[Confident Series] Confident: Things We KnowSample

We Know We Will Never Be Sinless, but We Should Sin Less

The first truth that we need to know about our spiritual life is that we can never be sinless, but we should sin less. The Bible says that everyone who has been born of God does not sin. To be born of God means to put one’s trust in Jesus Christ as one's Savior and accept His death on the cross as punishment for one’s sins. It also means to accept Him wholeheartedly as the Lord of one’s life. Every person who does that in faith is born again. 

At the same time, it might be difficult for us to understand how the Scripture claims that when we are born again, we do not sin. If we are honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that we have sinned since the day we got saved. We might sin on our way to church on Sunday by yelling at our spouse or lying to our kids. All Christians still sin. LifeWay Research says that 67% of Americans admit that they struggle with sin. The ones who do not admit it struggle with the sin of pride. Only 5% of Americans say that they do not care about sin in their lives. In other words, most of us understand that sin is wrong and desire to have victory over it. 

So, what does the Bible mean when it says that every person who is born of God does not sin? Here, the Scripture refers to a continual and habitual sin, not to an episode of sin. In other words, a Christian should not live a lifestyle of sinning with occasional moments of godliness. On the contrary, we should live a lifestyle of godliness that might have occasional episodes of sin. For example, you should not go to church once in a while or donate a dollar towards charity every so often. Your entire life should be going in God’s direction. You should be walking with God daily because Christ lives in your heart. There still might be moments you fall into sin, but sin is not your habitual lifestyle. 

Famous theologian John Stott said, “Sin and the child of God are incompatible. They may occasionally meet; they cannot live together in harmony.” Jesus does a work in our hearts, so that habitual, continual sin is no longer part of our lives. We can never be sinless. But as we grow in Christ, we should sin less.