As a believer, how can I stop sinning repeatedly?

The more you try by your own effort at obeying the law in order to curb sin, the more sin will multiply. We see why in Romans 6:14— “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.”

The more you try to obey the law (stop sinning) by human effort, the stronger the grip of sin, but this is taught in reverse in many places of worship.

In a way, I see this verse - Romans 6:14 - play out in my kids’ lives during every school holiday. No PS4 on school nights (law) and they act like I’m cutting off their limbs. It's all they want to do. If I wasn’t there to restrict them from playing, that's all they would do all day. The holidays arrive and they can play for as long as they like without the threat of punishment or consequences (grace.) There's a playing frenzy for the first few days of this grace period. The frenzy fizzles out and then, somehow, they don't go near their game consoles for days on end.

Many who are struggling with sins and addictions go to church looking for salvation but get burdened with more laws to keep and things to do by human effort, based on the knowledge of good and evil. They are told in church that doing these things will make them godly (be like God.) Same strategy Satan used with Eve when he deceived her into eating of the tree of the same name - the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a picture of the law that many are trying to keep in order to become godly (be like God). See this in Paul's typology - the law as the forbidden fruit - in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG) -

"The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me.Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong.

Satan is still seducing people through his ministers behind many pulpits today by deceiving many into thinking that they can be godly by human effort at keeping the law and doing certain things that involve human effort. It seemed good to Eve, as it seems good to many in the church today. But the end is death. The letter kills. We can do nothing without Christ, least of all be godly, but these "men of God" deny God's power in making the sinner who believes righteous through Christ. The result of feeding on the law is still the same as it was in the time of Adam and Eve - Death. Sin has dominion.

Just like my kids who lost interest in their PS4 game when they had grace to play without threat of punishment, "Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it."

Remove condemnation and sin will lose its grip over the sinner. In Christ, there is no condemnation for the believer. Romans 8:1 says:

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Think about this verse. Why would God tell you that there is no condemnation for you who are in Christ if you have not sinned? This gift of no condemnation is for people that have sins and believe that Christ paid the price for their sins. Also notice that Romans 8:1 begins with “Therefore.” It is the outcome of something in chapter 7:

21 “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” End of Romans 7. Chapter 8 opens with:

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

It is Christ's “Neither do I condemn you” that makes us “go and sin no more.” Christ saves from sins. My video game analogy does not even compare to how we are saved from our sins by Christ of whom it is written in Matthew 1:21-

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Many people are worried about the issue of sins and living a life of moral excellence. This is the beauty of being in Christ. The Holy Spirit transforms us from within so much that what is on the outside cannot but align with what is inside.

Understand what makes a person a sinner; we see this in Romans 5:19—

“By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.”

Committing acts of sin is not what makes a person a sinner. People are made sinners by Adam's disobedience. Likewise, we are made righteous by Christ's obedience and not our puny efforts at obeying the law. The one with the sinful nature does not believe that he has been made righteous by Christ's obedience. He is not a newcreation in Christ. He has the sin (old) nature. He is trying to stop sinning/obey the law by his own power in order to be godly (be like God.)

This sinful nature inherited from Adam, when activated by the law that many are trying so hard to obey in a bid to be godly, is what causes sin to flourish. See Romans 7:5–

“When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.”

The law that many try to keep in a bid to be godly causes them to sin more. Christ died to rid us of this sinful nature that was inherited from Adam. See Colossians 2:13-

"When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature."

This is what happens when the sinner rests in God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ and is no longer trying to obey the law in order to be godly:

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.”

Imagine a maggot-infested pot (the sinner without God's gift of righteousness through Christ) with a dead rat in it (sinful nature inherited from Adam), with maggots breeding inside and crawling all over the outside of the pot (sin manifested), attracting flies and all sorts (lack, sickness, disease, etc.)

What our Saviour Jesus did for all who believe is get rid of the dead rat- cut away the sinful nature according to Colossians 2 above and gave us His gift of righteousness. He continuously washes and fills us to overflowing with the water of the Word (of faith, not the law), all through no effort of ours but through His Spirit that dwells in us.

In place of the dead rat aka sin nature that can only produce maggots of acts of sin that attract flies of lack, sickness and death, we have His gift of Righteousness and constant supply of the Spirit that produces right-living according to God's will and attracts not flies but health, prosperity and abundant life.

Once the heart is believing right, your actions and behaviour will line up with the Spirit within. The maggots outside the pot (sin manifested) will vanish in His time, with none crawling out to replace them because the inside is pure and alive, not stagnant!

All these things shall be ADDED unto you. Not only will you Live Right by "accident" and not continue in sin with Christ as your righteousness, you will do exploits and be a blessing to others too. Your salvation will be evident for all to see, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." - Philippians 2:13.

ALL OF THESE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR PUNY EFFORTS AT TRYING TO LIVE RIGHT. CHRIST DOES IT ALL SO WE ARE UNABLE TO BOAST ABOUT OUR ABILITY TO STOP SINNING OR DEMAND THAT OTHERS DO SO BY THEIR OWN MIGHT AND POWER.

Many sinners want to stop sinning but what to do when you get tempted beyond what you can bear? No matter how much you tempt me to eat watermelon, I will not, unless you threaten me with harm:) But some people love watermelon. We all have different areas of weakness. Christ saves from all.

We look at some people and think they just want to wallow in fornication and adultery. Their weakness is not our weakness so we don't understand or know how hard they are struggling inside, trying hard to be obedient but failing. The reason they are failing is in Romans 6:14- "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace."

We look at some people and think they should at least be able to abstain from doing certain "simple" things like watching pornography, just because we can do these things. Their weakness is not our weakness. We see a man in a wheelchair and understand why he cannot run a marathon but we wonder why a person that has legs is not running and chide him for his inability to run because of our inability to see that he is crippled inside.

The truth is the reason we are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. Peter is a fine example of trying to not sin by human effort after experiencing Jesus. He KNEW 100% that he would never deny Jesus when he boasted in his own strength. But he failed, just as many of us boast that some sins are beneath us, until a test that we cannot handle comes up. If a big enough trial came our way and it was up to us to save ourselves, even the best of us will fail woefully.

No matter how much a weightlifter trains, if you give him more than he can carry, he will fail if he depends on himself. And we are not all of the same size. What is light to one may be heavy for another. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. The flesh in a pastor is the same flesh in a paedophile. The arm of flesh (human effort) will fail. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people, even believers, think that they are above committing particular sins. But see 1 Corinthians 10:13-

"We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

Someone needs to bring you out of your trials and temptations. That Someone is Jesus Christ. Trying to stop sinning by your own power when we can do nothing without Christ won't help you. Without Christ, all will fail if they encounter a weight that they cannot carry.

Those who can save themselves by their own power, even from the tiniest sin, are saying they don't need Jesus to wash them clean. These ones can save themselves from their sins. But this is what Christ came to do: Titus 2:14- 

"He died under God’s judgment against our sins so that He could rescue us from constant falling into sin and make us His very own people, with cleansed hearts and real enthusiasm for doing kind things for others."

Christ came to save us from our sins:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21.

Believer, admit to Him that you can't stop sinning by yourself and ask for His help. Especially in the midst of those sins that you struggle with, confess with your mouth your righteousness in Him that you believe in your heart and you will see His salvation,  even from your sins, "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:10.

Believe Right and you will Live Right