I’ve heard people emphasize that when it comes to victory over sin, that it’s all about Jesus. Then they say it’s not about our effort; rather, it’s all about what Jesus does for us. But there’s a problem. When we read the Bible, we see that God actually does tell us to do things.
Yes, nothing we can do can earn our salvation. And certainly, our greatest need is to love Jesus, and to call upon the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to obey Him.
But God’s Word never says, “Since you’re a sinner, there’s no reason to expend effort to gain victory over sin.” On the contrary, Paul says, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29).
Consider what God tells us in 2 Peter 1:3 about God’s part and our part in the Christian life. Our part is secondary, but that doesn’t mean it’s unnecessary: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
If God has given us everything we need, there’s nothing left for us to do, right? Well, to get to know Him better we must study His Word, gather with His people, pray, ask for His enlightenment and empowerment, and develop the habit of obedience. Even though we will fall, we are to confess and repent and call upon Him for help. Verse four says: “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
God gave us His promises to help us become more like Him and say no to our evil desires. Does this mean we are to do nothing to resist these desires? On the contrary, He says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). Does it take effort to put sin to death? Of course! Putting on the full armor of God and taking our stand struggling against the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-18) requires effort, doesn’t it?
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)
If you believe Christ automatically does everything to make the Christian life happen, how do you understand “make every effort”? There is no such thing as a passive Christian life. The passive soldier is an easy target.
The good news is that God makes His resurrection power available to us to walk in victory over sin. Unfortunately, many people think of this as automatic and do not take aggressive efforts to guard themselves.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’” (Matthew 16:24). It takes a lot of work to deny ourselves, take up a cross of self-sacrifice, and move our feet to follow Jesus! We should call upon Jesus and the Holy Spirit to empower us to do that work. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). So God gives us the strength, but we are to run to Him to find safety!
The Christian life is not a choice between loving and trusting Jesus, and making an effort to avoid temptation and sin. It is not either/or—it is both/and.
