Seven Reasons Why Victory Over Sin Is Possible: Even If We Still Have a Fallen Nature
1. Jesus is Faithful
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
—1 Corinthians 10:13
Now their (Israelites’) experiences serve as examples for us so that we won’t set our hearts on evil as they did. Let’s stop being idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to play.”
—1 Corinthians 10:6, 7 (ISV)
Let’s stop sinning sexually, as some of them were doing, and on a single day 23,000 fell dead. Let’s stop putting the Lord to the test, as some of them were doing, and were destroyed by snakes. You must stop complaining, as some of them were doing, and were annihilated by the destroyer.
—1 Corinthians 10:8–10 (ISV)
Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing securely should watch out so he doesn’t fall.
—1 Corinthians 10:12 (ISV)
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
—1 Corinthians 10:13
Our heavenly Father measures and weighs every trial before he permits it to come upon the believer. He considers the circumstances and the strength of the one who is to stand under the proving and test of God, and He never permits the temptations to be greater than the capacity of resistance.
—Ellen G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials (Silver Spring, MD: Ellen G. White Estate, 1987), 491.
2. Jesus has Promised
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
—2 Peter 1:4
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
—1 Corinthians 10:13
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
—Romans 8:37
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
—2 Corinthians 2:14
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
—1 John 3:6
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
—1 John 5:4
Satan assailed Christ with his fiercest and most subtle temptations, but he was repulsed in every conflict. Those battles were fought in our behalf; those victories make it possible for us to conquer. Christ will give strength to all who seek it. No man without his own consent can be overcome by Satan. The tempter has no power to control the will or to force the soul to sin. He may distress, but he cannot contaminate. He can cause agony, but not defilement. The fact that Christ has conquered should inspire His followers with courage to fight manfully the battle against sin and Satan.
—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911), 510.
3. Jesus gives Freedom
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
—John 8:34, 35
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
—John 8:36
If the soul is overborne, the person overpowered, this can never be charged to God, as failing to give strength in grace, but the one tempted was not vigilant and prayerful and did not appropriate by faith the provisions God had abundantly in store for him.
—Ellen G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials (Silver Spring, MD: Ellen G. White Estate, 1987), 491.
Christ never failed a believer in his hour of combat. The believer must claim the promise and meet the foe in the name of the Lord, and he will not know anything like failure.
—Ellen G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials (Silver Spring, MD: Ellen G. White Estate, 1987), 491.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
—Romans 6:14
Consequently, brothers, we are not—with respect to human nature, that is—under an obligation to live according to human nature.
—Romans 8:12 (ISV)
Those who put their trust in Christ are not to be enslaved by any hereditary or cultivated habit or tendency. Instead of being held in bondage to the lower nature, they are to rule every appetite and passion. God has not left us to battle with evil in our own finite strength. Whatever may be our inherited or cultivated tendencies to wrong, we can overcome through the power that He is ready to impart.
—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1905), 175.
4. Jesus Empowers
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
—John 1:12
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
—Philippians 2:15
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
—Romans 8:14
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
—Hebrews 10:15, 16
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
—Psalms 40:8
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
—Psalms 119:11
5. Jesus Dwells Within Us
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
—John 14:17
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
—Galatians 2:20
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
—Philippians 2:13–15
6. Jesus Equips Us
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
—Ephesians 6:10
7. Jesus Renews Us
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
—2 Corinthians 5:17
Through the grace of Christ we may accomplish everything that God requires. All the riches of heaven are to be revealed through God’s people. The mighty power of the Holy Spirit works an entire transformation in the character of the human agent, making him a new creature in Christ Jesus.
Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Oakland, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), 514.
This new life in the Spirit is the transforming gift of God. Through divine grace, we who are “dead in trespasses and sins” become victorious (Ephesians 2:1, 3, 8–10). The spiritual rebirth so transforms the life (John 1:13; 3:5) that we can speak of a new creation—the “old things have passed away” and “all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). The new life, however, does not exclude the possibility of sinning (1 John 2:1).
—Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Seventh-day Adventists Believe: A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines, 3rd ed. (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2018), 104.
Jesus does not change the character at His coming. The work of transformation must be done now. Our daily lives are determining our destiny. Defects of character must be repented of and overcome through the grace of Christ, and a symmetrical character must be formed while in this probationary state, that we may be fitted for the mansions above.
—Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 13 (Silver Spring, MD: Ellen G. White Estate, 1993), 82.
Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.
—Romans 12:2 (ISV)
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
—Ephesians 4:22–24
The Christian is not to retain his sinful habits, and cherish his defects of character; but he is to be renewed in the spirit of his mind after the divine similitude. Whatever may be the nature of your defects, the Spirit of the Lord will enable you to discern them, and grace will be given you whereby they may be overcome. Through the merits of the blood of Christ, you may be a conqueror,—yes, more than a conqueror.
—Ellen G. White, “Words to the Young,” The Youth’s Instructor, June 7, 1894, 4.
CONCLUSION
Through Christ we are justified, adopted as God’s sons and daughters, and delivered from the lordship of sin. Through the Spirit we are born again and sanctified; the Spirit renews our minds, writes God’s law of love in our hearts, and we are given the power to live a holy life.
—Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Seventh-day Adventists Believe: A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines, 3rd ed., (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2018), 135.
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
—Jude 24, 25