Question: Do you believe that we can overcome sin?
Answer: Yes, we believe in overcoming sin, in fact, to believe otherwise is to toss the Bible. This is because every book and epistle of the New Testament teaches that we can overcome sin – with no exceptions. (Matthew 5:48; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 6:36; John 14:15; Acts 20:32; Rom 8:4; 1 Cor 1:8; 2 Cor 10:5; Gal 5:16; Eph 5:27; Phil 3:15;; Col 3:5-10; 1 Thess 5:23, 24; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 3:17; Titus 3:11, 12; Philemon 5, 6; Heb 12:1, 2; James 1:4; 1 Peter 4:1; 2 Peter 1:10; 1 John 2:1; 2 John 6; 3 John 3, 4; Jude 24, 25; Rev see below). The real issue is not whether the Bible teaches that we can overcome—it does—but the question is whether WE will believe that we can overcome. Many do not and for good reason—they don’t know how. It can be very frustrating to be told you must do something but not know how to do it (Remember algebra). Therefore the real question is not—can we overcome sin— but rather HOW can we overcome sin.
And the answer to that question is both simple and profound. Hebrews chapter 12 gives us the clearest understanding:
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
The solution to overcoming sin is looking unto Jesus. The problem is we don’t. Abiding in Christ, connecting to Christ, united with Christ, this is the secret of success.
Let’s explore this further in the book of Revelation. The call to overcome is given to each one of the 7 churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. This means all of God’s people are called to overcome, but most of them have a problem. The first church of Ephesus has lost its first love (Jesus). The last church of Laodicea has Jesus outside knocking on the door waiting to come in. The point is that we can only overcome by connecting with Jesus. This truth is further illustrated in Revelation 5 where John is told to behold the Lamb who has done what no man in heaven, earth or under the earth can do—He has “prevailed” (overcome, Revelation 5:3-5). In the very next chapter this same truth is illustrated symbolically by the white horse and its rider:
“And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2).
The white horse represents God’s church (Zechariah 10:3) and Jesus is the rider. When Jesus takes the reins of our lives and we take His white robe of righteousness we go forth conquering and to conquer (Revelation 6:2). The word conquer is the same Greek word for “overcome” in the message to the 7 churches. It is also the same Greek word “prevailed” in the picture of the Lamb who takes the book in Revelation 5:5. So Jesus is the one who has overcome or prevailed. We overcome only as we are united with Him because our overcoming is by His righteousness not ours. It is faith in His blood (life and death Leviticus 17:11) that gives us the victory. This is further illustrated in Revelation 12:11 where it says:
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11).
It is as we connect with Jesus, as we abide in Him, as we allow Him to direct our lives that we overcome—not us but Jesus in us. The devil knows this. Therefore he does all he can to take our focus away from Jesus. The pleasures of sin, life’s cares, perplexities and sorrows, the faults of others or our own faults and imperfections, to any or all of these the devil tries to direct our minds, anything to separate us from beholding Jesus.
So yes, every book of the New Testament teaches that we can overcome. But even more important, every book and almost every chapter of the New Testament points us to the gospel of Jesus Christ, His life, His death, His resurrection. Even Revelation 13—the mark of the beast chapter—directs us to the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). In the end the call to overcome is all about looking to Jesus, abiding in Him, supping with Him (Revelation 3:21). Contemplating Christ is the secret of success for the believer. Amen.
