Responses to chapter 3:
1) Oh, how I wish that sin could be beaten in a single crisis event! Of course it cannot. It is an ongoing battle and struggle that we face daily and will until we die. Pleasant, huh?
2) I feel that God has set things up in this way so that we can clearly see and feel the need we have for Him. If we could conquer sin in one fell swoop, then we would do so and be prideful about what we can do, rather than being humbled and seeing how desperately we need a Savior.
Of course we would prefer a one-time knockout fight so we could conquer sin and be done with it. Not having to battle it on a daily basis would be wonderful.
3) Hebrews 12: 1-4: We can take encouragement from believers who have gone before us. Their testimonies encourage us to keep running this race and fighting against sin. We can look to Jesus and all that he suffered and know that He gives us strength in our battle.
Matthew 16: 6: I believe this is a warning against pride. As we know, pride goes before destruction. When we have some success at conquering sin, we need to be careful and always remember that God is our strength and the only way in which we can accomplish anything good.
Matthew 26:41: We need to be in constant fellowship with God and schedule a regular prayer and Scripture time. We need to be aware of our weaknesses so that we can be on guard, especially in those areas.
Luke 12:15: Do not be consumed by material possessions or the desire for them.
1 Corinthians 16:13: We must be brave in standing up for our faith. We must be strong in the daily battle against sin.
2 Peter 3:17: We need to stand strong in our convictions so that we will not be swayed to fall into sin.
4) I am still working on this one. Being honest here - I do NOT look forward to having God search my heart and dredge up the worst sins he can find. I know that He already knows them, but I need to confront them and list them one by one and truly repent.