How to Overcome Sin, Part 2
So, again, based on Who Jesus is in His own Person, you can be encouraged that there is a way to overcome sin in your life! It won’t happen apart from Jesus but, because of who Jesus is and who you are in him, it will happen, and has happened!
But, what about overcoming sin in the HERE and NOW? Is that possible? Is my only hope for overcoming some of my gross sins only a future hope and not a present one? I’d like to get rid of some of my bad thinking and bad habits now! Is there any PRESENT HOPE for seeing sin overcome in my life?
And the answer as revealed in the Person of Jesus is “YES!!!” And the reason such a wonderful statement can be made is not only because Jesus resisted our broken humanity while in it, but that after His Resurrection, the Holy Spirit of God the Trinity was sent to all flesh as the Spirit of Christ! Acts 2:17, John 14:16-20!
Wowsa!! Do you get that???! To embrace that humanity has been embraced by God in the Humanity of Christ, and to embrace that when Jesus died, we died, and when he rose, we rose, 2 Cor 5:14-15, and to embrace that the Holy Spirit was sent to us in our present brokenness, MUST mean real grace from the Father to live as Jesus lived, STARTING NOW!
Now we can see why the New Testament speaks at all of the levels of overcoming sin that it does! At the most basic level, despite our repeated transgressions and sins, we see fundamentally that we overcome sin by remembering Who Jesus is and Who he is as the Vicarious Man standing in for each of us! That is, when we are tempted to think we don’t belong to the Father because of wrong thoughts and deeds, we overcome this sin by participating with Jesus by the Spirit in remembering who we REALLY are in Jesus despite those sins! John 16:33, 2 Cor 5:17-19, 1 John 2:1-2, 3:9, Romans 8:1!
On another level, Jesus and the New Testament claim that because the Real Holy Spirit of God the Trinity was sent to us as the Spirit of Christ, we can REALLY obey the Father not only in thought, but in Jesus’ Words and Deeds! Rom. 6:12-14, Titus 2:12, I John 3:18-22 and virtually every epistle of Paul, especially in the 2nd half of each letter AFTER the Gospel of our Adoption and Inclusion in Jesus has been proclaimed!
Finally, there is a sense in which we will only see sin entirely overcome in our personal and distinct selves in our Adoption and Union with Jesus, only when we have put off these mortal bodies! Rom. 8:18-30, 1 Cor 15!
These are the three levels in which you can see sin Truly Overcome in your life in the Reality and Power of Jesus’ Resurrection!!! Happy Easter and Resurrection Season to You!
~ Timothy Brassell
Trinity and Humanity 
great post. because of this and recent conversations with you, i have really enjoyed deciding to participate more with Jesus and his life of doing good. i realize that im not good no, but He that lives in me is good and i can do good because of the Holy Spirit carrying on Jesus’ work, in and through me. i see why we really need to think on things above, and not solely on things below. some of the reason is, because most of our actions follow our thoughts, so if we are thinking wrong, what happens next. it is so easy to go off thinking about what we dont have, or how others are doing this to us or that to us, or the things we could do if. we need to use that energy and fight to renew our minds on God’s truths. i realize too that the more we gather with people of gospel minds, the less we will think on things below. so keep up the great post we need them. thanks