Romans 8.12-13
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors,
not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death
the deeds of the body, you will live.
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Why is it so important to have my blindness and numbness in sin exposed? The answer to this question is quite blunt: if it doesn’t become exposed, it will kill me. Sin cannot be tamed; it can’t be kept in a dark corner of my heart. The devil’s desire is to kill and destroy like a lion looking for its next meal to devour (John 10.10, 1 Peter 5.8). My sin will never be satisfied in its current state; it wants more (Proverbs 27.20), and it will fight to get it (1 Peter 2.11).
Be killing sin,
or sin will be killing you.
-John Owen
But this can’t be done just by me “trying harder” or “doing better.” This is a spiritual battle, not a battle of my flesh’s own willpower. When my life is improved by my own strength or my own self-discipline and morals, all that happens is that my own self-righteousness gets glory, and my heart is puffed up with pride. I’m fighting a spiritual battle with physical strength and fortitude.
Killing sin by self-strength,
carried on by ways of
self-invention,
leading to a self-righteousness,
is the soul and substance
of all false religion in the world.
-John Owen
I need the Spirit to help me wield the weapons of warfare that He has given me (1 Corinthians 10.3-6). He has given me the Sword of the Spirit, which is His Word that contains the great and many Gospel promises that I fight with, to fight against the promises of the flesh, against my own heart that deceives me, and against the negative, condemning thoughts that I must take captive and punish with truth.
The Gospel must go to work in me not simply to change my behavior, but to change my very heart and mind (James 4.8) in order to produce new desires (Psalm 37.4) that would result in a changed life. I must be made new and be transformed, and that is something I can’t do in my own power. I need my sin killed, not tamed.
What lurking sin have I been ignoring or fighting on my own? What must I do to fight it with the spiritual weapons God has given me? I thank God that it is His power that is at work in me and that He has already given me all I need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1.3).
Read Again Out Loud and Make it into a Prayer:
Romans 8.12-13
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Personalize and Read or Pray Aloud:
Psalm 84.1–12
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, at your altars,
O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!
Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
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Pray Aloud:
Matthew 6.9–13
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
