How to Prevent Sin, In Mandarin and English

Here is an article by the late Herbert W. Armstrong:

HOW TO PREVENT SIN

by Herbert W. Armstrong

January 1968
Plain Truth Article

Do YOU realize that if it is wrong to DO a certain thing, it is wrong to harbor THOUGHTS of that thing in your mind?

“ALL have sinned,” says the Scripture.

What IS sin, anyway?

Satan ought to know — and he is the invisible influence who sways the course of this world. Hollywood is considered by many as the world’s mecca of sin. On the newsstands in Hollywood may be found a very worldly booklet, written in a very light, “breezy,” and satirical vein, titled “How to Sin in Hollywood.” It gives a very worldly definition of sin — perhaps the definition of the very Devil who devotes his time to enticing people into it. The definition is expressive, and not far from the truth. Here it is: “Sin is THINKING THOUGHTS you ought not to be thinking about things you ought not to be DOING while you are THINKING that kind of THOUGHTS.”

God’s definition is: “Sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). The law of “LOVE,” as defined by the Ten Commandments. Jesus said: “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, OUT of the heart of men, proceed EVIL THOUGHTS adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness [violations of the law — the Ten Commandments] …” (Mark 7:20-22).

“ALL have sinned,” says the Scripture. And what man — especially what Christian, is there who has not time and again experienced the struggle against sin described by the Apostle Paul? “What I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do would not, that I do.” Who is there who has not LOST that struggle, perhaps many times?

Of course no man, of himself, can live above sin. “With men it IS impossible,” said Jesus, “but with God all things are possible.” And Paul continues (Rom. 8) to show that the only DELIVERANCE from this body of death is through Jesus Christ, and the indwelling power of God’s Holy Spirit — “that the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

Yes, but we have OUR part in it, too. And it all centers in the MIND.

REPENTANCE of sin means, literally, to CHANGE one’s MIND in respect to sin. If we repent, and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, the promise is we SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Spirit … “and be renewed in the Spirit of YOUR MIND” (Eph. 4:23) — the presence of the Holy Spirit is the RENEWING of THE MIND.

How does sin actually happen? “… every man is TEMPTED when he is drawn away of his own lust [desire], and enticed. Then when lust [the desire IN THE MIND] hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15).

The TEMPTATION is in the MIND. When you THINK about the thing that tempts you — let your mind dwell on it — turn it over in your mind — whether it be a desire to GO some place, to DO something, or to HAVE something you know is wrong — that THINKING ABOUT IT finally conceives — leads to ACTION — and breeds SIN. You finally DO the thing you kept thinking about, wanting to do. If you keep thinking about it, after a while you’ll be UNABLE to resist it. That’s why you’ve lost so many of these struggles against sin — you kept THINKING about it, desiring it, wanting it.

The way to prevent sin is to let God’s Spirit fill the mind. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2).

The way to put a thing OUT of the mind is to put an OPPOSITE thought IN the mind. So often I have noticed parents of babies strive so hard to “shush” up the baby when it is crying in church. There’s something in the baby’s mind that is causing its crying or fretting. Just saying “shush!” or commanding the baby to stop fussing doesn’t usually get very good results. We have raised four children, and long ago I learned the trick of quieting the baby by GETTING ITS MIND ON SOMETHING ELSE. Instead of commanding it to stop crying, attract its attention with some new object — get it interested in playing with that object (I have often used my fountain pen with excellent results) — and before you know it the child will forget all about its crying.

Try using this same method on yourself. But instead of material or worldly things, a mature person should use self-discipline and set his mind on spiritual things. Open your Bible. Put the study of some SPIRITUAL subject in your mind. Next time you are tempted, try it. Pray over it. Ask God to help you. See how rapidly you begin to win the victory over temptation and sin, and how marvelous will be your spiritual and CHARACTER growth.

This article has also been translated into Mandarin Chinese. Here are a few lines:

如何不犯罪

由赫伯特·阿姆斯壮《note：real name of Herbert W. Armstrong》

1968年1月
浅显的道理文章《note：name translation of “Plain Truth Magazine”》

你可意识到做一件错的事情和在脑海中怀有一个错误的想法是同样不对的？

圣经说：“世人都犯了罪。”

那什么是罪呢？

撒旦知道他以无形的力量在影响这个世界。好莱坞被认为是世界罪恶的中心。在好莱坞的报摊上你会发现一本非常世俗的小册子，以其非常轻巧讽刺的口吻命名“如何在好莱坞犯罪。”这小册子给“罪”一非常世俗的定义，也许就和魔鬼的定义一样，怎样去引诱人们犯罪。这个定义表达有理，几乎近于事实。在这里，罪是一种想法，去想不应该想的事情也做不应该做的事情，而且这个想法也已经在你的脑海中。

The Continuing Church of God is making more and more COG literature available in more languages.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

How to Prevent Sin This is an article by Herbert W. Armstrong. Here is the full version in Mandarin: 如何不犯罪

Overcoming Sin What is sin? How are Christians suppose to overcome it? Here is also a link to a video titled How to Overcome Sin.

Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today? Includes quotes from the 1973 edition of The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong and explains who he was and how he should be viewed today.

Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. To see how CCOG has done so far, here is a sermon Continuing Church of God (CCOG) first year anniversary: What has been accomplished? Here is a written link to a version of that sermon in the Spanish language: Aniversario del primer año de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios: ¿Qué se ha cumplido?

CCOG.ASIA We in the Continuing Church of God also have the url www.ccog.asia which has a focus on Asia and has various articles in Mandarin Chinese as well as some in English, plus some items in other Asian languages. 我们在继续神的教会也提供此网址 www.ccog.asia, 关注于亚洲并且有各种各样的中英文文章，其中一些用菲律宾语翻译的文章也正在进行中，准备添加到这个网站中。

CCOG.IN This is a website targeted towards those of Indian heritage. It has a link to an edited Hindi translation of The Mystery of the Ages and is expected to have more non-English language materials in the future.

CCOG.EU This is a website targeted toward Europe. It has materials in more than one language (currently it has English, Dutch, and Serbian, with links also to Spanish) and it is intended to have additional language materials added.

CDLIDD.ES La Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. This is the Spanish language website for the Continuing Church of God.

PNIND.PH Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. This is the Philippines website Continuing Church of God. It has information in English and Tagalog.