In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 

                                                                                                                        Judges 21:25 

Read: Judges 21

It is a common thread that runs throughout the Judges account in the Old Testament. The people would enjoy favor with God. They would then fall into sin. Judgment would follow, usually in the form of foreign invasion. The people would then cry out for God to deliver them. God would lovingly respond by sending them a leader, someone who could physically deliver them from the persecution of the foreign agents. Upon deliverance, the people would celebrate and enjoy the favor of God once again. This process of sin, judgment, cries for help, and deliverance would repeat itself over and over again. Perhaps the best summation of the entire book can be found in the very last statement, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

This cycle of sin is as real today as it was in the days of the judges. But what has changed is the way in which we can deal with the cycle. Because of the new covenant that God has made with mankind, everyone who belongs to Christ can now rise above the collective trappings of the world and live godly lives by the strength that comes from the Spirit of God living within the believer (Ephesians 3:20). And when we do sin, we have an Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-2). We can confess our sin and find forgiveness, healing, and restoration (1 John 1:9). And all of this comes without the fear that we could somehow lose the salvation and spiritual life that Jesus died for us to receive (John 6:37).

But the cycle of sin remains. Talk to any honest believer and they will tell you that they have their own bouts with sin. Everyone does. There are no perfect Christians rather believers are “being perfected.” But this perfection will never be fully experienced in this life because of the corrupted flesh in which we live. Consider the words of Paul:

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.                                   

                                                                                                                 Romans 7:14-20 

Have you ever been willing to do what is right but, for whatever reason, you didn’t? Have you ever found yourself continuing in something that you know you shouldn’t be a part of while neglecting the very things that you know you should do? This is what Paul is describing in this passage. He goes on to say this:

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

                                                                                                                 Romans 7:21-25 

We know what is right and what is wrong but the knowing does not always translate into the doing. Why? It is because we are still humans and are subject to the same cravings, trappings, and desires of the flesh. We are, by nature, selfish people. But for the Christian, spiritually maturity will bring with it a change in our thinking, attitudes, and desires. We will begin to desire God more than anything that this world has to offer and it is this pursuit of a closer relationship to God through Christ that brings us the spiritual victory.

Consider a faithful husband who loves his wife. This man stays true to his spouse not out of obligation rather out of love for her. He doesn’t feel trapped or coerced into this fidelity rather he offers it voluntarily. Why? It is because he desires to spend his life with her. Sure there are other women in the world and it would be nonsensical to suggest that he doesn’t notice them, but his loyalty for his wife trumps any temptation to run off with another. He simply desires his wife more than others.

This is the way it is to be for the Christian. Believers are not exempt from temptations and sometimes we fail (1 Corinthians 10:13). But the overarching theme of our lives is that we simply desire God more than the things of the world. What He offers is far more desirable than anything else. It is this love for Him that helps protect us from sin.

But the struggle is real. As long as we are on earth, there will be temptations and sometimes, yes, there will be failure. But for the believer, that failure is not the end of the story rather an opportunity for the redemptive and restorative power of God to be displayed. It is the absence of this struggle that should concern us. If we continue in sin and have not one shred of conviction about it, then we might need to check and see if we have really experienced the life-changing power of God.

The cycle of sin is real and the struggle continues but for those who live by the power of the Spirit of God, there is victory!

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 

                                                                                                            Galatians 5:16-18