Many believers feel powerless in the face of sin. They experience guilt, hate their sin, yet find themselves unable to stop. Each failure brings condemnation like a thick fog, cutting off any sense of peace with God. Though forgiven for eternity, freedom often feels distant. This struggle, however, is evidence of being alive to God. The solution is not found in trying harder but in embracing what Christ has already accomplished.
The core problem for many is not a lack of effort but a lack of knowledge—the knowledge of Christ and the power that comes through that knowledge. The gospel is often presented in halves: the blood that forgives guilt is proclaimed, but the cross that breaks sin’s power is neglected. Without both, believers remain trapped in a cycle of defeat.
The Blood Cleanses the Conscience
The first issue to address is guilt. Conscience often screams because it has been trained by religion to keep a record of failures. Sin triggers the urge to do something to regain God’s favor—repentance, mourning, promises to improve. This is dead works.
Yet Scripture declares: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14). Christ’s blood is not a temporary cover but an eternal purge. It cleanses the conscience—our inner sense of standing before God—from the burden of trying to fix guilt by works. God was satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice. It is finished.
When sin occurs, the immediate remedy is not a process but a person. Believers are called to run to Jesus and thank Him that His blood cleanses now. This is agreeing with God: “Lord, I have no other plea. I stand here solely because Your Son died for this, too.”
This truth is the foundation of assurance. It is a personal conviction that your sin was perfectly borne by Christ’s substitutionary death. Not merely a general belief that He died for the world, but a firm grasp that your sin is on His record, not yours. When this truth takes hold, it produces relief, joy, and appreciation. This is genuine repentance—a turning to God based on what He has done, not on personal promises to change.
The Cross Breaks Sin’s Dominion
What about the power of sin? What about feeling enslaved to habits and patterns that seem unbreakable? This is where the second half of the gospel comes in: identification with Christ in His death.
Weakness to sin is real because sin still dwells in the flesh. “For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness” (Romans 6:20). As unbelievers, people were strong in sin and dead to God. Now, alive to God, sin feels alien. The conflict is between the quickened spirit and the flesh. But crucially, sin is no longer authorized to be lord over the believer.
The truth to embrace is this: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). The old self, once bound to sin’s reign, was crucified with Christ. The body of sin was destroyed—its power nullified. Believers are freed from sin’s dominion.
Do believers truly believe this? Often not. Sin’s lie whispers, “You failed again. That’s who you are. You’ll never change.” But the gospel declares that the believer died with Christ, and a dead person is free from their old master. God’s demands on the flesh ended at the cross.
Where Sin Truly Reigns
The critical distinction is this: sin’s true reign over believers is not primarily in the moment of sinning. That moment is brief. Sin’s real dominion is through condemnation—the lingering cloud of guilt, shame, and alienation that can last hours, days, or weeks. Under condemnation, strength is lost and connection to the Source of life is severed.
This creates a vicious cycle: sin, guilt, attempts to cleanse through remorse and promises, failure, deeper condemnation. Trying to overcome sin with the flesh that loves sin is impossible. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18).
The way out is to break the cycle at condemnation. Believers must become quick to run to Jesus. Freedom can come within minutes—not by penance, but by applying the blood and rejecting condemnation. Forgetting what lies behind, they press on by preaching the gospel to themselves. The blood deals with guilt; the cross deals with power. Both are essential.
Entering His Rest
What is the believer’s response? Cease from laboring in self-effort. Enter His rest. This rest is not passive; it is the most active faith there is.
Present yourself to God, acknowledging inability to overcome sin. Throw yourself on His mercy, thanking Him for forgiveness, acceptance, and love because of Jesus. Acknowledge that the flesh is judged and dead. Rest in what Christ has done and trust that the Spirit of life dwells within.
“The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). The Spirit—the living Christ within—is supplied through hearing and believing faith. As believers embrace these truths, the Spirit subdues the flesh. Life overcomes death.
The believer’s task is not to stop sinning by willpower but to agree with God about total inability and total provision. Continually run to Him just as you are. Focusing on Christ rather than sin, His life within becomes more real than the pull of old habits. Growth is a slow learning to believe gospel truths until they become more solid than failure.
Believers are free. They must believe it, reckon it true, and walk in newness of life, drawing strength from Christ—righteousness, sanctification, and life itself.
