Lesson for September 24, 2025

The Doctrine of Hamartiology

Lesson 4

Overcoming a Lifestyle of Sin

Jesus won the victory over sin at the Cross for our salvation, by His substitutionary spiritual death. After salvation, believers must win the victory over sin. The victory can be won only by a believer with a positive attitude toward diligently learning, believing, and applying accurate Bible doctrine to every area of their life.

Many Christians begin their spiritual lives by learning some Bible doctrine. Others advance toward spiritual maturity by being consistent in their study of God’s Word and tenacious in their application of it. These believers refuse to allow anything or anyone to keep them from honoring God.

We must always remember that even as believers who are maturing in our faith, we are susceptible to influence and temptation from Satan’s world system. Every believer has an area of weakness and an area of strength. Satan is smart enough to attack believers where they are the weakest. Therefore, it is imperative to continually evaluate our motives and decisions and make sure they line up with the principles and doctrines found in God’s Word. What is your weakness? Have you taken the time to evaluate where you are most vulnerable to Satan and his world system’s influence over you? If you have made that determination and know what you are doing is wrong, are you doing it anyway in opposition to God and His Word?

Christians have no excuse before God for failure to obey His Word. God’s percepts, principles, and instructions for us, found in His Word, never change. Disobeying the plan He has laid out for us to follow will always result in divine discipline, self-induced misery, and a life of guilt and unhappiness. Society’s norms and standards constantly change, but God and His Word never change. As a child of God, you cannot get away with sin. The happiest Christians on earth are those who know to do right and have the courage to do it. The most miserable Christians are those who know to do right and choose to do wrong.

The categories of sin that we have been studying give us the knowledge that we all need in order to recognize and avoid sin. However, God does not force us to follow His guidelines for living and happiness. We each have free will to live the way we want to live. If you choose to ignore God’s Word, be prepared to suffer the consequences!!

Many Christians live their lives based on emotion and not Bible doctrine. If how you feel about anything in life does not line up with the teaching of the Word of God, then your feeling should be ignored!!

We are each responsible for our own decisions and actions. Those believers who have greater knowledge of the teachings of the Word of God, have greater responsibility, and will be held accountable for failing to abide by them. Jesus addressed this issue in Luke 12:47-48, “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. ⁴⁸ But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”

When a believer lives a lifestyle of sin, the suffering from divine discipline spills over into the lives of those they care about. No one is an island!! In the body of Christ, when one believer suffers, others suffer with them. (I Corinthians 12:26; Hebrews 12:15) Continually living a lifestyle of sin displeases God, says in effect that you do not love God, and says that you do not believe you will be disciplined by Him. We are actually calling God a liar by disobeying Him!!! And this behavior is a disgraceful testimony for Christ to the world!!! Examine your life and see if everything you are doing aligns with biblical principles.

Example: a believer is asked to attend or to participate in a so-called “same sex” wedding ceremony. Does the Bible address this issue? The answer is yes: the Bible does address this issue in II Corinthians 6:14-17, Romans 12:2, and II Thessalonians 3:6. We are not to condone, or participate in, the lifestyle of those who ignore God and His Word.

Example: the Bible teaches that a believer should never marry an unbeliever. (II Corinthians 6:14) A Christian woman should date only a Christian man who is serious about learning Bible doctrine and who is advancing to spiritual maturity. A Christian woman should marry a Christian man who is spiritually mature enough to be the spiritual leader of the family. Does the Bible address this situation? The answer is yes; the Bible does address this issue in Ephesians 5:21-25.

Example: a believer is asked to participate in an act of civil disobedience. Does the Bible address this issue? The answer is yes; the Bible does address this issue in Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25 and Romans 13:1-2. These verses strictly prohibit a believer from involving themselves in any aspect of civil disobedience, i.e. planning, promoting, or actively participating in an act against the government.

Divine Viewpoint Thinking is the key to overcoming the power of our sin nature. When we begin to think the way God thinks, we will be able to recognize overt and mental attitude sins in our lives. Once these sins are recognized, we can acknowledge, isolate, and avoid them. This, of course, can eventually break the power that certain sins have over us. However, we must constantly be on guard by consistently evaluating where we are spiritually. Are we resisting the temptations to violate God’s principles? Or are we ignoring God and His Word and acting on our emotions, while justifying our thoughts and actions? We will be held accountable!!!

Divine Viewpoint Thinking can be developed only through the consistent learning, believing, and applying Bible doctrine. Just knowing Bible doctrine is not enough. Victory over certain sins comes as we use (apply) the doctrine that we have learned. Therefore, it is imperative that we have more than mere academic knowledge of God’s Word. 

As Divine Viewpoint Thinking permeates your thinking, Bible doctrine becomes your scale of values, your norms and standards begin to align with God’s, and even your conscience is influenced in a positive way. Thinking divine viewpoint sets up “a standard” by which we can evaluate everything that enters our mind, including temptation to commit personal sin. You have only two choices as a believer when it comes to thinking: Divine Viewpoint or Human Viewpoint. 

Daily study of God’s Word keeps Divine Viewpoint Thinking fresh in the mind and helps counteract Human Viewpoint Thinking. (Psalm 119:129-135) Thinking your way through life with divine viewpoint will bring victory, peace, power and stability. (Isaiah 26:3-4, 33:6) However, Human Viewpoint Thinking, normally based on emotion, makes a believer unstable in all their ways, according to James 1:8. An unstable believer is an unhappy, miserable believer!!! 

Thinking that you can get away with continuous sinning is a dangerous way to live your life, as a Christian. Self-justification or self-deception play directly into the plan of Satan for your life. Yes, Satan has a plan for your life! His plan is to keep you distracted long enough to destroy your spiritual life, so that you will not be a credible witness against him in the Angelic Conflict. So, if you want to be miserable, unhappy, filled with guilt, and displeasing to God, continue in your lifestyle of ignoring the principles and doctrines of God’s Word, in favor of the temporary pleasures of Satan’s world system. (II Corinthians 5:10)

Remember, your body is the temple of Holy Spirit Who lives within you. (I Corinthians 6:18-20) Everywhere you go and everything you do is seen by God. We are told to use our bodies to glorify God, by presenting ourselves as living sacrifices for His use and glory. (Romans 12:1-2)

Galatians 5:22-26, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

The fruit of the Spirit is the character of Christ being formed in believers when they allow the Holy Spirit to empower and guide their lives. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is all of these characteristics. The Holy Spirit desires to produce all these characteristics in a believer’s life, not just one or two. By memorizing these characteristics, a believer can effectively evaluate their spiritual life. Let’s evaluate ourselves to see if these characteristics of Christ abide in us.

Love comes in two categories: 1) personal love for God, meaning that you love Him above all else and desire to please Him by your thoughts, words, and actions. 2) Impersonal love for others, means that you treat others the same way Jesus treated people, regardless of how they treated Him. Matthew 22:37-39, “And He (Jesus) said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Joy is a mental attitude of inner happiness, as a result of learning, believing, and applying accurate Bible doctrine, consistently. I Peter 1:8-9, “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Peace is having a stable mental attitude, knowing that you have peace with God through faith in Christ and the peace of God through the knowledge of God’s Word and by staying in fellowship with Him. Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Patience is a relaxed mental attitude toward the entire human race and the circumstances of life, being patient with the things that would normally make a person impatient or angry. Ephesians 4:1-3, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Kindness and goodness are the same Greek word meaning a mental attitude of grace toward others by letting them exercise their free will without interference or a judgmental attitude. Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” I Thessalonians 5:15, “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.”

Faithfulness means immovable or steadfast. It means not wavering when it comes to sound, accurate doctrine, and living in accordance with the teaching of God’s Word. I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Gentleness is the mental attitude of grace which expresses itself in kindness toward others. Gentleness can mean saying the right thing at the right time or saying something that is encouraging and helpful. But there are times when gentleness means not saying anything. Gentleness can be a kind thought or a kind deed. Philippians 4:5, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.”

Self-control means having the self-discipline to resist the temptation to continually commit a sin, when you expressly know that it is wrong and is contrary to the will of God. Self-control means being able to keep your emotions under control and not allowing them to rule your life and decisions. It takes great boldness sometimes to walk away from a situation that you know is sinful and displeasing to God. The battle between a believer’s emotion and their knowledge of right and wrong can be strong. But the power of Bible doctrine and the power of the Holy Spirit are stronger!!! James 4:17, “So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to them it is sin.”

Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”