THE SECRET OF VICTORY OVER SIN.
THE mistake is often made, that the actings of the flesh are the cause of the low spiritual life of believers. The truth is that the low spiritual life of believers is the cause of the actings of the flesh. Let the soul come into a higher spiritual atmosphere, by being "married to another;" let Christ be trusted, and enjoyed, and fed upon through his word, and the flesh is kept subdued. Engaged with Christ, the mind makes "no provision for the flesh," and it is kept under. So that it is not by fighting our sins in detail that we get the victory—indeed, in this way, we find that the sins get the victory—but in coming into closer fellowship with Christ. Treat and trust him as a loving wife would treat her husband; as Ruth, the Moabitess—who found grace in the eyes of Boaz, who became her redeemer and husband—trusted him to pay all her debts, and provide for all her needs. It would have grieved him, a mighty man of wealth, to have had her worried in the slightest degree about either. Alas, how often we have grieved our blessed Lord by our doubts and suspicions as to whether he has really redeemed us from all our sins, or by unbelief as to the grace he has promised for all our needs! The exhortation of Rom. 6:13, to yield ourselves unto God, is very simple. Rebecca, the bride of Isaac, was asked the simple question, "Wilt thou go with this man?" and she said, "I will go." Made alive in Jesus Christ, our risen Head, shall we not yield ourselves up to him? The exhortation is based upon the truth of the fourteenth verse, "For sin shall not have dominion over you; for [or because] ye are not under the law, but under grace." You are free from the dominion of the law of sin in your members, though not free from its existence. The old slave-master, sin, that has ruled you so long, has no right to claim your service further. Jesus Christ has purchased you. He—not sin—is your Master. Yield yourself to him. Assert your liberty; claim his protection. He will give it to you. He will sustain you, as you say, "In the name of the Lord Jesus, I am free. I will no longer yield in this or that, wherein I have been in bondage. Lord Jesus, I yield to thee."—Life, Welfare, and Victory.