A Call to Men: Seven Weeks for Fighting Sin
September 22, 2009
“Hi, my name is Chris, and I’m a redeemed sinner.”
“Hi, Chris.”
As unlikely as it sounds, this was an actual interchange I had during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I was there to plug a Bible study I was leading at the recovery center, and heard man after man preface his comments with “My name is _____ and I am a recovering alcoholic.” I prayed for grace to know how to honestly preface my announcement, and I believe God led me to these two words that describe who I am: “redeemed” and “sinner.”
We must be cautious with this language of defining ourselves as sinners, because God does not define us any more as sinners. We are sons and daughters. We are saints. We are in Christ. New creation is the reality that has broken into our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. We belong to God forever.
Yet our identity is more nuanced than that. There is a gap between who we are in Christ and the degree to which our actions, words, and heart inclinations reflect that reality. Otherwise most of the New Testament would not be necessary. Paul could have simply told the Colossians, “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). But the apostle had to continue on to say, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5).
In other words, when Paul tells us that we have been set free from sin, he does not mean that the fight is over, but that we can now fight sin and be victorious! Because Christ has defeated sin for us at the cross, we can now, by the Spirit’s power, “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13).
While this is a message for every believer, I address this in particular to the men. We are going to spend seven weeks this fall addressing the issue of fighting sin in our lives. We will do this by studying one of the greatest works written on this topic, “The Mortification of Sin” by the great Puritan, John Owen. Yet we meet not to study man’s words but to allow this elder brother (quite elder; he died in 1683) to take us to God’s word and find in the gospel the resources for addressing the remaining sin in our lives.
Men, I challenge you: give yourself to this study for seven weeks, that we might grow together in what it means to fight sin. Let us band together for the sake of pursuing greater joy in Christ and walking in the freedom that is ours in the gospel. Let us not pretend that we do not struggle with sin but let us go on the offensive together since Christ has already won the victory for us.
God willing we will have a Saturday morning group that meets from October 3rd through November 21st (we will miss one Saturday for the Fall Men’s Retreat). If there is enough interest, we can have other groups throughout the week. Please e-mail me at chris@whittonavenue.org to let me know if you can make the Saturday morning group, and if not, when you could meet.
May Christ be honored in our church as we pursue deepening delight in him!
Pastor Chris