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The Ultimate Fight

July 14th, 2008 by Brett Wagner

theman

As we go through this Christian life, there can be a tendancy to become frustrated or even depressed over our struggles with sin. The frustration comes like this: we know what we ought to do, we even want to please Jesus, but yet we fail. The common error in thinking at this point is “there must be something wrong.” The truth is the exact opposite.

I am reading through a book by J.C. Ryle called “Holiness,” and came across a helpful section describing this experience.

 ”We make take comfort about our souls if we know anything of an inward fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian holiness. It is not everything, I am well aware, but it is something. Do we find in our heart of hearts a spiritual struggle? Do we feel anything of the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things we would? (Gal 5:17). Are we conscious of two principals within us, contending for the mastery? Do we feel anything of war in our inward man? Well, let us thank God for it! It is a good sign. It is strongly probably evidence of the great work of sanctification. All true saints are soldiers. Anything is better than apathy, stagnation, deadness and indifference. We are in better state than many. The most part of so-called Christians have no feeling at all. We are evidently no friends of Satan…The very fact that he assaults us should fill our minds with hope. I say again, let us take comfort. The child of God has two great marks about him…he may be known by his INWARD WARFARE as well as by his INWARD PEACE.”

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