108. HOW TO OVERCOME THE POWER OF SIN IN MY LIFE AND IN MY CHURCH? – A second introduction

In the Meditations 104 to 106 we have seen that our rebirth by God’s Spirit, His continuous presence in our lives, and the imperative to obey God’s Word (the Bible) are God’s preconditions for victory over the power of sin.

In Meditation 107 we saw that Jesus Christ is our shining example. From the New Testament texts we learned how He encountered temptation and the power of sin.

In Meditation 47 we wrote: “As ‘maturing in Christ-likeness’ is the theme of our meditations, we need to focus in the future on both tracks: our individual lives as followers of Jesus and our communal lives as part of the local Body of Christ.” (See also Meditation 48)

Therefore, in the coming meditations we need to carefully contemplate the implications of our theme for both tracks.

Track 1: My Life

We want to start with the first track. For that reason the main question is how to overcome the power of sin in my personal life. Of course, we need to ask ourselves if that is a realistic question. Would we be able to overcome sin’s power in our personal lives? Don’t we sin every day? Are we not ‘constant sinners living by God’s grace’? Could we become sinless and perfect people here on earth already? How is growing in Christlike maturity linked with learning to overcome the power of sin?     

Track 2: My Church

Later we need to struggle with the tricky question: how to overcome the power of sin in our church community? Is this a realistic approach? Why should we even consider this question? What are the pitfalls of this approach? Does a sinless, perfect Christian community not only exist in heaven? Does this approach not lead to legalism, heartless criticism, manipulation and sectarianism? Does church history not warn us of excesses in all kinds of groups and sects that have striven for moral perfection?

Perhaps the most fundamental question for both tracks is: Does God’s Word (the Bible) command us to endeavour to overcome the power of sin in our personal lives and in our churches?

Many questions to answer! We had better start with Track 1.

For more on ‘sin’ see Meditation 102 and 103.