The Battle for Holiness

          Here are some of the highlights from chapter six of The Pursuit
     of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges.


                                              The Battle for Holiness


          Through our union with Christ in His death, we are delivered from
     the dominion of sin, but we still find sin struggling to gain mastery over
     us.

          But though believers still have this indwelling propensity to sin, the
    Holy Spirit maintains within us a prevailing desire for holiness.


                                           "No one born of God makes a practice
                                             of sinning, for God's seed abides in him,
                                             and he cannot keep on sinning because he
                                             has been born of God."
                                                                                         1 John 3:9


          The believer struggles with the sin God enables him to see in himself.

          Scripture indicates that the seat of indwelling sin is the heart.
    
          The Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful and unsearchable to any but
     God alone.


                                           "The heart is deceitful above all things
                                             and beyond cure.  Who can understand
                                             it? 
                                           "I the LORD search the heart and examine
                                            the mind, to reward a man according to his
                                            conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
                                                                                      Jeremiah 17:9-10


          Even as believers we do not know our own hearts.


                                          "I care very little if I am judged by you
                                           or by any human court;  indeed I do not
                                           even judge myself.  My conscience is clear,
                                           but that does not make me innocent.

                                          "It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore
                                           judge nothing before the appointed time;
                                           wait till the Lord comes.  He will bring to
                                           light what is hidden in darkness and will
                                           expose the motives of men's hearts.  At
                                           that time each will receive his praise from
                                           God."
                                                                                      1 Corinthians 4:3-5


                                                          **********


          We need to ask God daily to search our hearts for sin that we cannot
     or will not see.  This was David's prayer:

                                        "Search me, O God, and know my heart;
                                          test me and know my anxious thoughts.
                                          See if there is any offensive way in me,
                                          and lead me in the way everlasting."
                                                                              Psalm 139:23-24


          God's primary means of searching our hearts this way is through His
     Word, as we read it under the power of the Holy Spirit.  


                                       "The word of God is living and active.
                                         Sharper than any double-edged sword,
                                         it penetrates even to dividing soul and
                                         spirit, joints and marrow;  it judges the
                                         thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
                                                                              Hebrews 4:12


          Indwelling sin works largely through our desires.  Our desires are
     often more powerful than reason.
 
          The next time you face one of your typical temptations, watch for
     the struggle between your desires and your reason.  If you give in to
     temptation, it will be because desire has overcome reason in the struggle
     to influence your will.  The world recognizes this and makes appeals to
     our desires through what the writer of Hebrews calls, "the pleasures of
     sin" (Hebrews 11:25).

          Of course, not all desire is evil.  Paul speaks of his desire to know
     Christ (Philippians 3:10), and of his desire for the salvation of his fellow
     Jews (Romans 10:1).

          God will give us the desires of our heart if we love and obey Him.


                                         "Delight yourself in the LORD and He
                                           will give you the desires of your heart."
                                                                                Psalm 37:4


                                                      **********


          If we are to win this battle for holiness, we must recognize that the
     basic problem lies within us.  It is our own evil desires that lead us into
     temptation.

         Consider the particular temptations to which you are especially vul-
     nerable, and note how often you find yourself searching out occasions
     to satisfy those evil desires.


                                               
          Indwelling sin tends to deceive our understanding or reasoning.
     Our reason, enlightened by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God,
     stands in the way of sin gaining mastery over us through our desires.

          Therefore Satans's great strategy is to deceive our minds.
     Paul spoke of the "deceitful desires" of the old self.


                                         "You were taught with regard to your
                                           former way of life, to put off your old
                                           self, which is being corrupted by its
                                           deceitful desires;
                                         "to be made new in the attitude of your
                                          minds;  and to put on the new self,
                                          created to be like God in true righteousness
                                          and holiness."
                                                                           Ephesians 4:22-24


          Paul said that we were at one time,

                                        
                                      "...deceived and enslaved by all kinds of
                                       passions and pleasures."
                                                                           Titus 3:3a


          These passages speak of our old life, but we must realize that this
     deceit still wages war against us, though it no longer has mastery over us.

         
                                                         **********


           So we see that though sin no longer has dominion over us, it wages its
     guerilla warfare against us.  If left unchecked, it will defeat us.  Our recourse
     against this warfare is to deal swiftly and firmly with the first motions of in-
     dwelling sin.  If temptation finds any lodging place in the soul, it will use
     that to lead us into sin.

          Furthermore, we must never consider that our fight against sin is at an
     end.  The heart is unsearchable, our evil desires are insatiable, and our
     reason is constantly in danger of being deceived.

          Well did Jesus say:


                                         "Watch and pray so that you will not
                                           fall into temptation."
                                                                                 Matthew 26:41


          Solomon warned us:


                                          "Above all else, guard your heart,
                                            for it is the wellspring of life."
                                                                                 Proverbs 4:23