4.19.2016 Finney on, HOW TO OVER COME SIN (this and entries above (unless otherwise noted, starting here 'FINNEY ON' entries from 4 books are all taken from Experiencing the Presence of God by Charles Finney (consists of 4 books)

taken from POWER FROM ON HIGH  by charles finney, chapter 10, the first of 4 books in experiencing the presence of God, all by the same author

69 in every period of my ministerial life, i have found many professed christians in a miserable state of bondage, either to the world, the flesh or the devil. but surely this is no christian state, for the apostle has distinctly said, 'sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace (romans 6.14).  in all my christian life, i have been pained to find so many christians living in the legal bondage described in the 7th chapter of romans - a life of sinning, resolving to reform and falling again.
..i notice that dr. chalmers, in his lectures on romans, expressly maintains that justification is by faith but sanctification is by works. some 25 years ago, i think, a prominent professor of theology in new england maintained in substance the same doctrine.
70  in my early christian life, i was very nearly misled by 1 of president edwards's RESOLUTIONs.
it was, in substance, that when he had fallen into any sin, he would trace it back to its source and then fight and pray against it with all his might until he subdued it. this, it will be perceived, is directing the attention to the overt act of sin, its source or occasions. resolving and fighting against it fastens the attention on the sin and its source and diverts the attention entirely from Christ.

now it is important to say right here that all such efforts are worse than useless and often result in delusion. first, it is losing sight of what really constitutes sin and second, it is overlooking the only practicable away to avoi8d it. in this way, the outward act or habit may be overcome and avoided, but that which really constitutes the sin is left untouched. sin is not external but internal. it is not a muscular act; it is not the decision that causes the muscular action; it is not an involuntary feeling or desire. it is a voluntary act or state of mind. sin is nothing else than the voluntary, ultimate preference or state of committal to self-pleasing out of which the decisions, outward actions, purposes, intentions and all the things that are commonly called sin proceed. 

now, what is resolved against in this religion of resolutions and efforts to suppress sinful habits and form holy habits? 'LOVE IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW' (rom. 13.10).  but do we produce love by resolution? do we eradicate selfishness by resolution? no, indeed. we may suppress this or that expression or manifestation of selfishness by resolving not to do this or that and by praying and struggling against it. we may resolve upon an outward obedience and work ourselves up to the letter of an obedience to God's commandments. but to eradicate selfishness from the heart by resolution is an absurdity. so, the effort to obey the commandments of
god in spirit - in other words, to attempt to love as the law of god requires - by force of resolution is an absurdity.

there are many who maintain that sin consists in the desires. be it so, do we control our desires by force of resolution? we may
71  abstain from the gratification of a particular desire by the force of resolution. we may go further and abstain from the gratification of desire generally in the outward life. but this is not to obtain the love of god, which constitutes obedience. if we become secluded monks, lock ourselves in a sell and crucify all our desires and appetites so far as their indulgence is concerned, we have only avoided certain forms of sin; but the root that really constitutes sin is not touched. our resolution has not secured love, which is the only real obedience to god. all our battling with sin in the outward life by the force of resolution only ends in making us whitened sepulchers (matt. 23.27).  all our battling with desire by the force of resolution is of no avail. in all this, however successful the effort to suppress sin may be in the outward life or in the inward desire, it will only end in delusion, for we cannot love by force of resolution.
all such efforts to overcome sin are utterly futile and as unscriptural as they are futile. the bible expressly teaches us that SIN IS OVERCOME BY FAITH IN CHRIST:  '(He) became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption (I  cor. 1.30).  '(He is) the way, the truth and the life (john 14.6) christians are said to have their hearts purified by faith (acts 15.9).  in acts 26.18, it is affirmed that the saints are sanctified by faith in Christ. and in romans 9.31-2, it is affirmed that the jews did not attain righteousness 'because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law'.
the doctrine of the bible is that Christ saves His people from sin through faith, that Christ's Spirit is received by faith to dwell in the heart. it is faith that works by love (gal. 5.6). love is brought about and sustained by faith. by faith, christians overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. it is by faith that they 'quench all the fiery darts of the evil one' (eph. 6.16RV). it is by faith that they 'put on Christ (gal. 3.27) and 'put off the old man with his deeds' (col. 3.9). it is by faith that they fight 'the good fight (I tim. 6.12),  and not by resolution.
it is 'by faith (we stand' (II cor. 1.24); by resolution we fall. 'this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith' (I john 5.4).
72  it is by faith that the flesh is kept under and carnal desires are subdued. the fact is that it is simply by faith that we receive the Spirit of Christ to work in us 'both to will and to do (according to) His good pleasure' (phil. 2.13) He pours His own love in our hearts and thereby kindles ours (see romans 5.5).
every victory over sin is by faith in Christ. whenever the mind is diverted from Christ by resolving and fighting against sin, whether we are aware of it or not, we are acting in our own strength; we are rejecting the help of Christ and are under a vain delusion. nothing but the life and energy of the Spirit of Christ within us can save us from sin and trust is the uniform and universal condition of the working of this saving energy within us.
how long will this fact be at least practically overlooked by the teachers of religion?  how deeply rooted in the heart of man is self-righteousness and self-dependence? it is rooted so deeply that one of the hardest lessons for the human heart to learn is to renounce self-dependence and trust wholly in Christ. when we open the door by implicit trust, He enters in and takes up His abode with us and in us.  by pouring out his love, He quickens our whole souls into harmony with Himself and in this way -and in this way alone - He purifies our hearts through faith. He sustains our wills in the attitude of devotion. He quickens and regulates our affections, desires, appetites and passions and becomes our sanctification. very much of the teaching that we hear...is so misleading as to render the hearing or reading of such instruction almost too painful to be endured. such instruction will inevitably produce delusion, discouragement and a practical rejection of Christ as He is presented in the Gospel.

how unfortunate is the blindness that bewilders the soul that is longing for deliverance from the power of sin! i have sometimes listened to legalistic teaching on this subject until i felt as if i would scream. it is astonishing sometimes to hear christian men object to the teaching that i have here set forth - that it leaves us in a
73  passive state to be saved without our own activity. what darkness is involved in this objection! the bible teaches that by trusting in Christ, we receive an inward influence that stimulates and directs our activity. it teaches that by faith we receive His purifying influence into the very center of our beings. through and by His truth revealed directly to the soul, He quickens our whole inward beings into the attitude of loving obedience. this is the way and the only practicable way, to overcome sin.

but someone may say, 'doesn't the apostle exhort us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, because it is god who works in us, both to will and to do for His good pleasure?  and is not this an exhortation to do what you condemn here?' by no means. paul said in philippians 2.12-3,

therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is god who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
there is no exhortation to work by force of resolution, but through and by the in-working of God. paul had taught the philippians while he was present with them; but now, in his absence, he exhorted them to work out their own salvation, not by resolution but by the inward operation of God. this is precisely the doctrine of this chapter. paul often taught the church that Christ in the heart is our sanctification and that this influence is to be received by faith. he taught this too often to be guilty in this passage of teaching that our sanctification is to be worked out by resolution and efforts to suppress sinful habits and form holy ones.
this passage of scripture happily recognizes both the diving and human agency in the work of sanctification. god works in us to will and to do; and we, accepting by faith His in-working, will and do according to His good pleasure. faith itself is an active and not a passive state. a passive holiness is impossible and absurd. let no one say
74  that when we exhort people to trust wholly in Christ, we teach that anyone should be or can be passive in receiving and cooperating with the divine influence within. this influence is moral and not physical. it is persuasion and not force. it influences the free will and , consequently, does this by truth and not by force. 
oh, that it could be understood that the whole of spiritual life that is in any man is received directly from the Spirit of Christ by faith, as the branch receives its life from the vine!  away with this religion of resolutions! it is a snare of death. away with this effort to make the life holy while the heart does not have in it the love of god!  oh, that we would learn to look directly at Christ through the Gospel and so embrace Him by an act of loving trust that our whole beings would be in harmony with His state of mind. this, and this alone, is sanctification.