"Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him." 1 John 3:6
I believe the Bible makes two things clear about sin. First, living a lifestyle of sin indicates that you are not walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, regardless of what you think or say about your spiritual condition. You cannot spend time studying and meditating on God's Word, praying and walking in fellowship with Him, and persist in sin. You just can't.
Second, if you do not hate sin the way God does, then you do not truly know Him. You might say, " how can you believe that or even say such a thing?" Well, John makes it clear: if you have a lifestyle of sin, you have not seen Him and you do not know Him. The keyword here is lifestyle. There are those who continue in their sin, but still insist that they love God and belong to Him. You may have prayed a "sinner's prayer," or made a commitment in your church, or even been baptized, but the evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life is that you are defeating sin! Now, contrary to popular belief, this doen not mean that you will never sin, but it does mean that you refuse to make sin a lifestyle and that you also immedately seek forgiveness when you do sin. (1 John 1:10). It means that you are opposed to sin, as God is, and you allow the Holy Spirit to eradicate every trace of sin in your life. It means that when you sin, you immedately confess it and repent of it and do whatever is necessary to avoid repeating your sin.
If you find yourself falling into sinful habits or not grieving over your sin as you once did, this should indicate to you that you are not now abiding in Christ. Return to Him in repentance; restore your fellowship with Him, and you will once again experience victory over your sin.
May God richly bless you today!!! H Trent
I believe the Bible makes two things clear about sin. First, living a lifestyle of sin indicates that you are not walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, regardless of what you think or say about your spiritual condition. You cannot spend time studying and meditating on God's Word, praying and walking in fellowship with Him, and persist in sin. You just can't.
Second, if you do not hate sin the way God does, then you do not truly know Him. You might say, " how can you believe that or even say such a thing?" Well, John makes it clear: if you have a lifestyle of sin, you have not seen Him and you do not know Him. The keyword here is lifestyle. There are those who continue in their sin, but still insist that they love God and belong to Him. You may have prayed a "sinner's prayer," or made a commitment in your church, or even been baptized, but the evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life is that you are defeating sin! Now, contrary to popular belief, this doen not mean that you will never sin, but it does mean that you refuse to make sin a lifestyle and that you also immedately seek forgiveness when you do sin. (1 John 1:10). It means that you are opposed to sin, as God is, and you allow the Holy Spirit to eradicate every trace of sin in your life. It means that when you sin, you immedately confess it and repent of it and do whatever is necessary to avoid repeating your sin.
If you find yourself falling into sinful habits or not grieving over your sin as you once did, this should indicate to you that you are not now abiding in Christ. Return to Him in repentance; restore your fellowship with Him, and you will once again experience victory over your sin.
May God richly bless you today!!! H Trent
Comments
Post a Comment