Bible Studies

Sin Crouching at Your Door? You Can be its Master

by Michael Edwards 
11/29/18
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The sin nature Cain inherited from Adam, was crouching at the door, desiring to have dominion, to rule and reign in his life.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin [Sin nature noun Strong’s 2403. chatta'ah] is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it [Hebrew – Strong’s 4910. mashal – reign, rule, have dominion over it].” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Gen 4:6-8 NAS

Except for Jesus, the same inherited sin nature is crouching at the door of every person born, and there is only one solution to overcome it. A solution that allows us to master it instead of it being our master.

For sin shall not be master [have dominion, rule, have authority] over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Rom 6:14 NAS

Romans 6:14 clearly tells us that our inherited sin nature will master us, have rule in our lives, if we believe we are still under the law. On the other hand, our inherited sin nature will not have dominion or authority over us if we believe God's word that we are under grace and not the law.

So, why do Christians still sin? Romans 6:14 and other verses clearly say we are under grace and not under the law. We all say we believe we are under grace, saved by grace through faith and we know intellectually this is true because God tells us.

The question is, do you honestly see yourself as 1,000 percent under grace, Christian? Are you 1,000 percent sure you are saved or do you have even a smidgen of a doubt? Do you still fear God’s punishment or possible rejection if you sin? Do you think you can sin your way out of salvation? If you do, sin still has dominion in your life, in your thoughts and mind. You still see yourself as a sinner, when in truth God’s sees you in the Spirit, in Christ, as righteous, sanctified, holy and perfected by Jesus one time offering for all of your sins. The issue is lack of belief in what God says is true. You are focused on your flesh expecting it to be perfected and sin free when God has told you to see as crucified and dead, one time for good, on the cross, never to be redeemed. You are supposed to be focused on who you are in Christ, in the Spirit. This is where God sees you. He considers your flesh as already dead and dead men cannot be arrested and charged with a crime.

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Rom 7:4-6 NAS

This is all part of your preparation for eternity where your crucified and dead flesh will not be going. God wants you to learn to walk in the Spirit now. Whatever you focus on grows. We know if we focus on our fears they grow and can take over our lives. If we focus on who we are in the flesh, our inherited sin nature rules our life, takes control, has dominion, and the symptoms of our sin actions are produced. Prisons, literally and spiritually, are filled with people who focused on the flesh. However, if we focus on who we are in the Spirit, in Christ, as God sees us, our born again Spirit rises to have dominion, to be master, to rule and to reign in our life. This is where the fruits of the Spirit are naturally produced to overcome and replace any actions of sin we may see. Just look at this listing of the fruits of the Spirit. Aren’t these exactly what we need to overcome sin in our lives?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Gal 5:22-24 NAS

The Bible tells us clearly that if we do not see these fruits of the Spirit in our life it has to do with a lack of belief about our total and complete forgiveness in Christ, our right standing with God in Christ.

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 2 Peter 1:9 NAS

So, what’s the answer? Radically Believe! Believe what God says is true! Refuse to doubt! Walk by faith and not by sight as God tells us to do – 2 Cor 5:7. This is how we walk in the Spirit.

We were made a sinner like Cain, Paul, and everyone else besides Jesus – Rom 5:19. We all inherited a fallen sin nature from Adam that has a desire and propensity to commit acts of sin – Rom 5:19. We inherited death and a fallen world without a choice – Rom 5:12. Jesus came to bring justice for us – Heb 1:9. Through His one perfect offering all who believe are made righteous – Rom 5:19, right with God for eternity. Your flesh was crucified and died one time before you were born again – Gal 2:20. God circumcised, cut off your flesh from your born again, perfected and sealed spirit.

And in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Col 2:10-14 NAS

You are under grace and not under the law – Rom 6:14. You are in Christ, in the Spirit, righteous - Rom 5:19, sanctified &, holy - Heb 10:10 and perfected - Heb 10:14, by the blood of Christ.

See things as God sees them, and you will have victory and much peace in this life as you rise above circumstances. See things with your spiritual eyes and stop looking at your dead flesh, expecting to force it into perfection. Perfecting the flesh by the flesh will never happen – Col 2:16-23, Gal 3:1-5, it is dead. Stop trying to resurrect your dead flesh like Satan wants you to do. Refuse to allow the enemy to lead you off into the flesh, to focus on the failures of the flesh, where he can attack you with guilt, worry, fear and condemnation. Focus on who you are in the Spirit, in Christ, and see yourself transformed into His image – 2 Cor 3:18, as the fruits of the Spirit, are produced in your life. These fruits will grow naturally as you focus on who you are in Christ, replacing most of the flaws and failures you still see.

But take note, your flesh will never be perfected and will always sin. Paul wanted to totally eliminate the failures he still saw in his flesh too. God told him not to worry or be stressed by the imperfections, weakness he saw in his life. God’s grace is all we need.

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Cor 12:9 NAS

If your faith is in Christ, there is absolutely no condemnation for you. If you sense condemnation, you are walking in the flesh and there is still a belief issue that you must address. Stop doubting and just believe God’s word. No person’s faith is perfect. You are saved based on God’s promise in John 3:16, not perfect faith.

If your faith is in Christ, no matter how imperfect it might be, even if you have doubts and fear, you still have overcome your fallen nature and the world by the word of your testimony in Jesus and the blood of Christ – Rev 12:11. God will not erase your name from the book of life, period – Rev 3:5. God keeps His promises!

But, it is your choice if you want to walk in victory in this life or live life doing the Adam struggle. Radical belief is the answer to walk in victory. We reign in this life when we radically believe what God says is true about us, when we walk by faith believing God, seeing by faith what God sees as already done. We have been made righteous by Jesus one sacrifice.

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Rom 5:17 NAS

The work is finished just like Jesus told us.

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30 NAS

Now let’s help others to be freed from bondage too. Let’s stop doing dead works in an attempt to be right with God when we are already right with God by the blood of Christ. Let's do living works that please our living God as a fruit of our guaranteed salvation.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Eph 2:1-10 NAS

Many more New Covenant Bible Studies HERE. Jesus poured out His blood for the New Covenant of grace and truth, replacing the Old Covenant law of Moses. Believers are exclusively under the New Covenant, the last will and testament of Jesus that began after the cross. 

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. Luke 22:20