“I sin every day in thought, word, and deed.” The very words made me cringe. The person who said these words to me was not really bragging about their sin, just merely trying to be factual about their own spiritual experience.
Why I don’t think real Christians sin every day in thought, word, and deed….
1. Jesus wins against sin. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus not only defeated sin, He overcame it! If there is victory in Jesus, then we, as Christians have a different option for a lifestyle than repetitive and continual on going sin in our lives. We have been given the opportunity to live differently! The grace of Jesus is greater than all our sin! Simply put, Jesus always wins out against sin where their is human cooperation.
2. If it were true, then it would mean that there’s no practical difference between a “Christian” and a non-Christian. No real transformation. Redemption is only a theory. If we all go on sinning every day then we are bound to talk big about what Jesus cannot really do in our lives.
3. It makes Jesus death & resurrection inconsequential. His suffering does little more than convince the Father to overlook the foul stench of sin. His atonement does no more than deal with the past because it is powerless to effect the present or future in any real way. God has never been in the business of “managing” sin. He is always about a cleansing, purifying work in our hearts that effects all of our life!
4. It isn’t Biblical… at all. Where does the Bible teach that the standard for the believer is on going sin? But it does teach a lot of things about not continuing to sin!! For example: 1 John 3:6-10, 1 Corinthians 10:13, & Romans 6:12-14 are just a few of the passages of Scripture that call us to a different lifestyle than on going sin. While the Bible does not ignore the reality of sin, it does not standardize it among God’s people.
5. It is our past failure dictating the standard Christian life. Rather than the Truth of Jesus defining us, sin begin continues to shape us. It’s pretty clear in the Bible that God’s intent is that sin would not continue to define our new life in Jesus. Those old patterns of living, values, and thought processes need to be rejected for something better from God! God wants to begin to lead our lives as Christians now.
