Question
Why do people keep on sinning, even after being saved?
Answer
First, we must recognize that sinning is a choice that we make. We are not born sinners, but when we choose, because of being deceived in some way, to break the law of God, we become sinners. We sin because we are drawn by our own desires and we take the bate, so to speak. This is what happened in the beginning and it has continued even now as each of us has chosen to sin.
GEN 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
GEN 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
GEN 3:3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said,’ You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’ ”
GEN 3:4 And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die!
GEN 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
GEN 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
JAM 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
JAM 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
JAM 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
But, when we become Christians, we make another choice, to submit to God and turn from our sins. When we become a Christian, if we are sincere, we express a desire to leave sin and follow righteousness. When we believe in Jesus as the Son of God, repent of our sins and are baptized in water, we begin a new life brought about by a new relationship. This relationship begins when God forgives us of our sins as we arise from baptism.
ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?
ROM 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
ROM 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
ROM 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
ROM 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,
ROM 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
ROM 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Although our relationship changes, we must learn how to live the righteous life and continue to make the effort to abstain from those things we have learned to do, sins. This is a process that continues for the rest of our lives. We must grow by applying the knowledge we gain from the word of God to our lives. As we are growing, at times we do sin. But, the mercy of God is freely extended to us as we turn from our sins and confess them to God and to others.
EPH 4:17 ¶ This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
EPH 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
EPH 4:19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
EPH 4:20 But you did not learn Christ in this way,
EPH 4:21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,
EPH 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
EPH 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
EPH 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
EPH 4:25 ¶ Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
EPH 4:26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
EPH 4:27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.
EPH 4:28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.
EPH 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.
EPH 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
EPH 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
EPH 4:32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
1JO 1:5 ¶ And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1JO 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1JO 1:7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1JO 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1JO 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1JO 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1JO 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
1JO 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
By Gary Hunt
