A Bible lesson by Ivor Jefferies
1. Who are our enemies within and without, and how do these work together against us?
Read 1 Peter 2:11, 4:3-4, 5:8, John 13:2, 1 John 5:19, Eph. 2:1-3.
2. What makes indwelling sin, or the enemy within so dangerous?
Read Jer. 17:9, 1 Cor. 10:12, 2 Kings 8:12-13, Matt. 26:30-35.
“Who would have thought to have found adultery in David, and drunkenness in Noah, and cursing in Job? If God leave a man to himself, how suddenly and scandalously may original sin break forth in the holiest men on the earth!” (Thomas Watson).1
3. What does Paul say about the power of indwelling sin, and who feels its power most?
Read Rom. 7:14-25, 1 Tim. 1:15.
4. How does indwelling sin lead to actual sin, what is its end, and how should you respond?
Read Jas. 1:14-15, Col. 3:5.
“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”2
“...always be killing sin or it will be killing you.” (John Owen).3
5. How should you and should you not kill sin?
Read Col. 2:20-23, Gal. 5:16-17, 24-25, Rom. 8:2-4, 13, 2 Cor. 7:1.
6. What does killing sin look like in practice?
Read Rom. 6:11-14, 13:14, Eph. 4:22-24, Matt. 5:27-30, 6:12-13, Ps. 119:11.
7. If He wanted to, God could destroy our sin at once. Why doesn’t He?
Read Judg. 3:1-2, 2 Chron. 32:31, Ezek. 36:31, Jer. 2:19, Gen. 19:15-20, 26, Phil. 3:12-14, Rom. 7:13, 24-25, 5:20, Luke 7:41-47, 1 Cor. 4:7.
1 Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1958, 1965 [1692, 1890]), 146.
2 Internet sources attribute this quote to different authors.
3 John Owen, The Mortification of Sin (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2004), 5.