What I believe about victory over sin

I believe that victory over sin is possible. I believe that the power of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, can produce in me the same victorious life that Christ lived. And I believe that there will be a people (the 144,000) to whom God will be able to say, “he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. 

I believe that “[we] must, through faith in Christ, overcome sin.” {YI August 18, 1886 Par. 2}. I believe that “Christ made it possible that every child of Adam might, through a life of obedience, overcome sin….” {HP 44.3}. I believe that “By faith we may conform our lives to the standard of righteousness, because we can appropriate to ourselves the righteousness of Christ.” {FW 97.1}.I believe that “The experimental knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent, transforms man into the image of God. It gives to man the mastery of himself, bringing every impulse and passion of the lower nature under the control of the higher powers of the mind.” {COL 114.2}. I believe that “We are to cling to Jesus and receive from Him by faith the perfection of His own character.” {HLv 453.3}. I believe that “Jesus died to save His people from their sins, and redemption in Christ means to cease the transgression of the law of God and to be free from every sin….” {FW 95.1}. 

I believe that “Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation…Christ declared of Himself: “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble. It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through faith in the atoning blood of Christ.” {GC 623}. 

I believe that the 144,000, when they are in a condition where God will be able to say, “he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11) will not know that they are in that condition. I believe that anyone who thinks that they are living a perfect life apart from faith in the merits and life of Christ in the moment are deceived and in great danger. 

As mentioned above, I do not believe sinful nature is found in chemistry. While the Bible talks about sinful nature in terms of “flesh,” I do not believe it is about our bodies. It is about our minds. It is not about chemicals or hormones at its foundation. It is about identity, belief, conviction, perspective, etc. 

How is victory over sin possible? It is possible only by the grace of God. It is Christ that lived a perfect life. It is Christ that never had a wrong thought, word, action, reaction, influence, etc. It is Christ that always did what He should have done and never did what He shouldn’t have done. It was Christ that, from conception, was connected to His Heavenly Father by trust, and by faith took what He needed from His Father. It was Christ that unselfishly lived for others. It was Christ that lived by taking from the only Source and giving to others. It was Christ that, through His connection with His Father, lived a life completely in harmony with the law and will of His Father. It was Christ that, though Himself sinless, agreed to become sin for us (see 2 Corinthians 5:21, DA 755.1). It was Christ that suffered the effects of sin for each one of us. It was Christ that put our sin to death in Himself. It was Christ that resurrected the following Sunday morning. It was Christ that ascended into heaven to serve as our heavenly High Priest. It is Christ that intercedes on our behalf in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary now. And it is Christ that will soon return as a conquering King to take His redeemed children with Him to heaven. It is all of Christ and none of me. 

What have I done? I have tried and failed. I have rebelled. I have made mistakes. I have thought my way was better than God’s way. I have been proud, selfish, self-sufficient, self-righteous, arrogant, entitled, hypocritical, and many more things. I have completely misrepresented my God to those around me. When I look to myself, I have nothing to boast in. I have nothing to hope in. My life is a miserable failure. And I deserve nothing but the rightful effects of my life—extermination.

But God, in His great love, was not willing to leave me in the condition I was in. Christ came to be my Substitute and Surety. He came to take my life and make it His. He came to put it to death in Himself. And He came to live the life that meets all the requirements for eternal life, health, and everything I need. And God offers to me, by His grace, the gift of Christ—the gift of His life in exchange for my life. And God even gives me the means by which I can accept that gift—the faith needed to accept the offered grace. All I have to do is reach out and accept the gift for myself. 

As I can only have one life, when I accept the life of Christ, I must let go of my life. If I have had a long history of failures before, when I accept the life of Christ, I let go of that long history of failures and accept, in exchange, a life that never failed. If I have a history being a perpetrator (of hurting others by my words, actions, and reactions), when I accept the life of Christ, I let go of that history of being a perpetrator, and accept, in exchange, a life that never was a perpetrator. If I have a history of all kinds of abuse being done to me, and I have seen myself as the victim of what others have done to me, when I accept the life of Christ, I let go of that history of being the victim, and accept, in exchange, a life that never saw itself as the victim. If I have a history of having no power to resist evil, but much power to do the wrong, when I accept the life of Christ, I let go of that history of powerlessness, and accept, in exchange, a life of power. By faith in Christ, I accept the life of Christ, the history of Christ, the power of Christ, the nature of Christ—everything of Christ—as my own. And I give up everything my life had been. 

Now, I live by His life, not mine. Now, I live by His nature, not mine. Now, I live by His power, not mine. Now, 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. I have full and free access to the Holy Spirit, who is working with me moment by moment. I have full access to the same power that caused Christ to live a perfect life—the same power that can bring about the same results in my life. 

While this is all true, it is also true that a baby learning to walk will fall many times in the process of learning to walk. And I, when I accept this exchange of Christ’s life for my life for the first time, am like a baby. I have now stood up for the first time. It is wonderful. It can be exhilarating. It is empowering. But it often only lasts for a period of time. And then I fall. 

When I fall, I’m back into being the victim, the perpetrator, the one who doesn’t have power, the failure, the self-sufficient and self-righteous one, etc. When that happens, what do I do? I go right back to the cross. I, by faith, accept the grace (the gift of Christ) that is still offered to me freely, and when I do, I am now standing again. A child doesn’t have to figure out 1,000,000 ways to get up when it falls. It only has to figure out 1 way to get up and then repeat it as many times as is necessary. The grace of God gives me the freedom to fall as many times as is necessary in the process of learning to walk. 

This doesn’t mean that I take license to sin. No! I love the One who took my place and gave me His place. I love the One who took my sin so I could have His righteousness. I love the One who is there to encourage and help me up every time I fall. I love the One who doesn’t punish me when I fall, but encourages me to get back up. I love the One who loves me. And that love drives me to be like Him. I don’t live out of fear of punishment. I don’t live out of fear of how short time may be and how much growth is still needed in me. I trust in Him that His love for me will never fail. I trust that He has my best interests in mind. I trust that, as He allows me to go through various and painful tests and trials and then gives me opportunity to see what was in my heart, He is doing so for my best good—to help me develop a character that will reflect His character under any and all circumstances. 

I see that it is His joy to form me into a precious jewel for His kingdom, and I want to be that precious jewel. So, as the pressure gets greater, and the heat gets hotter, I don’t complain and fight against His providence. I submit to what He allows, knowing that the heat and pressure are necessary to transform my deformed character of coal into the clear, pure, unmovable character of a diamond that reflects my Savior’s beauty.

While, at the moment, I see many defects in my character that I do not like, but that I seem to have so little power currently to overcome, I have faith that He can do for me what I cannot do for myself. I believe that when He says there will be a people who will stand righteous still and holy still, that He is able to do that for me. And it is my intention to cooperate with Him in that process, so that my life may reflect the life of Christ under any and all circumstances and situations. 

I know that if I stand with Christ in the last days, it will be as Christ stood in His day. When He was reviled, He reviled not. When He was accused, He did not accuse in return. When He was treated in the worst imaginable way, He only responded with love for those who treated Him so. And I know that if I will stand through the trials to come, I must stand in the same way, by His grace. 

If I live in Christ and He lives in me, then I will not revile when I am reviled. I will not accuse when I am accused. I will not respond with anger when I am treated with injustice. I will not be frustrated because others treat me poorly. When others slander and gossip, I will not slander and gossip. But I will love all people under all circumstances with God’s love, for He is my source. I take all I need from Him. I am filled with what God has given. And all that can come out of me is what came from God. So, no matter how I am treated, I will respond only with the love of God, just like Jesus. This I believe. 

I don’t believe it because I live it in my life now. I believe it because I believe in the power of His word. I believe it because He who promised cannot lie. Yes, I see Him transforming my life now, and I believe the transformation process will come to a certain point of completion before He returns. I believe that one day, by His grace, I will have committed my last sin, made my last rebellion, for the last time I will have seen my way as better than His way, and the last delusion that causes me to sin will be replaced with the truth. And nothing that can be done to me, no pressure that I can be put under, no enticement, no inducement, no temptation, no torture, etc., will be able to undo what, by the grace of God, has been done in transforming my life into the likeness of Christ’s life.

And that reality, lived out in my life, will be proof to the watching universe that God’s plan of salvation is able to restore rebellious sinners to perfect conformity to God’s will, that God’s grace can transform one who would eagerly crucify Christ into one who would rather be tortured and die than misrepresent Him to others. His plan of salvation can completely transform a traitor into a trustworthy ambassador of the Creator God. By grace, I intend to “follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” Revelation 14:4.“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. 

Mark Sandoval