Sin's Power Shows The Limits Of Our Spiritual Strength

It’s a good thing to know the limits of our strength. This is true physically and spiritually. Many have pulled a muscle trying to lift something too heavy for them. Spiritually, many underestimate sin's power. Anyone who tries to take on a stronger spiritual enemy without God’s help will fail. We see three examples of this in Genesis 3-5.

Three Examples of Sin's Power

1. Eve was deceived by Satan. Adam followed her in sinning Genesis 3:6-7. Our two perfect ancestors, who were created in the image of God, couldn’t stand against Satan’s tactics on their own. They were morally pure, intelligent and walked with God every day! Yet, on their own they failed.
2. Cain gave in to the sin's power Genesis 4:8. Cain failed to please God with his offering and got angry. God warned Cain “if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” In spite of this warning Cain gave in to sin's desire and killed his brother Abel.
3. Lamech, one of Cain’s descendants, killed a man for striking him Genesis 4:23-24. We don’t know if the fault was the man who struck him or Lamech’s for killing him. Lamech as well as his attacker knew of Cain’s sin, yet God’s punishment of Cain wasn’t enough to prevent more sin.

These examples show us that sin's power is great. It’s not enough to know what God commands. It’s not enough to be warned of sin's power. It’s not enough to see how others have failed. We need help, spiritual strength to overcome sin's power. That’s why Jesus became a man. He came to pay the penalty for our sins and to break the power of sin. When we trust in Jesus as our Savior we are united with Jesus. That includes in His death and resurrection. Paul tells us in Romans 6:6

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. NLT

Don’t misread what that verse says. Sin doesn’t lose its power when we become a Christian. It’s only as we understand we were crucified with Christ that sin “might lose its power in our lives.” Too many Christians fail each day when confronted with temptations like Eve, Cain and Lamech. How can we succeed and overcome sin? By seeing ourselves as God the Father sees us. It is by understanding we have a new identity. We are people who have died with Christ to sin's power and are alive to God Romans 6:11. This means we must:

• know sin's power is stronger than we are on our own.
• know sin's power was broken by Jesus on the cross.
• know you always have access to the power of God to overcome temptation.

The next time you’re attacked by sin, realize that in Christ you’re free from sin's power. Then have a long conversation with the Father about what you should do instead. Then do what He wants you to. It’s not easy but it is simply His way.