Can a Christian sin?
I’ve heard from those who believe that once a person is truly saved (born again John 3:3), they no longer sin.
The problem is that what if you do sin. Do you lose your salvation each time you sin and have to be re-saved each time, or is Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross good enough to cover every sin?
We are told that Christ died once for all sin, not over and over again (Romans 6:10, Hebrews 10:10 & 1 Peter 3:18).
I John chapters 1 & 2 are great in explaining this issue.
1 John 1:8-10 “If we say “we have no sin”, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10. If we say “we don’t have sin”, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.
An unsaved person cannot confess their sins to God until they are first saved; these verses are speaking to the Christian.
1 John 2 shows this. Starting in verse 1- My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin (keep reading). However, if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father-Jesus Christ the Righteous One. The unsaved doesn’t have Christ as their advocate, only the saved.
John is speaking to believers here. He’s telling us that to avoid sin, but, if we do sin, to know that we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ. The sins that we have committed in the past as well as future sins are forgiven through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. To say that we don’t sin as a believer is contrary to the Bible. We are supposed to avoid sin to the best of our ability, but we will fail from time to time. If we were sinless after salvation, then there would be no need to confess as it says in verse 9.
We sin but the Holy Spirit Who indwells us can’t.
Paul even struggled with his sin as a Christian:
Romans 7:14-20 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15-For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16-But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17-So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin, which dwells in me. 18-For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the desire to do what is good is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19-For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20-But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
We are to turn from sin as a believer, to strive to be more Christ like. We will never be sinless until we are home with Christ. Again, we are to flee from sin not allow it in our lives. So, yes believer’s sin. If someone sins and isn’t convicted by God the Holy Spirit, then there’s a problem, because He is the one who guides us.
Just a Thought
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