Does a Christian Sin?

“We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.” (1 John 5:18)

CHRISTIANS DON’T SIN THE SAME

There’s a difference between a Christian and a non Christian. (Psalm 30:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

You can’t tell just by looking at a photo.

Sometimes you can’t even tell just by meeting them either.

(Though, have you ever met somebody not knowing that they were a believer and yet, in your heart somehow you knew ~ you just knew?)

Here’s one difference between a Christian and a non Christian:

They don’t sin the same. (Now notice what I didn’t say.)

Christians don’t sin the same as non Christians.

It’s true. (Read the above verse again.)

And it only makes sense.

I mean, either we have been freed from sin by faith in the cleansing power of the blood of Christ or we haven’t.

JUSTIFIED, SANCTIFIED, GLORIFIED

And since we have, it means something (actually, three things).

It means we’ve been justified, first of all (instantaneously saved from the penalty of sin).

God sees us “just as if we’d never sinned” upon our confession of faith in the Son of God. (Romans 5:1)

It also means we’ve been (and are being) sanctified (progressively saved from the power of sin). (Proverbs 4:18)

We are being set apart from unrighteousness and unto righteousness. (Romans 6:12-14; 1 Peter 2:24)

It’s a process of the Spirit throughout the rest of our lives. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Lastly, it also means we’ve been (and will be) glorified (saved from the presence of sin). (Romans 8:30)

There is a day coming when we meet the Lord where sin will be gone. (Titus 2:13)

We will forever be removed from sin’s presence.

And so a Christian doesn’t sin like he (or she) used to.

The truth is we should be sinning less and less.

And when a Christian does sin, we can confess our sins and be forgiven. (1 John 1:9)

(The Temptation on the Mount in the public domain: click here. PD-US)