Nay, in All These Things We Are More Than Conquerors
We must look to Christ's cross for the power to overcome sin and achieve spiritual victory.
C.H. Spurgeon emphasizes that true victory over sin comes not from the law but through faith in Christ. He challenges believers to bring their struggles, such as anger and covetousness, directly to Jesus, just as they came to Him for salvation. Spurgeon reminds us that our efforts, prayers, and rituals are meaningless without Christ, who empowers us to overcome our sins. He asserts that we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us, and that our strength lies in the crucifixion of our old selves at the cross. Ultimately, Spurgeon calls for a reliance on Jesus alone for true deliverance and transformation.
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We go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Take your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with Him.
The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration--you want to overcome an angry temper, how do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted Him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way? It is the only way in which I can ever kill it. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, "Lord, I trust Thee to deliver me from it."
This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell Him, "Lord, I have trusted Thee, and Thy name is Jesus, for Thou dost save Thy people from their sins; Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!" Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification.
Your prayers, and your repentances, and your tears--the whole of them put together--are worth nothing apart from Him. "None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;" or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through Him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among His olives in Gethsemane.
Sermon Outline
- The Problem of Looking to the Law for Power
- The Power of Christ's Cross
- Applying Christ's Power in Our Lives
- The Law Cannot Conquer Sin
- The Spirit is Received by Faith, Not Works
- Going to Jesus with Our Sins
- Trusting Christ for Deliverance
- Ordinances are Nothing Without Christ
Key Quotes
“Take your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with Him.” — C.H. Spurgeon
“None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good; or helpless saints either.” — C.H. Spurgeon
“Our laurels must grow among His olives in Gethsemane.” — C.H. Spurgeon
Application Points
- Go to Jesus with your sins and trust Him to deliver you from them.
- Recognize that ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification.
- Rely on Christ's power to overcome your sinful nature and achieve spiritual victory.