Mark 9:38-50 — 38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
How do we go to war against the sin in the way that Jesus calls his disciples to in Mark 9:43ff? First, let’s list out some of the alternatives to fighting sin that we implement in our interaction with it:
–just hope and pray that the desire to sin goes away, so that we don’t have to battle it and then we can blame God when we still desire to sin and end up succumbing to it;
–just wait for circumstances to change before we feel we are required to obey. In this case we blame God’s providence for our sin;
–just deal with external factors instead of working on the heart issue. This occurs by simply trying to remove or alter the circumstance that led to the sin, instead of confessing and working on the heart issue.
Now that we listed faulty ways to interact with sin, how should we fight sin?:
–First, call it what it is—use biblical labels;
–confess it as such, while taking ownership of it and not blaming other people, circumstances or even God;
–ask forgiveness from God and any others sinned against;
–plead with God for help to believe in his power that has been granted to all Christians;
–fight the sinful and selfish thoughts that contribute to the sin and replace them with biblical truth when they arise;
–put a plan in place when temptation arises and employ preventative measures (when applicable);
–try to trace the root of the sin (see questions on p. 115-116 in the Peacemaker) in order to deal with the root issues—unbelief and idols of the heart.
Now you may be thinking: This sounds like it takes an incredible amount of time! It sure does, but is God’s glory worth it? Is your eternal soul worth it? Jesus teaches that you’re better off entering into the kingdom missing your earthly pursuits, rather than ending up in Hell after a life spent refusing to fight sin.