Dealing with sin

 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Romans 8:11-12

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I Jn 1:9

So what does Paul mean, "through the Spirit"? I think this goes to the very core of he disciple's life. Some believe this is a matter of motivation. If your intensions are good, then so must be your works. I wonder though if there is something more. I wonder if Paul could have written, "if through the POWER of the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body"? Might have nothing to do with good intensions. Rather, upon what are we trusting when confronting our sin? What is this power of the Spirit? How might be access this power? 

I have seen that my younger days have gone by, and I was trapped in my sins. I knew nothing of the verse, "It was for freedom that Christ has set me free". It did not matter if my sins were peccadilloes or Armadillos, I was not getting away from them. I did not know there was any way of escape the sinful thoughts and imaginations. But this is not true. Yes, there is no way, by the power of my mind, will and emotion, that I was going to be able to conquer them, but I did not see that in fact, the power to overcome my sins was already in me. I just needed to tap into it by believing God's promises to me. 

What to do, then, with sin. Well, repentance seems like a good idea. However, repentance is not well understood. The word is "Metanoia" and it simply means, "To change your mind". Confession is also thought of as verbally telling your sins to another believer, and it is that, but really it basically is saying the same thing about your sins as God says. I'd suggest to go to Psalm 139 to start with, "See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me into the way of life everlasting". When the Spirit radar picks something up, repentance involves in putting the "sin tag" on it, and confession zaps it by agreeing with God that indeed there is sin, and it must go. Prayer might be something like "God I agree that X is sin, and I am changing my mind that there would be no hope to deal with X. Help me trust you to cleanse me from the ravages of X". Could this be walking in the Spirit, saints?