"The sin that so easily entangles us"

Heb 12:1 (KJV)

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Heb 12:1 (Living)

1 Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.

It is the nature of man, of the believer

to easily be entangle with sin.

There are certain sins which more easily entangle each of us than other one’s. Each of us in our own lives have certain propensities for specific kinds of sins, possibly because before we were save we cultivated habits, sin that now plague us even after our salvation.

It could be because in our spiritual weakness even after becoming Christians we continued to develop habits of certain specific sins that now we find more easily than others that do entangle us.

It is true of every Christian that we have certain sins that easily capture us, and it is also true in general that sin easily entangles us.

Three Points about Sin:

1.) Sin has great power over our flesh. The reason it so easily entangle us, is because of it’s power. It exerts strong influence on our will, on our emotions, on our affections. It rarely suggest things to us, it almost always commands us. It rarely leads, it most always pushes from the rear, drives, forces.

Galatians 5:17

Gal 5:17 (KJV)

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Gal 5:17 (Living)

17 For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures.

2.) Sin easily entangles us because it is so close. It forces it way on our flesh as it were from within us, it is in our being.

Jeremiah 13:23

Jer 13:23 (KJV)

23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Jer 13:23 (Living)

23 Can the Ethiopian change the color of his skin? or a leopard take away his spots? Nor can you who are so used to doing evil now start being good.

Jeremiah 17:9

Jer 17:9 (KJV)

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jer 17:9 (Living)

9 The heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is!

3.) Sin does not remain separate but it mingles in all our motives and all our actions.

Romans 7.  Web site Interaction:

Get out your Bible and read it.

The best that we do is some how corrupted in some way large or small by a touch of self will, or self pleasure, or self righteousness or gain.

Hebrews - 12:1

Lay aside the sin that entangle us

How?

2 Corinthians 7:1

2 Cor 7:1 (KJV)

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2 Cor 7:1 (Living)

1 Having such great promises as these, dear friends, let us turn away from everything wrong, whether of body or spirit, and purify ourselves, living in the wholesome fear of God, giving ourselves to him alone.

Ephesians 4:22

Eph 4:22 (KJV)

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Eph 4:22 (Living)

22 then throw off your old evil nature--the old you that was a partner in your evil ways--rotten through and through, full of lust and shame.

Romans 6:12

Romans 6:12 (KJV)

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Romans 6:12 (Living)

12 Do not let sin control your puny body any longer; do not give in to its sinful desires.

1 Peter 2:1, 11

1 Peter 2:1 (KJV)

1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

1 Peter 2:1 (Living)

1 So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don't just pretend to be good! Be done with dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs.

1 Peter 2:11 (KJV)

11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

1 Peter 2:11 (Living)

11 Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for

How?

That is a responsibility that is ours.

We come to God with our accumulated sins with little change in the pattern of sinning. And this is because we do not take the necessary steps so to live that there is a decrease in the load of sin. The list becoming shorter because we are dealing with it day to day.

So let us also make a convenant, steps of commitment to start out a new pattern of life in which we would take stride to lay sin aside. A preventative act.

 

Do not under estimate the seriousness of your sin. It seriousness to God, to us , those which whom we fellowship, to the church, to the unbelievers. Our sin steals joy, our sin destroys fellowship with God, our sin diminishes fruitfulness, our sin robs us of peace, our sin renders our service useless, our sin medigates against our effectiveness in evangelism, our sin hinders our prayers, our sin brings the discipline of God. It violates our relationship with the Lord. (There is more evil in the least sin than in the greatest calamity) there is more evil in the least sin than in the greatest misery. Generally speaking we are distress about our calamities and distressed about our miseries, but we are tolerant about our sins.

 

Strongly, purpose and promise God not to sin. Take a Solomon vowel, and say God I do not want to sin, I do not want to break your law, I do not want to grieve your spirit, I do not want to dishonor the name of your son which I bear.

Psalm 119:106

Psalms 119:106 (KJV)

106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

Psalm 119:106 (Living)

106 I've said it once and I'll say it again and again: I will obey these wonderful laws of yours.

unless we have that kind of resolution in life, we’ll find it more easily to be entangle by sin. It is that kind of heart purpose , that kind of bold affirmation that is at the root of all Holy Living. It is possible until we make that kind of conscious commitment to the Lord we will battle the same thing over and over again and be defeated.

Psalm 119:32

Psalms 119:32 (KJV)

32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

Psalm 119:32 (Living)

32 If you will only help me to want your will, then I will follow your laws even more closely.

"I am going to run in the way of obedience because I have a heart to do that." I will run in the way of your commandments because you have enlarged my heart you have given me a heart for obedience.

Be Suspicious of your own spirituality.

Job 31:1

Job 31:1 (KJV)

1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

Job 31:1 (Living)

1 "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a girl.

Proverbs 4:23

Prov 4:23 (KJV)

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Prov 4:23 (Living)

23 Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life.

 

understand that except for the grace of God we would fall into any and every sin and we could be deceived so easily.

 

 

Resist the first rising of the flesh and it’s pleasures, don’t try to stop the process near the end, stop it at the beginning. You want to stop sin at conception not after it has been conceived and run through a certain period of pregnancy and now is about to give birth to sin. Sin comes to you promising pleasure. My goal is not to please myself but to please the Lord.

Meditate on the Word.

Psalm 37:31

Psalms 37:31 (KJV)

31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

When a heart is controlled by the word

the steps don’t slip.

Psalm 119:9,10

Psalms 119:9-10 (KJV)

9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Psalms 119:9-10 (Living)

9 How can a young man stay pure? By reading your Word and following its rules.

10 I have tried my best to find you--don't let me wander off from your instructions.

The constant input of the word of God, that begins to fill up the mind and control the thinking. That alone becomes the strength and resource in us that resist the initial impulses of the flesh.

Colossians 3:16

Col 3:16 (KJV)

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Col 3:16 (Living)

16 Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts.

 

when you feel the impulse of the truth you know, meditate on that and not on the enticings of the flesh and it’s pleasures.

Be immediately repented over your elapses,

Matthew 26:75

Matt 26:75 (KJV)

75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Matt 26:75 (Living)

75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." And he went away, crying bitterly.

 

And go back to the place of confession. And repentance is not only saying "I sorry Lord forgive me", it is saying "I’m sorry Lord forgive me and I don’t ever want to do that again." Name the sin specifically, let your own heart and your own ears hear the naming of that sin. So that you develop in your heart the a high degree of accountability with God for having name the very sin for which he is holding you accountable not to commit again.

Continually pray for divine help,

Ephesians 6:18

Eph 6:18 (KJV)

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Eph 6:18 (Living)

18 Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit's wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.

Colossians 4:2

Col 4:2 (KJV)

2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Col 4:2 (Living)

2 Don't be weary in prayer; keep at it; watch for God's answers, and remember to be thankful when they come.

Starting your day with Lord lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil. Setting the course of prayer before the flesh begins to rise.

Establish intimate relations with other believers that hold you accountable.

Galatians 6:1-2

Gal 6:1-2 (KJV)

1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Gal 6:1-2 (Living)

1 Dear brothers, if a Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help him back onto the right path, remembering that next time it might be one of you who is in the wrong.

2 Share each other's troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord's command.

Hebrews 12:2

Heb 12:2 (KJV)

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb 12:2 (Living)

2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God.

Jesus Christ our role model, we ask his forgiveness and ask him again to be our example, as we lay aside our sin and fix our eyes on him to follow the path of victory over the sin that easily entangle us.