As a new Christian, I encountered a man who told me that as Christians we could become sinless. He pointed out 1 John 3:6, which says, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”
I was confused. Something just didn’t seem right to me. Could we really get to a sinless state?
I went to the pastor of the church that I was occasionally attending. I learned that this man was wrong. As Christians, we will sin less, but we will never be sinless, until we get to heaven, of course.
Here’s what John is saying in his letter.
Sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4). Lawlessness is a disregard for God and His “laws” or His Word. To abide in Jesus, who is perfect and without sin, is to not sin. God sees us, in Jesus, as completely forgiven. Our sin has been taken away. (See 1 John 2:1-2; Romans 5:1)
It is very helpful to understand the sense of the Greek grammer in 1 John 3:6. When John writes “…no one who sins….” the verb ‘sins’ is an active, present tense verb that implies “habit, continue, unbroken sequence.” In fact some Bible translations (ESV and NIV) use the phrase “keeps on sinning,” which is more accurate. The same could be said of 1 John 3:9.
So the question for you and I is not, “Do I sin?” or “How can I reach a sinless state?” but rather the questions should be “How do I react when I sin?”
A Christian is one who does not live in a lifestyle of habitual sin. Sometimes, maybe even often times, we commit sin and even struggle with sin. That is a normal part of our Christian experience. Sin will always be present with us on this earth. But we do not live lives of unbroken sinful sequences.
When a healthy Christian sins, there is a feeling of disgust and disappointment. There is a quickness to repent; there is a felt need for forgiveness.
There is coming a day when we will be without sin. That will be the day that we see Jesus face to face; we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is: sinless!
I can’t wait!
Comments
I’m not sold , you didn’t, like most people who say we can’t become sinless provide any actual facts about how or why any of the verses that explicitly say we can are wrong
If the bible is true, then we as Christians can ascribe to no other belief than the very basic tenet that we must walk sinless lives here on this earth:
every time we are tempted God provides a way of escape, (1 chor 10 :13)
we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13)
Be Holy as he is Holy similarly be perfect as your father is perfect (1 Pet 1:15-16/ Mat 5:48)
lastly offer your lives as living sacrifices, Holy and pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1)….. does sin please God? I’d argue not.
God is not pleased with sin until someone can reasonably explain away these verses then we (Christians) must all strive to become sinless here on earth. This is no pie in the sky and therefore must be achieved. unless you think contrary to the word of God and think that when you are tempted you have to sin then you must reach sinlessness as a Christian
woah this site hyperlinked the verses that is cool lol, but somehow (1 Chor 10:13) messed up lets try again 🙂
1 Cor 10:13 LOL im bad so sad
It is necessary to be changed by Christ, necessary to seek after Him, and not be divided in heart, to pray and meditate and gather. I don’t think you should say ‘it’s on others to explain away the few verses i have chosen’…. That’s not honest. Who are you? You should know there are other verses like 1 John 3 which the writer of the article explains. You may know that Paul says ‘who will deliver me from this body of sin and death?’ Rom 7 – he does not say it to unbelievers and he does not say it has already happened. Can i suggest instead of proof by a verse or 3 that you read more chapters? You may know 1 John 2 ‘if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father.’ Or Gal 6 ‘brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently, but watch out – ‘ or you may know ‘yet i will show you a more excellent way in 1 cor 12, leading to 1 cor 13 ‘love is patient, love is kind… it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.’ Also, ‘you must reach sinlessness as a Christian’… must reach it … when? How long do we have, according to which verses?
I pray that my vision is clear enough to say that it is necessary to be changed by Christ, necessary to seek after Him, and not be divided in heart, to be moved by meditation and to ask in prayer. Working out salvation ‘in fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you’ Phil 2 is not expressed as having a time limit – isn’t the limit therefore death? What about the man who sinned by having sex with his step mother, who was to be ‘delivered unto Satan, that the flesh might be destroyed but the spirit saved’? 1 cor 5.
I don’t seek to avoid the fear and trembling by saying ‘i have no sin’, nor by saying ‘let sin abound that grace may more abound’ Rom 6.
Ok , I have been really beat up about this topic . I truly believe that we have the power given to us by means of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin. This must be a priority in our daily and maybe hourly life to tap into this spirit given power. If we do as Jesus did while he was here, pray, fast , pray , fast , resist, quote scripture, pray , fast , be obedient, pray, I believe we can overcome sin. This is a constant battle that with a good offense we can stop sin, with the spirits help before it starts thus sinless. This I’m not saying is a war that we won but more of a daily battle that we can win. I just don’t like hearing Christians say that we are human we are going to sin. Jesus overcame sin and the Spirit is there for us to keep us on track. Just need to tap in and walk in the power given to us.
Very nice article Jesus bless you and your family. Bro.Tamil maran atm65068@gmail.com