The Path to Victory Over Conscious Sin

✝️ The Path to Victory Over Conscious Sin

🎯 Acknowledge the Possibility of Victory

It is possible to live a life of constant victory over conscious sin. The failure and fall should become so rare that it is almost eliminated. However, this victory will only come if you take the necessary first steps.

💡 Step 1: Honest Acknowledgment and Radical in Taking Blame

The primary obstacle preventing many people from achieving victory is a failure to honestly acknowledge their own sin and failure.

• Own 100% of Your Sin:
You must be absolutely honest about your sin and never blame anyone else. If you continue blaming others, you will never get victory.

• Reject Excuses:
You must not use excuses like, “he provoked me.” Others' provocation is allowed by God to test whether you possess the life in Christ that you boast about. Jesus was provoked many times but never sinned. Excusing sin by blaming others is likened to the behavior of four-year-old children.

• Confess Your Own Sin:
To blame others is to confess somebody else's sin, which the Bible does not tell us to do. Even if 90% of the blame is someone else's, forget it; you must take that remaining percentage and confess what is wrong in you.

• Maintain a Clear Conscience:
Having a clear conscience provides peace with God. This clear conscience is achieved by being absolutely honest about your sin and avoiding the blaming of others.

💡 Step 2: Call Sin by Its Worst Possible Name

To get victory, you must deal radically with sin by calling it the dirtiest, filthiest, wickedest name you can ever call it.

• Anger is Murder:
When you get angry with your spouse, you should confess, “Lord, I murdered my wife today; I stabbed her,” or “I took a dagger and dug it into her heart with those words.” Jesus taught that anger is equivalent to murder.

• Lust is Adultery:
If you look at a lust-provoking picture or click on internet pornography, you must confess, “Lord, I had adultery with that woman,” or “Here I go sleeping around with some woman.” You should not minimize it by saying, “Ah, I just slipped up.” Jesus said that lusting with your eyes is the same as committing adultery.

• See Sin as a Violation:
Every sin is big before God because it is a disobedience to Almighty God. It is a violation of God’s law, doing something contrary to Him, and slapping God in the face.

• See Sin as Crucifixion:
You must see your sin (like anger or lusting after a woman) as nailing Jesus to the cross.
If you think a sin (like anger or lusting) is small, you will never get victory over it, even if you live to be 90 years old.

💡 Step 3: Seek Cleansing and Believe

After honestly confessing your sin and calling it by the worst possible name, you must focus on God’s grace.

• Ask for Cleansing:
Ask Jesus to cleanse you in His blood. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

• Believe in the Power of the Blood:
Believe that the power of Christ's blood is greater than the sin you committed. You must believe that you are cleansed and that Christ died on the cross specifically for your sin.

💡 Step 4: Stand Firm Against Doubt (The Devil's Tactic)

Once you have confessed and not blamed others, the devil’s next tactic is to try and get you to doubt whether God has truly forgiven you.

• Rebuke the Devil:
You must use the word of your testimony to tell the devil, “The blood of Jesus has cleansed me, I’m clean, and God doesn’t remember my sin anymore.”

• Be Bold:
You must humble yourself utterly before God when confessing, but then be bold before the devil and have confidence before God. If the devil reminds you that you got angry, you should respond that you confessed that “murder” to God, and the blood of Jesus cleansed you from it.

• Walk in Peace:
This process establishes peace with God, allowing you to stand before God with boldness and look Him straight in the face, knowing you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and thoroughly cleansed.

The Path to Victory Over Conscious Sin - Zac Poonen