I am sorry to read of you being in “bondage to this sin.” I can say emphatically that Jesus Christ not only “saves the believing sinner from the PENALTY OF SIN” (John 3:16-17; 5:24), but He wants to “save the believer from the POWER OF SIN” too. Here is what He said on this subject:

“If you ABIDE IN MY WORD, you are My disciples indeed. And YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE… Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin… Therefore, if THE SON MAKES YOU FREE, YOU SHALL BE FREE INDEED” (John 8:33-32, 34, 36). To “commit sin” means to “practice sin,” which means one is “committing the same sin over and over again,” which is exactly what you are experiencing. You are right in saying, “I just don’t seem to have any power,” for you DO NOT HAVE ANY POWER IN YOURSELF! You are trying to gain victory over this sin in your own strength (read Romans 7:13-25 where the Apostle Paul gives us his experience where he too was trying to defeat sin by his own power and determination). Jesus teaches us that it is “by ABIDING in the WORD” that we can and will be “set free from sin.” You must DAILY read and meditate on the scriptures and then “put them into practice”; in other words, we need to obey the scriptures. The Word of God will focus our hearts on Christ Himself so that whatever circumstances we face in life, with all their temptations and hardships, we will be “lifted above our circumstances” and delivered from giving in to temptations that Satan would use to take our eyes off from Christ.  Remember, He said to “abide in My Word” and then “the Son makes you free.”

Now I would turn you to Romans 8:2 where the Apostle Paul finally found the way of “victory over sin.” He said, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus HAS MADE ME FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN and death.” What did he mean by “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus?” He was teaching us that we must allow the Holy Spirit (who lives in the believer… Ephesians 1:13; John 14:15-17) to occupy us with the “life that we now have in Christ.” So, as we “abide in the Word of God” the Holy Spirit will use the scriptures to present Christ to us. Jesus spoke of this in John 16:13-14, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will GLORIFY ME, FOR HE WILL TAKE CARE OF WHAT IS MINE AND DECLARE IT TO YOU.” This will result in “freedom from sin” and it will also result in “conformity to Christ.” In other words, we will become “more like the Lord Jesus” as the Spirit and the Word are a CONSTANT part of our life. One of my favorite passages brings this out: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror THE GLORY OF THE LORD, are being TRANSFORMED INTO THE SAME IMAGE from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

In closing, I want to stress that “there are “no SHORTCUTS.” We MUST be controlled by the Word and the Spirit or WE WILL FAIL. Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), which means without “abiding in Him” (through the Word and the Spirit) we can’t do anything that will please the Lord. It’s our choice; we can live for SELF and be in bondage to sin, or we can “be filled with the Spirit” (by consciously allowing Him to control us… Ephesians 5:18 & Galatians 5:16) which will “deliver us from sin.” I will add, in closing, that when the Spirit is allowed to control us, we will find ourselves 1) in fellowship with other believers (Acts 2:42), 2) telling sinners how to be saved (John 15:26-27; Mark 16:15), and 3) praying to God throughout the day (Hebrews 4:14-16 & 1 Thessalonians 5:17).  (DO)  (725.1 )