Selected Scriptures: How to Overcome by Faith

"Faith is...the means, the instrument, the spiritual armor and artillery by which we overcome." - Matthew Henry

Although we in previous devotionals have already discussed what it looks like to overcome our sin by faith, I desire to turn to this topic again this morning because it is so important. Many Christians believe that fighting their sin is complex and that we need a bible scholar to come up with some kind of simplified "5-step" formula in order to gain any ground. However, the Bible argues otherwise as it tells us that there's only one step to overcoming our sin: faith. Let us see how faith can help us battle sinful temptation this morning, and in the end give us victory over it.

Faith makes God's commands easy. 1 John 5:3-4 tells us that "his commandments are not burdensome. . . . And this is how we overcome the world: by faith." We have looked at this already in a previous devotional, so I will keep this portion brief. But nonetheless, we must remember the foundation of how faith helps us: it makes God's commands not burdensome. Faith allows us to overcome the world and its temptations. As the quote by Matthew Henry says above, faith is the "spiritual armor and artillery by which we overcome." But how is this so?

Faith makes God's commands easy because faith enables us to believe in a greater pleasure. Hebrews 11:24-26 tells us this:

"By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward."

This is truly one of my favorite verses in all of scripture because it shows us what faith does. Faith gives us the conviction of the unseen (Hebrews 11:1) that God's pleasures are greater than the pleasures of this world. Although this world is enticing, by faith we can trust that God has a better reward for us, both on earth as he rewards our obedience and brings it to its natural end (see Proverbs 3:5-8) and in heaven when we will be with him forever in the fullness of pleasure. We overcome sin by faith because it promises a greater reward.

Faith makes God's commands easy because faith guards our hearts. Ephesians 6:16 tells us that the "shield of faith" enables us to "extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one." The shields that were used in the time Paul was writing these words were much different than the shields we might think of. The shields people used back then were full-body sheilds. Thus, if you were using one, you couldn't see what was in front of you. Paul, writing these words, knows this, and purposely chooses the shield to represent faith because both a body-size shield and faith lead you to believe in something that you cannot see. A body-size shield protects you from flaming darts (even though you cannot see when the darts are coming at you or how your shield is defending them) and faith protects you from the temptations of the devil (even though you cannot physically see the pleasure of God that awaits for you as you fight temptation). Faith makes God's commands easy because it guards our hearts by causing us to believe without seeing the pleasures of God that await for us when we obey. For "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God" (Proverbs 20:7).

Surely there are many more ways in which faith helps us overcome our sin, but these are three for you this morning. So, how are you fighting sin? Are you failing at it because you don't know how to fight it? I encourage you: have faith. God is better than your sin, even though you might not be able to see it right now (see Hebrews 11:1). Amen.