Obtaining Victory Over Sin - NetBibleStudy.com

Victory Over Sin 5We’ve all heard someone say, “I know what I ought to do, but I just can’t to it. I’vetried. I’ve asked God to help me -- but still I have failed.” Paul wrote about his own struggle,“For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do,but I am doing the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). The church reformer, John Knox,wrote these words before he died, “Now, after many battles, I find nothing in me but vanityand corruption. For in quietness I am negligent, in trouble impatient, tending to desperation;pride and ambition assault me on the one part, covetousness and malice trouble me on the other;briefly, O Lord, the affections of the flesh do almost suppress the operation of Thy Spirit.” – Ifthis man of God had such struggles, is there any hope for the rest of us?3. Couldn’t God Rearrange Our SchedulesAway From Places of Temptation?Even if God does not prohibit Satan from tempting us, couldn’t He guide usaway from the place of temptation? Wouldn’t that protect us from circumstances thatprovoke us to sin?Doesn’t it seem that those in Scripture who fell into sin did so because of the factthat they were in situations where the temptation was?• Didn’t David sin with Bathsheba because she happened to be takinga bath where the king could see her as he was resting on the rooftop?Couldn’t God have arranged for her to take her bath two hoursearlier, or an hour later? Surely a sovereign God would have nodifficulty in rearranging the schedules of His finite creatures.• Didn’t Achan sin because he saw a Babylonian garment leftunattended after the siege of Jericho?• Didn’t Abraham lie about his wife being his sister because there wasa famine in the land and he feared the king might take his life if heknew beautiful Sarah was his wife?• Didn’t Samson divulge his secret because of his attraction to thecharming Delilah?God does not shield us from circumstances that provoke us to sin. Remember itwas the Holy Spirit who led Christ into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. In theLord’s Prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”(Matthew 6:13). We are to, in praying, ask God to preserve us from situation where wemight be vulnerable to sin. -- Yet, at the same time, realize that God, as He sees fit, willallow circumstances that potentially could provoke us to sin.This, of course, in no way suggests that God causes one to sin – He never temptsus as Satan does. James explains, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted byGod’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13).We can never blame God for what we do. If we sin, it is because of our carnal, sinfulnature; therefore we are responsible! The problem is, (though, perhaps, unintentionallyon our part), we find ourselves in situations that are an outward stimulus to sin.