How to Not Sin | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 3, 1909

How to Not Sin.

It was a wonderful lesson taught the old heathen king by the prophet of God, a message which later on that king proclaimed to all the languages and peoples of his mighty realm: “Wherefore, O king, . . . break off thy sins by righteousness.” Dan. 4:27. There is no other way. In the message lies salvation and victory.

Only by God’s righteousness in the place of ours can we be made acceptable to Him. Only by being in harmony with Him can we endure or enjoy His presence. Heaven itself would be distasteful to the man who loves sin, and like Milton’s Satan, he would prefer to reign in hell than serve in heaven, tho the service be that of Infinite Love. But to him who longs for the perfect, who with all his heart desires to be like God, God waits to clothe him with His own righteousness. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity.”

But forgiveness is not all the soul longs for. He not only longs to have a merciful God forgive his sins, but he wants to live above sin. Of small worth is the forgiveness unless it can issue in power over sin, in perfection of character. And God meets our needs here also. He who can impute righteousness, can impart righteousness. He who can cleanse the sins of the past, can keep the heart from sinning. But there must be cooperation. If we are satisfied in having our house of character cleansed and swept and garnished, the demon of doubt and discord will return with seven other demons who will take possession and utterly destroy. If the house is kept clean, there must dwell within it the Cleanser. The heart must be actively engaged with the forces of good. There must be struggle with the forces of evil, but the victory is not gained by fighting the evil.

No negative goodness can long persist. There must be positive force for good or the soul will backslide or dry up and die. There are no negations in God’s work. In His strength the soul must meet the enemy in the very temptation to sin, when passion is hot, when all the powers of an undisciplined carnality rise up to press home the enticement of the adversary, “Do this,” he pleads; “there is pleasure in it.” And every inherited, fostered appetite of the flesh rises up and assaults the very citadel of the soul, and pleads with the will, the conscience, the reason. “Do this; there is pleasure in it.”

But here faith should sustain the soul’s triumvirate. It should bring the word of God, which would enable the soul to see the fruitage in the sowing. “He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Right there, in the time of temptation, resist the enemy, with every unholy prompting of passion, pleasure, ambition, hatred, envy, pride, and sow to the Spirit. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [crucify, put to death, kill, and count dead] the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Then and there, in the temptation, do God’s will. Ask for His Spirit’s aid, and do, resolutely quickly, knowing that He will help, that there is victory. Parley not for a moment. “Break off thy sins by righteousness,”—right doing. There the victory must be won. There is no other way.