Killing Sin: Conquer the One Thing That Is Defeating You

by Karl Clauson

The world, the flesh, and the devil come at us from all sides. Being aware of them and equipped to stand against them will help us not to get crushed by them.

The sin-shame-repent-repeat madness cycle is not what you have to live with. Your sin can be conquered by hating it, attacking it, and killing it—in God’s power.

Some sins accelerate physical death while others silently rot our souls, but all sin steals, kills, and destroys (see John 10:10).

Unlike a broken finger, sin never heals on its own.

John Owen left us with hope in his 1656 classic, The Mortification of Sin. “Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of thy sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls. Live in this, and thou wilt die a conqueror; yea, thou wilt, through the good providence of God, live to see thy lust dead at thy feet.”

Sin deceives us by making us think that it’s not a big deal or that no one will see it. But all sin is a big deal no matter how small the seed you sow. Persistent patterns of sin push us into the shadows of isolation, gnaw at our souls, and steal our joy of walking with Jesus.

With electrodes attached to her forehead, chin, and scalp, the sleep technician told Lori it was time to begin the sleep study. Panic ensued. Memories of abuse as a child and young woman prevented Lori from sleeping, knowing she was being observed. The subconscious threat of harm scrubbed the study before it could begin. On the walk back to her car, she felt relieved to be out of the room but feared her future. When she told her doctor what happened at the sleep clinic, the response was stark: “Lori, you’re morbidly obese; without a sleep study, I can’t do the bypass surgery, and without bypass surgery, you’re going to die.” Lori’s Body Mass Index was hovering around fifty-eight, which is literally off the chart. Her health was beginning to crumble. She could no longer walk down a flight of stairs to wash clothes. Basic movements were limited. Now on medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, pain, neuropathy, edema, and more, she was facing a certain future; it was only a matter of time, and time was short. Shuffling to her car from the doctor’s visit, she felt the walls closing in and cried all the way home. Back home and desperate, she fell to her knees and cried out to God. “I’m going to die if You don’t help me, and I don’t want to die!” She went on to get honest with God about the crux of her battle. “God,” Lori cried, “my full switch is broken; I can’t seem to stop gorging my body. My excuses and my efforts have blinded me. I surrender my body ...

God stamped on your soul a passion to thrive—to experience more than humanly achievable and navigate inevitable challenges and setbacks with wisdom, trust, and confidence. You desire to experience deep and abiding love, be freed from condemning words that torment your mind, and no longer rely on cheap substitutes to dull the pain of disappointment. Thirty-five hundred years ago, a man left a lasting legacy of one thing to avoid at all costs. Korah thought he knew better than God and challenged the leadership of the renowned leader of Israel, Moses—an act of pride that would cost him his life. On cue, the earth shook, and the ground opened and swallowed alive Korah and 250 co-conspirators. The cost of pride and the desire for position and prestige would be etched in the memory of Korah’s sons. Korah’s sons watched their dad die, and they wanted to live. They horrifically saw the price of sin. Korah’s descendants were still called “sons of Korah” for at least eighteen generations. The legend of Korah’s sin was epic, and for generation after generation, they knew the tragic cost of pride and, in humility, chose life. The sons of Korah were now worship leaders in the promised land. As good worship leaders do, they helped people then and now get in touch with what they’re feeling—what matters most. They wrote a song that reflects the cry of every soul that desires the life of God, fears missing it, and longs for God’s protection more than anything. These are the first six ve...

Our desire to be fully alive is found in God. Nothing is facing you that God can’t knock down. Nothing is mocking you that God can’t shut down. And nothing is gripping you that God cannot throw down.

Lori was dying to live. Kneeling in front of her refrigerator, tears streaming down her cheeks, she sensed something. The hand of God was reaching out to Lori, saying, “Put it all right here; you’ve carried this far too long. You’ve tried hard in your strength, and it will never work.” As Lori bowed low in a pile of brokenness, Hope knelt beside her. She thought, “Something is truly changing.” There was a reason for her optimism: “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). You’re never closer to God than when you’re at the end of yourself. After all the diets, fads, many thousands of dollars, and all the willpower she could muster, Lori would finally experience transformation. God would help her with “the one thing” and change everything. He had crowned her years prior with salvation, and now He would drape another victory over her. But why? Why in the world did Lori have to get to this point? After many years of following Jesus, I’ve discovered something you must hear: God can only flex His strength within us when we learn to embrace our weakness. Jesus told the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). In her spirit, Lori began to hear the Holy Spirit speak through her newly embraced weakness, “That’s enough, Lori. You’re full enough. Split this entrée with your husband. You’re full now, so put the rest away.” They were words of unwavering love. Was it up to Lori to re...

Freedom is contagious and builds momentum for yourself and others. I once saw this while commercial fishing in Alaska. Thousands of dollars’ worth of salmon were corralled at the end of our fishing net, and when one fish found a hole just big enough to escape, I watched thousands of fish follow. This is bad news for fishermen in Alaska but good news for you because escaping and conquering is contagious, and you don’t have just one thing God wants to change in you. Better yet, others are watching you get wins, and some will want to follow.

Lori’s victory over her one thing proves that God created us with emotion and momentum, which is a huge asset as we’re running to win the prize. God lifted her spirits, unleashed her gifting, and restored vitality to her life so profoundly that Lori is unrecognizable physically and spiritually. The hundreds of people she pours her counsel into through podcasts and life-on-life care are inestimable. Victory leads to victory, momentum matters, and everything changes when that one thing is conquered.

Lift your eyes. Even if you have yet to strike your first blow to what’s killing you, keep your eyes on God’s promises.

God has the power to change anything in your life and the will to do it. Ask God right now to give you the faith to believe it!

There is a silver bullet for the fatal flaws, crippling habits, substitute gods, and anything else that might be defeating you. It’s not easy, but it is simple: humility.

Humility involves coming face-to-face with yourself, your sins, and any shortcomings and turning to God for help in prayer. Prayer is the engine room of power, and humility is the posture of effective prayer.

True humility is looking into the mirror of truth, seeing yourself for who and what you are, and staying there while God is leaning in, ready to help you when you need Him most.

Humility positions you for what I call three vital movements. These aren’t “steps” or “principles”; they are the life and art of a relationship with an incomprehensible God who calls us friends. These movements will guide your life to a place of victory, and you can continue moving with Him until the end. Here are the three movements: 1. Getting honest with yourself and God. 2. Becoming powerful through God. 3. Killing sin with three strategies from God. • Confess it. • Attack it. • Block it.

Each year, on the Fourth of July, the United States celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But declaring independence was just the beginning of a bloody battle for freedom. After eleven more years and 50,000 lives lost from combat, disease, and other war-related causes, independence was secured. If the same percentage of people perished in America today, the number would have been 6,840,000 dead. There is a battleground between declaring spiritual freedom and securing all the freedom Jesus died to give us. We have “been set free from sin” (Rom. 6:7)—declared free. Then, Paul challenges us immediately: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Rom. 6:12)—secure your total freedom. God didn’t send Jesus to give you the gift of new life only to leave you on life support. Conquering that one thing that is killing you is a bloody battle.

The world, the flesh, and the devil are brutal enemies of our souls. The battles are real, and feelings of sadness, shame, disgust, or fear are natural responses to sin, but they don’t have to define us and leave us in a heap of defeat. The battle belongs to the Lord. Our job is to join Him.

Like any tree designed to bear fruit, you can bank on this: the stuff that comes out of your life will always be consistent with the root of your life. But be encouraged—God’s best work is done in the deep, unseen soil of your soul.

The root of all our sins is that something or someone is taking the place of God. When God is pushed to the margins in any area of your life, sin will begin to take root.

It’s God’s work, or it won’t work. But the best surprise is discovering that all your exhausting attempts at behavior change are replaced by God, who has all the power and the desire to use it to conquer that one thing defeating you.

God’s grace saves us and trains us! Your ability to deny what is not of God, to straighten out twisted passions, and to live a life that honors God is all about God’s grace. Boiled down, grace is God’s power to do in us what we can’t do in ourselves.

Broken, humble, and reliant on God is the posture of power. No more behavior modification, just readiness and willingness to step out in Holy Spirit power that produces transformation.

the short-term pain of owning sin is far less than the long-term consequences of not.

You Can’t Kill What You Don’t Despise

The cost of not despising sin is that we never have the proper passion to conquer it.

God hates sin for a good reason. He hates what sin does to erode souls, friendships, churches, and nations. God hates that sin leaves people in bondage, subjects people to abuse, and starves people for love.

If Satan and his demons, who are whispering lies constantly, can’t keep you from heaven, they’ll try to hold you in the hell of self-condemnation.

Hating sin is not a commonly discussed discipline of faith, but it’s vital for anyone who wants to conquer what is killing them.

It was a moment that I’ve never forgotten. The lesson was simple: humble leaders eat last but are ultimately well-fed.

Look at this grace! It’s the power to save and train us, to overcome the sin that is killing us. It overthrows our flawed thinking about how to conquer what’s defeating us. Many know well that God’s power alone saves us and secures our place with God for eternity. But most of us have lived like we need to muster the power to grow in our relationship with God and kill sin in our lives.

Simply put, God’s grace is undeserved favor and unreserved power. Understanding this is a watershed moment. I hope you grasp it now. Fully grasp that God’s grace gives us the power to say no to the passions that take us away from God. It’s grace that gives us self-control. Grace enables us to stand tall and build a life that honors God. The notion that you must be strong enough to kill sin is a lie. Grace alone kills sin.

Yes, killing sin involves taking severe measures. Exerting effort to kill the sin is difficult. But grace comes first—otherwise, we will labor apart from God’s power, unable to do what only God can do.

We are all born into the outgoing tide of sin. And without intervention, the power and consequences of sin will overtake all of us. But Jesus comes through and throws us the line of salvation. He brings the ultimate rescue by saving us not just from what would end our lives on this earth but from what would destroy us for all of eternity.

Satan has two main strategies: (1) keep people from seeing their need for salvation, and (2) prevent people from conquering sin and living in victory and abundance.

Jesus is the Vine and holds all the juice and life the branch needs to produce fruit. There are two ends of the branch. One is for proximity to Jesus, the Vine. The other end is for performance and fruit-bearing. You can only focus on one end. If you focus on fruit-bearing, your face naturally has to turn away from your connection with Jesus, the Vine. But if you focus on your connection to the Vine, you will see that fruit flourish one day. Think about this question: Do you focus more on trying to produce fruit in your life or on proximity to Jesus? Most people I talk with focus on squeezing more love, joy, peace, self-control, etc. out of their lives. But it will never work. The startling reality is that the further we drift from proximity to Jesus, trying in our strength and ingenuity to produce fruit, the more we drift apart from Jesus and the more susceptible we are to being picked off by sin. Just take the fruit of self-control. Self-control is not something we are naturally born with. The fruit of self-control that can keep us from caving into sin is only found in proximity to Jesus. When we drift apart from Jesus, we distance ourselves from the only source of self-control that can help us conquer and resist sin. Attempting to produce fruit in our strength and ingenuity is the wrong end of the branch to focus on. You need to focus on proximity to Jesus because that connection will ensure His power will flow through you.

Each person of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—plays a part in killing sin.

There is no chain too strong, no sin that has persisted too long, that the Holy Spirit cannot give you liberty from.

Paul clearly states that the way to prevent sin from defeating us is to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Many people hide sin and never confess it. The fear of consequences causes us to hide from man and think we can hide from God.

But whether it’s time served, a fine paid, trust that needs to be rebuilt, or broken relationships on earth, you can’t afford to pay the price of a severed relationship with God. The cost of hiding is steeper than the cost of coming clean. It’s the hiding of sin that compounds the effects of sin. Some don’t hide it—they rationalize, minimize, or try to outrun it. But the stronghold of sin only grows stronger. Sin feeds in the shadows. It gains strength in the dark. It fights with all the power of hell to never be found out or called out. But the great transfer of strength begins when sin is forced to be known. When we carry our sin, no matter how small or large, to God and others, a supernatural power transfer happens. Sin loses its strength when you call it what it is, drag it into the light, hate it for what it’s done, and agree with God that it must die. Sin is ugly, painful, and suffocating to your spirit, but it doesn’t have to control you any longer. With humility before God, proximity to Jesus, and the liberty of the Holy Spirit, you can break the stronghold of sin.

Confession is simply disclosing when we miss the mark and agreeing with God that it’s a big problem.

Any effort to conquer that one thing in your life without God’s power and plan will make you think you’re destined to be a failure. This is the greatest lie Satan tries to pull on God’s kids. All human efforts to manifest good in our lives leave us in a heap of exhaustion, embarrassment, and shame—convinced our battle will never be won.

Puritan writer John Owen famously wrote, “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.”

Gordon MacDonald noted that unseized time flows to our weaknesses. It’s true! The most dangerous time for compromise is idle time. You can have nothing but focus throughout your day and feel productive, fruitful, and satisfied in Christ. Then, you have a break in the day, get home, and have an hour with nothing much to do. WHAM! Every possible compromise—what we eat, where we scroll, and what we watch—sneaks up on us and grabs us by the throat.

Speaking truth to kill sin involves two strategies, often neglected and rarely utilized in the church today: (1) muttering God’s truth out loud and (2) directly declaring God’s truth to that sin to put it to death.

While being tempted by Satan, Jesus modeled the power of speaking God’s Word to knock evil back on its heels.

Getting God’s Word in your hand, heart, or mind is good. Memorizing verses related to your specific sin and other everyday battles is better. Declaring those truths as guided by the Holy Spirit is best.