‘“Whoever has been born of God does not sin. . .” (1 John 3:9). Am I
seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God means
that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks,
“Should a Christian sin?” The Bible emphatically states that a Christian must
not sin. The work of the new birth is being effective in us when we do not
commit sin. It is not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we
have actually stopped sinning. Yet 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin—
it simply means that if we will obey the life of God in us, that we do not have
to sin.’ CHAMBERS
Many times I have pointed people to Romans 7:21-25 where Paul talks about his struggle with sin
in his life … “the things I don’t want to do (sin) I do and the things I want
to do (live a sanctified life) I don’t do.
Then he asks the question, who will save me from this body of
death. In other words .. Paul knows he
cannot defeat his sin nature .. nor can we defeat ours … only Jesus can and
did. Romans 7 is not intended to be an
excuse for continuing to sin … but a reminder that we, by ourselves, are
helpless against it.
When we are saved … born again … we don’t have to sin .. we
choose to sin … 1 Corinthians 10:13
says God has given us a way to escape the temptation .. through Jesus, the
Spirit and His Word …. But we have to choose it … you cannot ignore the Sword
of the Spirit, the Word of God, and then expect somehow that you can use it
effectively in a struggle with sin … you
cannot expect to ignore prayer with God and then somehow “send a quick one up
when you are in trouble”. If you want to
be consistently successful in battling sin, you have to be consistent in the
disciplines of your faith.
And if and when you do sin, well … read 1 John 1:9 …. (by the way, I have hyperlinked the scripture
references to Bible Gateway so you can read these verses now.)
Bondye Beni Ou
(God Bless You)
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