09/20/10 SS CLASS... I ADDRESSED THREE IDEAS #2
( I will post each idea as separate articles)
(1) THE LORD'S PRAYER.
(2) the idea this statement is both true and false; "A Christian CANNOT SIN." (see comment below)
(3) There is a difference between a sin and an infirmity.
POINT # 2
CHRISTIANS CANNOT SIN...TRUE AND FALSE...
1 John 3:6-10
(6) Whosoever abides in him sins not: whosoever sins hath not seen him, neither known him.
(7) Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
(8) He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins 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 REMAINS IN HIM: AND HE CANNOT SIN, BECAUSE HE IS BORN OF GOD.
(I emphasized this verse for this point).
(10) In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother.
To say a person CANNOT SIN is a strange statement indeed. Since the Bible says it, it must be TRUE. However, there is another sense in which a person can sin, though they have come to know Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior.
It is TRUE, in the sense that a person is a Christian based on living faith. While a person truly trusts Christ and Christ alone for his salvation, he loves God and keeps God's commands, and therefore he CANNOT SIN. It can be illustrated by referring to a husband/wife relationship. The husband cannot commit adultery if he truly loves his wife. For a man (or woman) to tell their spouse, I love you, but I am having sexual relations with another person is absurd. The adulterous party cannot truly love the spouse if he/she is committing adultery. A person cannot sin if he/she truly has the seed of God (the word, the life giving force of God Himself) dwelling in them.
However, the power of choice is not taken away at salvation. Regardless of how deeply a person has moved into the Spirit of God, he/she still retains the power, authority to choose against the will of God.
So, while person is trusting Christ, he cannot sin. When a person chooses to sin, it is because they are not trusting Christ.
If a person does something, unaware and unintentionally, that offends someone, it is not necessarily sin. But the Holy Spirit will point it out to the individual, so that they will not repeat the offense and possibly take redemptive steps with the offended party. Though the offense was not an act of sin (disobedience to God), to ignore or disobey the leading of the Spirit concerning that situation would be an act of sin.
I illustrated this by saying that I said something one time that was misleading, but I did not intend to mislead and I did not even realize I was misleading until I had already said it. I then went to the person that I had unintentionally misinformed and cleared the air. My error was not sin, but had I not obeyed the Spirit's leading to correct the error, I would have been sinning.
This is not to say a person cannot sin on the spur of the moment. If he/she does, the Holy Spirit will convict him/her and he/she will need to repent, confess and believe Christ for forgiveness and cleansing. If he does not take redemptive steps, he has added another act of sin and will continue to add until he either repent or die and go to hell.
