"The battle is the LORD's," (cf. 2 Chron. 20:15).
HOW'S THE BATTLE? We are engaged in great angelic conflict in which we have no chance of coming clean without God's help using the military armor of God. We sin over and over again to be forgiven over and over again, sometimes for the same old sins (we certainly don't want new ones to worry about). Sin is like the smoking habit: it enslaves us and alienates us from others. People don't accept smokers as being "good" or polite company, especially when they light up without permission or even in your face. Cigarettes can become a god or crutch just like our bellies!
"People are enslaved by whatever defeats them," (cf. 2 Peter 2:19, HCSB). [Smokes!] Alcohol can be a god but people can become addicted for life as a crutch because they haven't learned to lean on God and trust in Him in times of need, knowing "the central neurosis of man is emptiness"--Carl Gustaf Jung. They need therapy! NB: "You belong to the power you choose to obey," (Rom. 6:16, HCSB). We are bad, but not too bad to be saved!
That's why the first step in recovery is admitting slavery; that you cannot overcome it by yourself and need a "higher power," or a buddy. It wants to destroy us but we must not let it (cf. Gen. 4:7). Most men look for some outlet to let off steam, whether in escapism or in fantasies. They won't admit they "cannot see clearly," or they are clueless. Drugs seem to offer temporary solutions/fixes but the long-term effects aren't worth it and make one worse off. We must realize how bad we are to be good, and we don't realize how bad we are till we've tried to be good (a catch-22).
We must realize that our lives our not our own and God has first dibs on our bodies because He owns them. In God's economy, we must surrender daily; it's not a one-time event done at salvation, but a progressive one never to end. We are to be continually filled with the Spirit (cf. Eph. 5:18) to live the Christian life, not just have the filling we all received upon salvation as evidence of our initiation into the body of Christ.
When we get saved, we engage in the mop-up effort to defeat Satan, who's already doomed because of Christ's victory at the cross. We cannot do this alone but need the body of Christ and must not become solitary saints thinking we can defeat the enemy on our own. This battle is a joint effort of the body of Christ where everyone has a ministry and mission to complete in God's plan for their lives. That's where the ministry of the local church comes in to equip the saints. Hezekiah felt overwhelmed by his enemies and was reassured that the battle is the Lord's (cf. 2 Chron. 20:15)! God is on our side, He is fighting for us, and He is using us!
The good thing about our so-called slavery to sin is that where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more, as John Bunyan wrote, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, to describe his testimony and his self-estimation. We must also realize God's grace is not only necessary for us for but we can do nothing without it, but that it's sufficient--we cannot merit it nor add to it nor subtract from it. Grace means that you don't deserve it!
We don't believe in Jesus and try to be good! We're a new creation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). We don't try, we trust because it must be Christ who changes us, not us turning over a new leaf or making a New Year's resolution, or an AA pledge. God's grace to us is infinite and we cannot exhaust it, He never gives up on us but we can give up on Him! We are the ultimate works in progress that God isn't finished with yet (cf. Phil. 1:6).
We all have failed the Lord and must realize that we can come clean by confessing our known sins, keeping a short account with God (cf. 1 John 1:9). Prov. 28:13 says that if we confess and forsake them we shall find mercy and if we hide them we will not prosper! But if we have unconfessed sin our prayers are hindered and blocked due to us being out of fellowship and in need of restoration or reconciliation (cf. Psa. 66:18; Isa. 59:2). We are to examine ourselves periodically for the sake of fellowship with the body of Christ at least during the Lord's Supper celebration (cf. 1 Cor. 11:28) and we should always examine our hearts to see if it's really Christ living there (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).
We must be in awe of God's economy because the way to be filled is first to be emptied! The more readily we confess, the easier filled. As we get closer to God, the more we see our flaws and shortcomings, especially "laying aside every weight, and the sin which easily besets us" (cf. Heb. 12:1, KJV). "Love covers a multitude of sins" (cf. 1 Pet. 4:8, HCSB). NB: But "the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." --Henry David Thoreau
All in all, we must give God some credit for delivering us from ourselves, for we are our own worst enemy. It's not just you and I, that's the way it is and ought to be--to rely on God--we don't try, we trust! In summation, the way to change our lives is by full surrender and to have a change of heart, (will, attitude, and understanding of our sins)--renouncing them and coming clean. Soli Deo Gloria!
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