Psalm 119:9
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
Overcoming sin is a lifelong battle for every Christian. Fortunately, you don’t have to fight this battle alone. God gives the Christian the wherewithal to overcome sin. Most of the time, it is our fault that we don’t overcome sin. Our desire should be to cleanse ourselves from sin. When one is cleansed from sin, that means there is no trace of that sin on you. The Scriptures show us four things that cleanse the Christian from sin.
First, God’s Word cleanses us from sin. The verse above says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” You will never be cleansed from sin until you start spending time in God’s Word. This is one reason why group addiction doesn’t work without the Word of God. It can’t work because they are trying to cleanse someone without the cleansing agent. It would be like trying to clean the dirt off your hands without soap and water. It just won’t work! It takes God’s Word to cleanse someone from sin. You cannot take heed to God’s Word if you don’t read It. If you truly want to be cleansed from sin, then you are going to have to have a daily time in the Scriptures so they can cleanse you. Without a daily time with God in the Scriptures you will continue to struggle with your sin.
Second, confessing your sin cleanses you from sin. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Notice that God simply wants the Christian to confess their sin to Him. This seems like a simple thing that most Christians would do, but it is actually very difficult and not practiced by most Christians. It is difficult because we have a hard time telling God what we did. Confessing sin is not saying, “God, forgive me of all my sin.” Confessing sin is telling God what you have done, and when you do that He will cleanse you from sin.
Third, memorizing the Scriptures will cleanse you from sin. Verse 11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” You will continue to struggle with sin until you start memorizing the Word of God. Find the verses that deal with your sin and memorize them. Let God’s Word be stored in your heart and you will find that It will push the sin out of your life.
Fourth, having the right associations will cleanse you from sin. James 4:4 says, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Notice, if I’m a friend with God I will be opposed to the world. Having the right friends will help you avoid wrong. If you don’t have friends who do wrong, then you have a better chance of not doing wrong. The importance of having the right friends cannot be stressed enough.
Christian, you can be cleansed from sin. God gives us the way that sin can no longer influence us. Take these four things and apply them to your life. You will find when you start practicing these four things that the sins you once struggled with will no longer be a temptation.