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We know we are born into this world with a sinful nature (Ps.51:5). It is only natural that we sin in many ways as temptations come our way. But then we get born again as we repent from our sins, and place our trust in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. Then God plants His nature within us like a newborn baby who has to grow up towards God's character in every part of life. But this new nature which is from the Holy Spirit finds opposition from within us from our flesh (Ga.5:17). We have lived according to the flesh following its desires till we were born again, and now we are faced with the choice whether we will live as before or start following the Holy Spirit.

Grace is not just unmerited favour God shows towards us in forgiving sins, but also His help for our practical life (Heb.4:16). God says that with the help the Holy Spirit gives us, we don't have to have sin dominate us as before (Ro.6:14). So, we are no longer under the mastery of sin and we are no longer obligated to live according to our flesh (Ro.8:12). We must not take this to mean as if we will no longer have any problem with sin, because we have to face the temptation to sin every day of our life. We can see that Jesus Himself had to face all the temptations we face now, and overcome (He.4:15). Therefore, it is not going to be an easy 'walkover' for us. Some Christians do not make this distinction between being tempted to sin and being free from the domination of sin over us, and either take sinning as an unavoidable thing in life or pretend as if there is no more sin in their lives.

But the fact is that God has taken away the compulsive force of sin over our life when we were born again. Now He wants us to voluntarily choose every time not to give in to the temptations but to overcome by leaning on the strength of the Holy Spirit (Ro.8:13). On one hand we know that we are not under any compulsion to yield to sin, and on the other hand we must realise that we need to watch and pray at all times not to yield to temptation (Mt.26:41).

It is very common that, even though we may be determined not to yield to sin at any time, we may fall because we have not become strong enough yet to resist or because we have not yet learned about the different schemes of the devil. God knows this, and therefore He has provided a way for us to get back to Him by confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness (1Jn.1:9). One of the battles at this point is to avoid giving up, and to hold on to the promises of God for our victory.

As we go on, we will discover that just like the layers of an onion, there are deeper layers of sin in our flesh. When we think we have got victory at one level, we find that there are still things we need to deal with which we had not recognised before. When we have victory over our external behaviour we have to deal with our thoughts and attitudes, and then at a deeper level, with our intentions. But God will lead us closer to Him (Php.2:13).

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