Can Christians sin?
Published 8:28 am Friday, November 1, 2019
BY TONY HOSS
Throughout my life I have been taught that a Christian cannot sin; thus their eternal salvation is secured. I have often been referred to 1 John 3:6-9 as a proof text. Can you please explain these verses?
The Greek language unlike the English language is made up of several different tenses; these tenses are found in the state of the action and the time in which it occurred. On the other hand, the tenses in the English language are found in time. Consider 1 John 3:6-9 KJV “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. (7) Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. (8) He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (9) Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” The words “sinneth” in the King James Version is in the present tense, this therefore denotes that the action was continuous. Those in question are supposed Christians who continue to live in sin.
The English Standard Version helps us to understand more perfectly. Consider the following: (1 John 3:6-9 ESV) “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. (7) Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. (8) Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (9) No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
Clearly we see that one who keeps on sinning does not abide in Christ. The idea is that one who obeys the Gospel, a Christian, has no desire to continue in sin. But that a Christian cannot sin is totally foreign to the scriptures. Consider what John said, in 1 John 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” John is writing to Christians, and clearly John states that his hope is that Christians do not sin. However, even John conceives that it is possible for the Child of God to Sin. But, in those occasions Jesus stand before God as our advocate. Again in 1 John 1:8-10 KJV, John write to Christians saying, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
In conclusion John helps us to realize that even though we are Christians, we are not perfect and when we sin we must ask God for forgiveness. Truly the blood of Christ is that force that continually cleanses the true Child of God who does not live to sin but to serve God.
(Tony Hoss is minister at Centerview Church of Christ, Elizabethton.)