Articles
Focusing On Sin
Coming to Christ brings a change of mind. We used to say “no” to God and “yes” to Satan, but now we say “yes” to God and “no” to Satan. In our repentance, Satan considers us lost but he doesn’t give up easily. When Jesus withstood him, the Bible says, “he departed for a season.” But Satan would be back, and he’d be back with a vengeance.
Consider how Satan accomplishes his victories. It’s known that Christians disdain sin. In one of the imprecatory Psalms, David wrote, “I hate them that hate YOU.” (Psalm 139:21) So, if we hate sin and Satan knows it, how will he entice us once again?
Think about it. We spend so much time talking about sin and focusing on sin. We talk about how dark sin is. We speak of the horror of hell. If Satan can control our thinking by keeping our focus on sin, hasn’t he accomplished his task? Satan will say, “Go ahead and go to church. Sit in your pew. Pray. Sing. Take the Lord’s Supper. Listen to how ferocious I am. When you leave that church building and go out on Monday, don’t forget to think about how you need to overcome sin.” Yes, knowing our adversary and his devices is very important, but if he is all we focus on, we have lost. It is more passive and unintentional, but lost nonetheless.
To fight Satan and take our eyes off of him, we must focus on someone else. That someone must be greater and more powerful than Satan himself. The one who receives our focus must have something to offer. Good news! That person is Jesus Christ. Paul will say it this way: “I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to flesh, but according to Spirit.…For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,” (Romans 7:25-8:1,6, NKJV).
Our minds are changed, and our focus is on Jesus Christ. The word produces a spiritual mind so that the mind of the flesh no longer has our attention. Walking by the Spirit does not have us focus on sin and Satan, but rather on the One who provided the ability to change our thinking, Jesus Christ.
Pursuing a spiritual mind will allow us to overcome any thought of sin because we are so focused on walking by the Spirit. In coming to Christ we not only change our will, but He enables us to think about things that are spiritual. When we’re walking with God, Satan’s traps will be apparent, but so will the escape provided by God.
So, while we acknowledge Satan and sin, let’s stay focused on walking with the Spirit and being spiritually-minded. There we find true peace and freedom!
Rickie Jenkins
