What Is Sin? – 5 Successful Ways to Overcome Sin
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Sin is rebellion against God’s commandments. Sin is doing things that do not please God. It is doing things that make God deny sinners of eternal life.
How Did Sin Begin?
The Bible did not state how or when sin1 started. But John 8:44 clarified that Satan is the father of evil because he has been evil from the beginning of his creation.
What Is Sin’s Greatest Power?
Sin’s greatest power is deceit. (1 Kings 22:20-22; Revelation 12:9)
For instance, man started sinning through the serpent’s deceitful power. (Genesis 3: 1-7)
Also, Satan2 used everything around Job (his health, children, wife, friends, and enemies) as deceitful tools to deceive and lure him to curse Jehovah. But Job overcame the devil’s deceptive power by applying God’s word effectively. (Job 1 to 42)
Likewise, Jesus, when the Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil’s deceitful powers. Satan used numerous eye-tempting physical glories to lure Jesus to bow to his authority. But Jesus used God’s word to overcome Lucifer and his deceptiveness.
How to Overcome Sin
Overcoming sin is “A MUST” for whosoever desires to live eternally with God.
The following explanation of “A MUST” describes how you can overcome sin.
| A (Alert!) | Be alert always to do good because the tempter (Satan) never sleeps nor rests due to his limited recruiting time. (1 Peter 5:8) |
| M (Meditate) | Always meditate on God’s word. Never lose the word. God’s word is a sharp sword the righteous use to defeat Satan and his evil works. Jesus and Job used the same sword to defeat Satan, and God glorified them. Therefore, God’s glory awaits all who use the word excellently to defeat Satan. (Joshua 1:8) |
| U (Unite) | Stay united with God, no matter how tempting the temporary joy of uniting with evil may appear. Remember, “Eve saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eyes (Genesis 3:6),” so she chose to unite with the serpent to go against God’s command. And Adam likewise chose to unite with his wife in tasting the forbidden tree. The consequence of Adam and Eve’s unification with evil brought curses, shame, suffering, and death upon every mankind. But Jesus’ unification with God has brought relief, joy, and eternal life to everyone that overcomes evil. (1 Corinthians 15:22) |
| S (Submit) | Submit totally to God. Acknowledge the impossibility of being God3 or being compared to Him4. God is the eternal head of everything in heaven and on earth. So, humble yourself by resisting sin and giving God all the glory. (James 4:7) |
| T (Truthful) | Be truthful to God and HIS creations always. Deceit is Satan’s greatest power. Therefore, God’s children must stay far away from the devil’s greatest weapon. (John 14:15-17) |
What Are the Consequences of Sin?
The consequence of sin is death.
Death can be physical or spiritual, but they both have no difference.
In other words, suppose a person dies physically in sin. In that case, such a person can no longer repent. Therefore, the result of his sinful death is eternal death in the lake of fire.
Likewise, all who die spiritually become the devil’s children and will live eternally in Satan’s home: the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:10)
Important Stuff to Know about Sin
Here are seven essential facts about sin.
1. Sin is the best employee of evil
Sin is the best employee one can employ to accomplish evil. (2 Samuel 11)
2. Audacious sin can tempt a holy person
People seek to get employed in companies. But a company will open its door [of employment] to the person it wants to use to achieve its objective(s).
An audacious person can entice a non-recruiting company to employ him.
Likewise, sin seeks to get employment in people. But a person will open his door to the sin he wants to use (rule over) to achieve his objective(s).
An audacious sin can tempt a holy person to employ it.
(Genesis 4:7; Genesis 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11; John 8:34; 1 Corinthians 10:12)
3. Vacancy for sin
Displeasing God creates a vacancy in man that sin will [urgently] seek to occupy.
(1 Peter 5:8; Genesis 4:6-8; Revelation 3:15-16)
4. The death path
Temptation(s) → Yes → Lust → Sin → Death. (James 1:14-15)
5. Sin vs. wrongfulness
A wrong thing might not be a sinful thing. For instance, some believe a mud bath is wrong. But it might not be sinful to bathe in mud.
Sin is to disobey GOD Almighty.
Wrongfulness is to act contrary to an ethic people believe to be right.
Note the following:
- Sinful things are always wrong for God’s children because it makes them act contrary to Christ’s ethics.
- Sinful things are always right for Satan’s children because it makes them act like their father (the devil).
- Righteousness is always right for God’s children because it makes them act like their father, Jesus Christ.
- Righteousness is always wrong for Satan’s children because it makes them act contrary to the devil’s ethics.
(2 Kings 5:9-14; Psalms 119:1-6)
6. Watch your demands
God can acquiesce to a man’s demand to give him a wrong thing (which the man believes will comfort him).
Possessing such a wrong thing does not [necessarily] mean the man has sinned. But it could make it highly arduous for him to please God.
(1 Samuel 8; Genesis 2:25, 3:4-11, 21; Deuteronomy 12:29-32; Matthew 26:53-54)
7. Your daily task
Your daily task on earth is to answer the question, “Do you love Jesus?”
Answering YES! is to choose to delight God consciously.
Answering NO! is to sin (that is, to do the devil’s delight—the tempter, who tries his utmost best to make you choose NO!).
(John 15:10; Romans 8:35-39)
Wrapping It Up
Sin is rebellion against God’s commandment, which saddens Him and makes Him deny sinners eternal life in HIS dwelling.
The only way to eternal life is Jesus. And whoever loves Jesus overcomes every form of sin (John 14:23-24). Therefore, to live eternally with God, you must shun all sinful ways and walk perfectly in Christ Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and life.
Prayer Point
Father Lord, lead me to overcome every temptation that comes my way. Strengthen me to obey all of your commands. And give me your wisdom to overcome all the devil’s deceits. Amen.
Footnotes
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Sin is committed against an authority. ↩
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Satan had one known position in heaven before Michael and his angels cast him down to the earth: he was an “accuser” of the righteous. Revelation 12:10 ↩
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God made man in His image but not Him. ↩
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God-like means God has given man a replica of His attributes (authority, creativity, power, dominion, love, mercy, and passion). The problem is that man wants to be God. Man wants to have the same authority, creativity, power, and dominion of God. ↩