None of us are immune to persistent sins. Some people struggle with anger, while others wrestle with worry or gossip or lust.

How do you break free from persistent sin?

You understand what Jesus has done for you. On the cross, Jesus paid for the penalty of your sins so you don’t have to pay for it. All of your sins—even the ones you haven’t committed yet—have been paid for on the cross.

Jesus not only paid for your sin, but he also paid to break the power of sin in your life. Now you have a power you didn’t have before—the power to say no to sin. It’s more than willpower. It’s Holy Spirit power!

The Bible says in Romans 8:2, “The power of the life-giving Spirit—and this power is mine through Christ Jesus—has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death” (TLB).

If you’re a Christian, you know Jesus died to pay for your sin. That’s the Good News. And if that was all there was, that would still be the best news in the world. But when he died on the cross, Jesus also took our old sin nature and gave us a new nature, one that no longer has to live in persistent sin. The Bible teaches, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6 NLT).

Sin no longer has any power in your life. A dead person can’t be tempted! That old nature can’t be tempted, and since it died with Christ, you can be confident that you also share in his new life.

Willpower will never be enough to break the power of sin in your life. But thanks to Jesus, you have more than enough power in the Holy Spirit to resist temptation and break the vicious circle of sin and death.