Book Review: The Enemy Within

Straight talk about the power and defeat of sin
By Kris Lundgaard
P&R Publishing, 149 pages

If there is one area of the Christian life that gets neglected, it is killing sin. Yet there is no more important thing in the Christian life than killing sin. Think about it. You cannot worship with sin present. You cannot pray with sin present. You cannot walk in darkness and have fellowship with God. Killing sin is primary in the Christian life. So why is it that so many of us neglect it?

Kris Lundgaard tackles the subject of indwelling sin head-on and sheds light on what indwelling sin is, how indwelling sin works, what indwelling sin does, and how to have power over indwelling sin. Lundgaard basically takes the teaching of John Owen from his works The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers and The Mortification of Sin. This book is highly readable and captivating. I finished it in less than 4 hours time.

This book will make you feel like garbage. It will push you out on the ledge of despair. It will help you see your sin for what it is--wicked, powerful, deceptive, and contrary to the Spirit within you. But this book will also give you hope. Hope that is found in God's grace. Hope that is found in knowing the very Spirit of God resides within you. Hope that the blood of Jesus has atoned for your sins and His resurrection has defeated the power of sin.

So dear brother or sister, don't be too easily satisfied with just a little holiness, just a little sanctification, just a little grace, just a little fellowship, just a little prayer, just a little bible reading. Rid yourself of all the sin in your life. The battle rages within you. The Spirit of God wars against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit. Put to death the flesh and let the power of Christ live through you. This is more than just moral reform. It is sanctification that can only come from complete reliance upon the grace of God. There is no such thing as 'just a little holiness.' God says 'Be holy, as I am holy.' 

This book will help you understand the battle that rages within and help you engage the flesh with the determination of Samuel who hacked Agag into pieces.