No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.** 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)**
Any advance in sin will blind our soul from seeing God’s best for our lives. It is a slow drift from God causing us to become indifferent to His will and His ways. It is always a drift down – never up (no matter what the world may tout). A drift from God is never a good thing and sin breaks our relationship with Him. God never winks at sin as it is active and is continually seducing and tempting us away from God’s best for our lives. If we play with fire we will get burned. When sin progresses in a life, it is always a drift down - and never satisfies the soul – continuing to go further still in the wrong direction unless it is stopped in its tracks. It can take our breath away how far we can fall unless quenched. Do not be blinded by it. And no one is immune – even the so-called “greatest” saints. We must be on our guard over our own lives and be vigilant in this honorable task. As John Owen wrote: “Always be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Sin decays and never renews nor restores. It is not our friend, to say the very least. And Jesus, well, He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother.
On the contrary, God desires for us to become more and more like our Older Brother Jesus. Paul writes in Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV): “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God.” Our desire is to be walking in a manner worthy of the Lord Jesus – pleasing Him in all we say and do and think. And in pleasing Him, we please ourselves. It is the abundant life that Jesus died to give us. And it is always for our benefit – no matter what the world screams. As Paul again writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV): Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” This can be easier said than done yet through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we become more than conquerors.
Every sin will both weaken the soul and deprive it of its power. It entangles our affections and diverts us from communion with God. God is serious about sin, for our own good, as it deprives us of both comfort and peace and breaks communion with Him. Grace does not thrive and flourish when sin is at the helm of a life.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:5-10 (NIV)