When Christians Sin...

Posted : 26 Nov, 2011 07:30 PM

Question: What does the Bible teach about sin in a Christian's life?

Answer: The Bible says that Christian will and does sin.

1 John 1:8, says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." It is important to understand that God, through the Apostle John, wrote this to saved born again Christians. The next verse gives us how we are to deal with sin that we commit.

Verse 9, says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Thus, when a Christian sins, God tells him to immediately confess the sin to God and ask for forgiveness. God says he has already forgiven all our sins when He saves us, but by confessing our sins, when we commit them, God helps us to put sin our of our lives and overcome them. The process of confessing our sins to God shows we acknowledge our wrong doing and God works in our lives to keep us from committing the sin again.

This does not mean that God condones sin in a believer's life.

Romans 6:2-6 explains this: "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin."

Surely, God is telling the believer that he should live for Christ and not allow sin in his life.

1 John 1:6 says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth." In other words, when a believer sins his relationship or fellowship with God is weaken or broken. It is like a son or daughter who disobeys their parents. If a child sins against his parents it does not change the fact that he/she is still a child of their parents. You are the son of your parents and that cannot be changed. In the same way when a person believes and received Jesus Christ as their Savior they become a child of God. They are born into the family of God forever. When God saves a person he gives them "eternal" or "everlasting" life ( John 3:16, 36). Thus the saved person remains eternally a child of God and will go to heaven when they die.

However, as stated above we can and will sin. 1 Cor. 10:13 tells us, "There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man:, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

God is saying when a Christian is tempted to sin, that at the same time God helps him and provides a way that the believer need not to sin. However, there are times of weakness that we willingly go head and sin anyway.

In James 1:14, God again is talking to Christians and says, "But every man is tempted, when is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Clearly, God is saying that a Christian can sin if he yields to his lust. But God, the Holy Spirit is there in the believer's life giving him the means to overcome temptation so he does not have to sin.

Every Christian when be is saved gets a new nature (2 Cor. 5:17). Getting this new nature is what Jesus was talking about in John 3:3. This new nature is the nature of God, and comes when the Holy Spirit of God indwells us at the time of our salvation. This new nature, which is the nature of God, makes us not want to sin. It draws us to God and makes us want to live godly righteous lives. It also gives us the ability to resist sin and live for God.

Thus, a believer has two natures. They have the old carnal nature they were born with (Romans 6:6) that all men have and when they were saved they received the new nature that only born again Christians have.

Note how Paul talks about this conflict that a believer has in his life between the new nature of God and the old sinful nature.

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:18-25)

Do you see the problem? Christians have two natures and they are at war with each other. The one we yield to is the one that controls us. But the answer is to give in to God's nature by obedience to God. As we obey God and fight sin we overcome it and sin less and less.

I have gone to some detail about this because so many have misunderstood the Bible and thus are teaching people false things. 1 John 1:8,10 clearly says this: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. . .If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

The true believer hates sin and realized how destructive it is in his life and in the world. Further he understands that Jesus Christ had to suffer for every sin that you and I commit. Thus the one who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior will fight sin daily and if he fails confess it to the Lord, asking for forgiveness and strength to overcome all sin in their life.

Question: As a christian who committed the terrible sin of adultry resulting in divorce and remarriage to an unbeliever, how can I repent and receive forgiveness and once again become a fruitful member of the church, when scripture proclaims that I am forever an adultress? To repent means to make an about face and turn from your sin, does this mean divorce my unbelieving husband?

Answer: When God saves us He forgives all past, present and future sins. Thus for a believer all our sins are forgiven by God's mercy and Grace. 1 John 1:9, tells the Christian to ask God for forgiveness when we fail. If we ask in repentance God will forgive (He already has) and cleanse us from doing the sin again.

This does not erase the negative consequences of our sin nor can it undo the harm done in our lives by the sin or the lives of others. You will always bear the memory and results of your actions. However, this does not mean that you cannot live a life now and in the future for the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not mean that we cannot once again have the joy and peace of our salvation.

Think about alcoholics, drug addicts, thieves, etc. God forgives them of their sin and after they are truly saved many live fruitful lives that honor the Lord. You seem to have sinned after you were saved, but the same principle applies. The day we truly repent begins a new day. Every day we live in repentance, obeying the Lord, honors God.

David sinned by committing adultery and then murder. It destroyed his family and hindered his role as the king of Israel..however, David being truly repentant went on to be used of the Lord to write many of the Psalms that are such a blessing to so many down through the ages.

We never can forget our past sins, but we take our comfort and the strength to go with our lives, knowing that God has forgiven us and that we can serve Him today and for the rest of our lives. It is said that God is the God of new beginnings and that is surely true.

I would make it a daily prayer to thank God every day for His wonderful mercy and forgiveness and for His strength He gives to keep us from sinning as we have in the past.

You have the rest of your life to show God your appreciation for His mercy and Grace. Read Psalm 40.

Question: Will a Christian who is unrepentant go to hell?

Answer: The Bible says a saved person who refuses to repent will be first chasten of the Lord (Heb. 12:6-11) and then if the person still refuses to repent God will take their life. (1 Cor. 11:29-30, 1 John 5:16-18). 1 Cor. 3:10-15 teaches that there will be saved people at the BEMA judgment who receive no reward because they had no works....but they are saved and will go to heaven. Clearly a believer who receives forgiveness of sins and is saved and then refuses to live for the Lord will be judged. The Lord gives those that believe eternal life and they are eternally saved.

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:11-13)

Here is the problem which confuses people . . . there are many who falsely profess to be Christians and were never saved. (1 John 219, Matt. 721-23). This is not a matter of a person being saved and then losing their salvation, it is a matter of them never truly being saved in the first place.

If you see a person who professes to be a Christian living in gross sin and refusing to turn from their sin . . . look for the chastening hand of God and if it is not there . . . you know you are looking at a person who not is a child of God. (Heb. 12:8) God says He chastens every child that is His (Heb. 12:6) and the absence of God's chastening is proof the person is not saved.

Over these many years I have seen both.....lost people who professed to know Christ and saved people who were unrepentant and I watched as God chasten some of them. I have seem the Lord take the lives of a number of Christians who would not repent and turn from their sin. Hebrews 10:31, which is written to believers, says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. God loves us enough not to allow us to continue in sin...but even if we forsake Him He does not forsake us.

To read the complete article you may go to

www.Bibble-truth.org

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