Fighting Against Sin

Many people believe that Jesus battled with the devil on the cross and emerged victorious. They also understand that, as God appointed Jesus to be the sin offering for us, our sins are forgiven—and therefore, we no longer have any obligation to deal with sin. Ironically, even though we think God has completely dealt with the problem of sin in our lives, we still continue to sin—even after knowing that our sins are forgiven. Why does this happen?

If God has truly forgiven and even forgotten our sins, why do we still hold on to them? It’s because we tend to focus only on the battle Jesus fought and won, while overlooking the deeper reason behind that battle. Does God’s victory over the devil automatically prevent us from sinning? What is the true connection between sin and the devil?

Many people confuse the two—believing that sin and the devil are essentially the same. But in order to be freed from the grip of sin and to resist the devil, we need to clearly understand what each one is.

God Disarmed The Power Of The Devil

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. – Colossians 2:13-15 (NIV)

During the Lenten season, people often reflect on the sufferings of Jesus and assume that He battled the devil for forty days in the wilderness, culminating in a final war on the Cross. Based on this view, whenever believers face difficulties, they tend to think that the devil has momentarily overpowered God, but that God—being all-powerful—will soon defeat the devil and remove their troubles.

This way of thinking stems from a flawed imagination that wrongly places God and the devil on equal footing, as though they are opposing forces in a cosmic struggle. But this is not the case.

Take, for example, ants in our homes. They’re everywhere, yet we usually ignore them unless they invade our food or bite someone—especially a child. If an ant bites our baby, we crush it. That doesn’t mean we are at war with ants, nor that they are our equal opponents. They’re insignificant, but if they cause harm, we respond.

In the same way, the devil is not God’s equal. God doesn’t need to fight him as if He were threatened. The idea that Jesus had to war against the devil for forty days and nights is a misunderstanding of God’s supremacy.

God allowed His Son to confront the devil on the Cross—not because the devil was about to conquer His Kingdom—but because the devil dared to harm His children and sought to condemn them to eternal death.

Once we grasp this truth, we will no longer live in fear of the devil tormenting us—because we will understand just how powerless he is before our Almighty God.

Sin And The Devil

Another common misconception is the belief that the devil is the one who causes us to sin. In reality, when we choose to sin, it is our sin that attracts the devil. Sin opens the door for the devil to come closer and push us further into wrongdoing day by day. God revealed this truth to Cain, showing that Cain’s frustration over God not accepting his offering allowed sin to enter his heart. At first, when a person fails to follow God’s will—whatever the reason—sin does not immediately control them but waits for the right moment to take over.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. – Genesis 4:6-7 (NIV)

When we are troubled by evil thoughts or desires, God still gives us the chance to return to Him. But once we decide to embrace evil, we stop listening to God’s voice. This wasn’t only true for Cain—it applies to all of us. Once we make up our minds to sin, no one can stop us, because we no longer heed God’s guidance. Cain’s first mistake was not loving God wholeheartedly; he gave an offering merely out of obligation. When God did not accept it, instead of acknowledging his error, he became envious.

Likewise, Eve was not simply tricked by the serpent. She willingly went near the forbidden tree, ignoring God’s clear command. Her curiosity and desire stirred within her as she gazed at the fruit, and in that moment of disobedience, she opened her heart and mind to sin. This gave the serpent the chance to act. In both instances—Eve’s and Cain’s—sin began with a personal choice. Only after that did the devil step in. That’s why the devil is described as a roaring lion, roaming around in search of those who have chosen to sin by misusing their free will (1 Peter 5:8).

If we live without sin, the devil has no place in us. But if we choose sin, the devil helps us to continue in it and then goes before God to demand justice for our actions. That’s why he is called “the accuser,” as mentioned in Revelation 12:10. This reveals an important truth: when we are quick to blame others, we are imitating the accuser, not following God. After Adam and Eve sinned, Adam took on this very nature by blaming Eve for his disobedience.

Sin And Sickness

When we sin, the devil takes advantage of our failures and tries to link every hardship in our lives to our sin. If we fall ill, he accuses us of being sinners—even though our sins have already been forgiven by our Heavenly Father. What’s more, we ourselves often fall into the trap of blaming God for our mistakes. This mindset gives the devil the perfect opportunity to deceive us, making us believe that every misfortune is a punishment from God. But if God intended to punish us for our sins, then why would He sacrifice His only Son on our behalf? Believing that all suffering is God’s punishment completely undermines the depth of His love and the grace He has shown us through Jesus Christ.

When we go through suffering, we tend to argue with ourselves, quarrel with spiritual leaders, and ultimately question God—yet we rarely stop to confront our own sin. The writer of Hebrews rightly points this out:

“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” — Hebrews 12:4 (NIV)

We often forget that while Jesus shed His blood for our sins, we have not even resisted sin to such an extent. Of course, our own blood cannot purchase salvation—it is only the precious blood of Jesus that has secured salvation for all humanity, past, present, and future. What the author of Hebrews is really emphasizing is our unwillingness to truly suffer with Christ. Until we acknowledge that Jesus suffered not for His own sin, but for ours, and until we are willing to stand with Him in His suffering, we will not share in His resurrection and eternal life.

This is why the author calls us to be fully engaged with Christ—because He did everything for our sake. Instead of seeing baptism merely as a church ritual for membership, the call is to be baptized into Christ’s death and to rise with Him in His resurrection (Colossians 2:12).

We often connect sin with sickness because Jesus once said to a paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven,” to demonstrate that He, the Son of Man, had the authority to forgive sins. But now, since God has already forgiven the sins of the whole world through Jesus, what role does sin play in our suffering and sickness? Unless we understand the truth, the devil—who is a liar—will continue to deceive us and distance us from God. Whether or not sin directly causes our sickness, the greater danger is that sin always aims to separate us from God and ultimately lead us to eternal death.

Religious thinking that promotes rituals as a way to receive forgiveness only adds to the confusion. If rituals could cleanse us from sin, then Christ’s death on the cross would be meaningless. But Scripture is clear: we are saved by God’s grace, not by our works. In today’s context, sin is no longer the issue between us and God—because Jesus has dealt with it fully. The issue is whether we will live in that truth or remain deceived by the devil’s lies.

Resist The Devil

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. – James 4:7-8 (NIV)

Many believers are eager to resist the devil, yet they remain unaware of how vulnerable they are to his attacks. Scripture calls us to purify our hearts by removing sinful thoughts and to fully submit ourselves to God. When we do this, God renews our hearts—cleansing them from sin—and such a heart no longer attracts the devil. But if we continue to live in sin, we invite the enemy to devour us, and resisting him in that state becomes a struggle.

Instead of trying to resist the devil after he’s gained a foothold through our sin, wouldn’t it be wiser to remove sin from our lives altogether, leaving no room for the devil to approach us? After David fell into sin, which eventually led him to commit murder, he found himself powerless to resist the enemy’s influence. In his brokenness, he cried out to God—not merely for forgiveness, but for a new heart and a steadfast spirit, so he wouldn’t fall deeper into sin or struggle again in the same way.

We can only truly hate sin when we genuinely love God. When we stop blaming God for our circumstances and instead grow in love toward Him, we draw near to the One who has always been near to us. And once we come close to Him, we will ask Him to dwell in us, guide us, and sustain us.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. – Psalm 51:10-12