How To Stop Sinning
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” 1 Peter 4: 1b.
I’ve had so much sin in my life. Probably more than most. I’ve battled rage, panic anxiety, addictions, unbelief, obsessive/compulsive thoughts, and bad attitudes (rebellion, bitterness, self-pity) to name a few.
The Lord gave me a specific battle plan for most of these. But in the final analysis, He delivered me through suffering. Not the suffering of calamity or disaster. But the suffering of resisting the temptation to engage in these things.
Compare this verse with James 1: 2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”.
To read the entire passage for context, click here.
How To Stop Sinning by Being Tempted
The word “trials” in verse 2 can be translated “temptations” (Strong’s Concordance). Suffering in the flesh (or body) by resisting temptation builds endurance in that area until eventually we’re not tempted in that area anymore.
Or we’ve “ceased from sin” in that area. Or are “made perfect and complete” according to the James passage. Both of these verses convey the same idea. As does James 4: 7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil (temptation), and he (it) will flee from you”.
In other words, as we suffer in the flesh by resisting temptation, that temptation will come less often. And it will be less intense until it eventually “flees” completely. Or until we’ve ceased from sin in that area.
The way we “cease from sin” is by resisting the temptation to commit it. And this involves “suffering in the flesh”.
Suffering without Faith Won’t Make Us Stronger
It’s not suffering in and of itself that causes us to cease from sin. Rather, it’s the suffering involved in obedience and resisting temptation. Suffering in itself only enables us to become stronger and cease from sin as we respond to it in the right way.
And this, in effect then, is resisting temptation or obedience because we’re resisting the temptation to respond in the wrong way.
To read another post related to How to Stop Sinning, see Walking with God through Loss, Pain and Suffering.