Christian Sanctification: “Stop It” by the Power of the Holy Spirit
This all started with one YouTube video (watch it before reading):
https://youtu.be/3GWaeYRirdU?si=WrYbcR9hvtRW2Ywi
Here we go…
If we are genuinely born again, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and no longer slaves to sin, why can’t we simply tell ourselves to STOP IT? Like a seemingly malfunctioning gadget, we ask ourselves, “Is my copy of salvation defective?”
Perhaps we haven’t taken the time to read the instructions, understand what Christ came to redeem us from, or understand the gospel altogether!
A “STOP IT” mindset has a legitimate biblical foundation. However, a very important distinction remains: the Christian does not stop sinning merely through willpower. The Holy Spirit empowers the Christian to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.
It is erroneous to conclude that negative thought patterns, mindsets, and feelings can never change—only be managed.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
—Romans 7:24–25
Sin No Longer Has Mastery Over Us
Do we understand—and more importantly, believe—that sin no longer has mastery over us?
We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
—Romans 6:6–7
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
—Romans 6:14
This foundational truth HAS TO BE laid if we are ever to live victoriously in Christ, now with no condemnation. Before conversion, we were enslaved to sin. Through our union with Christ, our relationship with sin has fundamentally changed.
Here’s where the paradigm shift occurs:
I may be tempted, but I do not have to surrender!
I may experience sinful desires, but I do not have to obey them!
I may have practiced this sin for years, but it does not have to define my future!
Temptation does not mean the absence of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, it does not remove OUR RESPONSIBILITY to resist it!
God Commands Us to Stop
The Bible actually commands believers to STOP certain behaviors:
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
—Ephesians 4:28
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
—Ephesians 4:29
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
—Ephesians 4:31–32
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
—Colossians 3:5
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
—Romans 13:14
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
—1 Corinthians 6:18
Paul doesn’t merely invite believers to consider changing. He issues commands. STOP IT!
Why? Because it’s actually possible. God does not command believers to resist sin without also providing the means. Why would He ask you to STOP IT if He hadn’t already given you the power to do so?
Don’t be legalistic here. This doesn’t mean obedience is effortless or instantaneous. Here’s the BIG point, the shift in perspective that must take place: the Spirit’s presence makes meaningful obedience POSSIBLE!
Our Responsibility, His Empowerment
When we say “STOP IT,” we must include the essential ingredient: the Holy Spirit.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
—Romans 8:13
Focus on these two elements:
Our responsibility: put to death the deeds of the body.
Our empowerment: through the Spirit. Our offensive weapon is the sword of the Spirit!
Our sanctification is neither passive nor independent of God. We must be radical and militant participants in eradicating what God hates from our lives as His children.
Is it reasonable, Christian, to say, sing, or pray for the Holy Spirit to help you stop sinning while deliberately creating opportunities to indulge in that very sin?
The flip side is also true: we cannot simply rely on human determination and willpower. That won’t cut it! If it did, we would still be under the Law of the Old Testament.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
—Galatians 5:16
As much as we say “STOP IT,” we must also say “JUST DO IT!”
The Christian life is not merely about suppressing sinful behavior. It is a life of actively following the Holy Spirit. The more of one, the less of the other. They are contrary and go in opposite directions.
Therefore, there is no middle ground, no DMZ (demilitarized zone). At any one point, you are either walking in the direction the Holy Spirit leads, or you are disobeying and/or ignoring Him and gratifying the evil desires of your flesh.
Stop Negotiating With Sin
Sometimes, as believers, we spend too much time “warming up” and never start—and therefore never finish—the race. We reason with a temptation we already know is wrong. We rationalize, minimize, justify, and make excuses.
Have these thoughts ever entered your mind?
“This is just how I am.”
“God knows my heart.”
“I have tried to stop before.”
“Everybody struggles with something.”
“I will repent afterward.”
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
—James 1:14–15
We need to pluck it up and remove it at the desire stage, before it matures. To stop it—sin—we first have to stop it—evil desire. We need to interrupt that process early.
Why the prolonged internal debate about whether something is acceptable to God? Don’t we already know the truth of the matter?
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
—Psalm 119:11
The more God’s Word is in you, the better equipped you are to recognize and reject a lie. The bombardment is real. Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said:
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
—John 8:44
Notice the word desires again. Here we see where such desires come from. For the believer, the devil is no longer our father. We now know the truth and stand steadfastly in it. We can know God’s will.
So stop it. Refuse to participate. Change the conversation entirely. Don’t even entertain it. Give it no occasion. Deceitful words will entice temptation. It’s made that way. Don’t sow that seed.
Get aggressive with it! Be vigilant. This is not spiritual arrogance. It is taking God’s Word seriously.
Why am I playing host to that which God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for?
Develop a Holy Spirit-Dependent “STOP” Response
S: See Sin for What It Is
Recognize and name the temptation honestly rather than rationalizing it.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
—Romans 12:9
Notice the dual command: hate evil and love good. Good has a definition. Jesus said:
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”
—Mark 10:18
God is uniquely good.
T: Turn Away Immediately
Refuse to feed the temptation. Remove yourself from situations that encourage disobedience.
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
—2 Timothy 2:22
Like a moth to a flame, the longer you stare into the lustful eyes of temptation, the closer you drift into sin.
O: Obey What God Has Already Revealed
Replace sinful behavior with righteous action. Don’t merely stop lying; speak truth.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
—Ephesians 4:25
Having turned away, we take this step-by-step, moment-by-moment stride away from the lie and toward the truth.
P: Pray and Depend on the Holy Spirit
Ask Him for strength. Remain in fellowship with God. Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit—prepare it, work it, till it, promote it, and develop it.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
—Galatians 5:22–25
Grace Does Not Merely Forgive; It Transforms
Grace, wonderful grace. Grace does not merely forgive sin; it trains us to reject sin.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
—Titus 2:11–12
Stop it…by the grace of God!
To renounce means to give up or put aside voluntarily; to disown, discard, desert, defect, quit!
Do we now see? You can stop it! God’s grace is sufficiently powerful to empower this supernatural cessation.
God’s grace should not be misunderstood as His willingness to forgive us repeatedly without expecting transformation. Biblical grace not only pardons; it transforms. The indwelling Holy Spirit supernaturally develops new desires, convictions, and patterns of behavior in us.
We are in process. The attitude of the maturing Christian should increasingly become:
“I don’t want to keep excusing what Jesus Christ died to free me from!”
But What Happens When We Fail?
That’s all well and good, but someone will say, “What happens when we genuinely try to stop and fail?”
Guard against legalism. Don’t turn “stop it” into a theology of sinless perfection.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
—Galatians 5:17
The flesh and the Holy Spirit are in conflict. Believers still experience temptation and struggle. Have hope:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
—1 John 2:1
When we sin, Jesus Christ is our Advocate. Our response to failure should not be despair and hiding away, as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden. Quite the opposite: we should return to our Father through Jesus Christ.
We must genuinely repent, confess, renew our dependence on the Holy Spirit, and change our behavior. Make practical changes that help us avoid repeating the sin. If your sin is a persistent pattern, the body of fellow believers supports you through accountability, discipleship, and pastoral care.
We do not make peace with sin, but we also do not lose confidence in Christ when we lose a battle.
“Lord, Transform My Desires”
Here is the deeper question: why do we continue doing what we know is wrong?
We often ask God to deliver us from behaviors that we still, at some level, are willing to entertain. We desire freedom from sin’s consequences, yet remain tethered to the temporary pleasures it brings.
“Stop it,” in prayer form, now becomes:
“Lord, transform my desires so that I increasingly love what You love and hate what You hate.”
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God Who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
—Philippians 2:12–13
That is the foundation of Spirit-empowered obedience.
“I cannot stop sinning because I am only human” now becomes, “Because I belong to Christ and have the Holy Spirit, I am no longer obligated to obey sin.”
We do not fight sin in order to become children of God. We fight sin because we are children of God.
Therefore, let us walk in that supernatural empowerment to resist sin, willingly surrendering our desires to the obedience of Christ. Let’s not minimize either part: this takes both our dependence on God and our personal responsibility. So…STOP IT!!!
