Whoever abides in Him does not
sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 1 John 3:6
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 say about
your spiritual condition. You cannot regularly spend time studying and
meditating on God’s word, praying and walking in fellowship with the Holy Spirit,
and persist in sin.
Second, if you do not
hate sin the way God does, then you do not truly know Him. There are those who
continue in their sin yet insist that they love God and belong to Him. John
makes it clear: If you have a lifestyle of sin, you have not seen Him and do
not know Him. You may have prayed a “sinner’s prayer,” or made a commitment in
your church, or been baptized, but the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence
in your life is that you are defeating sin. This does not mean that you will
never sin, but it does mean that you refuse to make sin a lifestyle and you
immediately seek forgiveness when you 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 immediately 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
indicates that you are not abiding in Christ. Return to Him in repentance;
restore your fellowship with Him, and you will once again experience victory
over your sin.
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