# Battle Against Sin ## Background - On 2025.10.20, E (@ElijahSchaffer) wrote: - What did you do to start finding victory over your vices / carnal appetites? I am barely beginning to follow God, but I am quite insubordinate Was it more of a slowly learned discipline or did you change your lifestyle abruptly? Seems more difficult in practice,but possible - I replied with the following on the same day ## My Reply The battle to which you refer is a life-long process. Hopefully, there will be victories mixed in among the failures; and there will be lots of failures! No one, other than Jesus will live their life without sin. To think otherwise is pride and rebellion. All of us need His blood & death as well as His Father's power of resurrection. The Bible tells us in several places that we are to "be holy" just as God is holy. (Leviticus 11.44-45, 19.2, & 20.7 and 1 Peter 1.15-16). Despite the command, there is no way any of us will ever be holy except through Jesus' blood. So really, the battle is the pursuit of holiness, through Jesus! He commanded us to persevere & hold fast (Revelation 3.10-11). Jesus also said we should "ask", "seek" & knock. I think the ask, seek & knock thing is about a journey / pilgrimage of getting to know the creator of the universe, to know Him who is from the beginning (1 John 2.12-14). Then, the more we know Him, the more we will love Him. This brings us back to the question, overcoming sin. Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments {John 14.15 (BSB)}. It's not possible to love someone we don't know. To love God requires knowing Him. Although we will never fully know Him, it is through the pursuit of Him that we will fall in love with Him. Jesus promised to those who "overcome," He will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it (Revelation 3.12 (BSB)). There is nothing, absolutely nothing better than spending eternity in close proximity to God!!! Paul gave us some tips on how to overcome and persevere. He told us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power to put on the full armor of God, so that we can make our stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6.10-20) I'll end this diatribe here. Please know, there is more and at the right time, the Holy Spirit will teach you the things you need. The tl;dr: - Rest in the blood of Jesus; be completely dependent on it to gain access to God - Pursue knowing God with everything you have - As you get to know God, love Him with everything you have - Stand fast, clothed in the full armor of God - Persevere to the end - Receive your reward from Jesus Let me know if you would like help with your pilgrimage. I never charge for mentorship (Matthew 10.8). However, I always tell my potential mentees, "to fully obey God will cost you everything!" I'd love to hear your thoughts.