior and sinner one...,
A channel is now formed by which Christ's fullness plenteously flows down. The barren branch becomes a portion of the fruitful stem...One life reigns throughout the whole.

Believer, you mourn your shortcomings; you find that hated monster, sin, striving for mastery, evil is present when you would do good.

Help is laid up for you in Christ.

Seek clearer interest in Him.

They who most deeply feel that they have died in Christ, and paid in Him sin's penalties, ascend to highest heights of godly life.

"He is most holy who has most of Christ within, and joys most fully in the finished work.

It is defective faith which clogs the feet and causes many a fall."

To let my loving savior work in me His will, my sanctification is what I would live for by His grace.

Abiding, not striving nor struggling, looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power; trusting Him to subdue all inward corruption; resting in the love of the almighty savior, in the conscious joy of a complete salvation, a salvation from all sin.

Willing that His will should be truly supreme.

Christ literally seems to me the power, the only power for service, the only ground for unchanging joy.

How then to have our faith increased?

Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in the word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts.

Not a striving to have faith but a looking off to the faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and eternity."

Hudson Taylor wrote;

This sentence, I think I now fully endorse. To let my loving Savior work in me His will, my sanctification, is what I would live for by His grace. Abiding, not striving nor struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power; . . . resting in the love of an almighty Savior, in the joy of a complete salvation,"from all sin"””this is not new, and yet 'tis new to me.

I feel as though the dawning of a glorious day had risen upon me. I hail it with trembling, yet with trust. I seem to have got to the edge only, but of a boundless sea; to have sipped only, but of that which fully satisfies. Christ literally all seems to me, now, the power, the only power for service, the only ground for unchanging joy. . . ."But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One."As I read, I saw it all! "If we believe not, he abideth faithful."

I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed!) that He had said, "I will never leave thee.""Ah, there is rest!" I thought. "I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more. For has not He promised to abide with me””never to leave me, never to fail me?"Nor was this all He showed me, nor one half.

As I thought of the Vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured direct into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in wishing to get the sap, the fullness out of Him! I saw not only that Jesus will never leave me, but that I am a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine is not the root merely, but all””root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit. And Jesus is not that alone””He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for or needed. Oh, the joy of seeing this truth! I do pray that the eyes of your understanding too may be enlightened, that you may know and enjoy the riches freely given us in Christ.

He has set us free from sin, by having us die with Jesus on the cross.

He has given us His Spirit to use to rule our lives.

We are freed from sin. Sin cannot have dominion over us.

We live in God's grace.

Christians do not sin habitually ”“ as we are dead to it.

However, if we do incidentally sin we can confess it and receive cleansing.

Our old man (old nature ”“ old self ”“ our flesh) was crucified with Christ.

We are created anew by God.

We cannot now be slaves to sin, as our body of sin has been done away with.

God now sees us as holy and blameless before him........in love.

We are now alive to God through receiving the Spirit of God.

Having been set free from the law of sin and death we can now consider ourselves slaves (servants) of God.

We have been delivered from the law and the law has dominion over us no more.

Christ defeated death, so we share with Him in freedom from it. We will be resurrected.

We are new creations, sons of God and led by His Spirit.

We no longer live. Christ lives in us. Christ is our life.

Reader, next mark the renovating MEANS. The wondrous engine is the Gospel-truth. The Spirit wins by charming notes. He opens ears to hear new melody. He gives the eye to see new scenes. He reveals Christ””the beauty of all beauty. He shows the cleansing blood””the sympathizing heart””the perfect refuge””the all-sufficient aid. These sights wave a transforming wand. A new affection subjugates the man. Jesus and purer hopes now occupy the mind. Darkness is passed. The true light shines.

The grace of faith springs up. This is the chain, which binds the soul to Christ, and makes the Savior and the sinner one. A channel is now formed, by which Christ's fullness plenteously flows down. The barren branch becomes a portion of the fruitful stem. Christ's vital juices permeate the whole. The limbs receive close union with the head, and one life reigns throughout the total frame.

Reader, would you be holy? There is only one way. All other roads lead down to deeper mire. Christ must come in. All is dark death, except where Jesus lives. All is pure life and loveliness, where Jesus reigns. Draw near and nearer to the Gospel-page. There gaze on Christ, until the soul's features melt into His likeness. The Gospel heard, and read, and loved, are the bright wings on which the Spirit flies. The Spirit's presence brings the Savior near. The Savior welcomed, is all Holiness begun. The Savior cherished, is all Holiness advancing. The Savior never absent, is Holiness complete. Holiness complete, is heaven's full blaze.

Believer, this subject has a warning voice. You mourn shortcomings. You find the hated monster sin still striving for the rule. Evil is present, when you would do good. Help is laid up for you in Christ. Seek clearer interest in Him. Faith sows the seeds. Assurance brings in golden sheaves. They, who most deeply feel, that they have died in Christ and paid in Him sin's penalties, ascend to highest heights of godly life. He is most holy, who has most of Christ within, and relishes most fully in the finished work. It is defective faith, which clogs the feet, and causes many a fall.

We here discern why Gospel truth is so assailed with hate. It is the lever, which moves men's minds from sin. It is the sweet attractive to the heaven-pure path. Hence the sin-loving world turns angrily away. Evil is more congenial to the taste. Evil is sweet. Corruption rejects Christ.

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Please note He say's "The grace of faith springs up. This is the chain, which binds the soul to Christ, and makes the Savior and the sinner one."

This grace of faith is a free Gift and can not result from any self effort or works,

I am Posting a response to another post here by Ron.

Thanks for sharing, this reminded me of something that Watchman Nee wrote in his classic book, The Normal Christian Life;

Our crucifixion can never be made effective by will or by effort, but only by accepting what the Lord Jesus did on the Cross. Our eyes must be opened to see the finished work of Calvary. Some of you, prior to your salvation, may have tried to save yourselves. You read the Bible, prayed, went to Church, gave alms. Then one day your eyes were opened and you saw that a full salvation had already been provided for you on the Cross. You just accepted that and thanked God, and peace and joy flowed into your heart. Now salvation and sanctification are on exactly the same basis. You receive deliverance from sin in the same way as you receive forgiveness of sins.

For God’s way of deliverance is altogether different from man’s way. Man’s way is to try to suppress sin by seeking to overcome it; God’s way is to remove the sinner. Many Christians mourn over their weakness, thinking that if only they were stronger all would be well. The idea that, because failure to lead a holy life is due to our impotence, something more is therefore demanded of us, leads naturally to this false conception of the way of deliverance. If we are preoccupied with the power of sin and with our inability to meet it, then we naturally conclude that to gain the victory over sin we must have more power. ‘If only I were stronger’, we say, ‘I could overcome my violent outbursts of temper’, and so we plead with the Lord to strengthen us that we may exercise more self-control.

But this is altogether wrong; this is not Christianity. God’s means of delivering us from sin is not by making us stronger and stronger, but by making us weaker and weaker. That is surely rather a peculiar way of victory, you say; but it is the Divine way. God sets us free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening our old man but by crucifying him; not by helping him to do anything but by removing him from the scene of action.

For years, maybe, you have tried fruitlessly to exercise control over yourself, and perhaps this is still your experience; but when once you see the truth you will recognize that you are indeed powerless to do anything, but that in setting you aside altogether God has done it all. Such a revelation brings human self-effort to an end.