But I Sin! What about Me?

God’s original purpose in creation was that we be like Him. Genesis 1:26 says: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” We were made to be like God. Not all powerful and all knowing, or anything like that, of course, but we were made to be moral agents capable of free will, but sinless. Unfortunately, as a free-moral agent, Adam did sin. He did rebel against God and His one lone command.

Adam and Eve believed the lie of Satan that “you shall be like God, knowing good and evil.” But instead of becoming more like God, which they were already created to be, they became very unlike God. They became contaminated with sin.
And we, of course, were born very much like them, our parents, as we inherited their sin - their fallen nature. Genesis 5:3 says: And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image.”

Thus, the image of God grew cloudy. Like a mirror all fogged up or splattered with soapy water and toothpaste, it became hard to see any resemblance of God in us. Hatred, darkness, and death replaced love, light, and life in our world.

But, Jesus came to earth to change all that. Bearing the image of God perfectly, He came with no sin bringing back love, light, and life. The world crucified Him, but to God’s purpose because that cross became the very instrument used to crucify our sin. It was the cross that again fulfilled God’s purpose to make us like Him.

How? In a couple of ways: First, at the cross, Christ paid the penalty of sin. By taking our sin upon Himself, Jesus paid the judicial penalty of death for our sin And when we place our trust in Jesus and in His atoning work on the cross, His suffering was enough. We no longer must bear our own penalty – PRAISE GOD!

As a result, Romans 8:1-2 can say: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. “ Amen, and Amen!

But that’s not all. The second thing Christ did was free us from the practice of sin. He is going to again make us like Him in our actions. We are going to be conformed into His image once again.

You see, when we fell, Jesus didn’t just abandon us to hell, but he made a way of escape. We can escape the just penalty for our sin because of the cross. Likewise, when we believe and become part of His family, He doesn’t abandon us to go on living lives of sin. But He makes a way for us to live like Him.

That’s the point of 1st John 3:5: “He was manifested to take away our sins.” Does that mean we no longer sin if we are child of God? Reading 1st John 3:6 and 9, it appears that way. 1st John 3:6 says: “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” Yikes! I sin! Don’t you? Do we not know God? Are we not abiding in Christ since we sin?

And 1st John 3:9 says, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” Oh, but I still sin! Am I not born again? Does this really mean what it seems to? If it does, I’m on some pretty shaky ground. My solid hope is built on quicksand. If someone born again “does not sin,” what does that say about me? And you? Are we not saved?

Well, here is the good news: In this verse, the King James is not the most accurate translation, because it misses the correct verb tense. Getting that right clears it all up. For instance: Verse 6 reads with the correct verb tense: “Whoever abides in Him does not practice sin; whoever practices sin has not seen Him, neither knows Him.” Verse 9 would read: “Whosoever is born of God does not continue to practice sin.”

Do you see the difference? The true child of God cannot continue to live a life characterized by the continuous practice of sin. He cannot live a life of open rebellion against God. Not and be considered a true Christian.

The unsaved, on the other hand, those who are children of the devil, they continue to practice sin. Sin is an ongoing characteristic of their life. As 1st John 3:8 says: “He who sins (Continues in an ongoing pattern of sin) is of the devil.” And as verse 10 says: In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

Every believer will sin on occasion. John even admits that in chapter 1:9-10. He calls us a liar if we claim not to have sin, and he gives us a remedy so we can receive forgiveness and cleansing. So, yes, we do sin, on occasion. As someone said, “No believer is sinless, but God expects us to sin less.” That believer cannot continue to practice sin as if he were a non-believer.

No great believer in the Bible was sinless. All of them were just like us. All sinned, and many sinned greatly. And Scripture never tried to sugar coat their lives or their actions. Abraham lied about his wife, calling her his sister. Moses lost his temper and struck the rock a second time. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Peter denied the Lord three times. All these were great men of God – heroes of the faith - but sin was an incident in their lives, not a settled practice.

J. Vernon McGee explains it colorfully: “If a child of God sins, what’s the difference between him and a lost man? The difference is simply this: when the lost man goes out and paints the town red, he comes back and says, ‘I’ll get a bigger brush and a bigger bucket of paint next time; wow, I want to live it up!’ While the child of God, if he does a thing like that, will cry out to God, ‘Oh, God, I hate myself for what I’ve done.’”

He is exactly right. The Spirit of God that dwells within each and every believer will not give us peace when we sin. Our conscience will be mercilessly tormented by our sin. We will be miserable in our guilt. And we will long for restoration of that peace that can come only from a right relationship with God.

If, as a believer, you fall into sin, you’ll have no peace until you get back out. You can have peace inside only when your life is right with God. The Prodigal Son could find himself in the pigpen, but he will quickly climb back out.