Why Do Christians Sin

Introduction

My strawberry will have I will be God and I’m suffering for letting me sweet God Sweet I’m tired of sin first the marks of life and but now has grated I find in the son On his daughter, my peace are my soul of prison.

Certainly the last two songs that Tim led coincide with the thoughts that I will be presenting this evening. I’m sure that was no accident, knowing Tim. And so hopefully you were paying close attention to those thoughts as we sang them. Are there certain passages of Scripture that make you just a little bit uncomfortable? Or is it just me? Like Paul, as he says in Galatians 2 and verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me. Perhaps do we see ourselves coming short of that? Crucified with Christ. Me no longer living, but Christ living in me, the life that I now live in the flesh.

And that seems to be challenging. Perhaps Philippians 2 and verse 14, a verse that particularly haunts me, do all things without murmuring and complaining.

A little discouraging, you get tired. That’s what I meant by worst. When I get a little tired and we start complaining and murmuring about our circumstances. And going along with that, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18, in everything give thanks. Okay, instead of the murmuring and complaining, which can so easily characterize our habits and circumstances, he says, in everything give thanks. Everything. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. It’s very difficult when we hurt, when we are disappointed, when we experience troubles, to stop and to account for all the wonderful and good things that God has provided in our lives, mostly salvation, which is an ever present gift with us. The peace of God that surpasses all comprehension. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 7.

It’s very difficult to focus in on those things and to be thankful in those moments of difficulty and discouragement. Well, this lesson’s not going well already, is it? Wow. Yeah, I struggle with some of those. And I could probably quote several others, but now I’m going to make it worse. We’re going to 1 John 3. 1 John 3. Tony, you’re usually pretty encouraging. What happened? 1 John 3 and verse 1. John speaks pointedly about the life of a Christian. See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us. That we should be called children of God. There’s something to be thankful for at all times. And such we are, he says. If you can say that, why? That’s a wow. Such we are. What an amazing place to be.

For this reason, therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him. Don’t be surprised if the world doesn’t recognize what you are and what you’re all about or appreciate it. But remember what you are. Beloved, now we are children of God. And it is not appeared as yet what we shall be. Well, we’ve got a lot to look forward to. We know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him just as he is. Boy, there is a glorious day coming for the saints of God. And everyone who has this hope, this hope fixed on him. Okay, children of God, hope fixed on him, what’s the result of that in our life? We purify ourselves. That’s an ongoing process of removing impurity.

And what does it belong? To refine ourselves after him. Everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. I think we understand the concept of his innocence and purity and perfection. And so we’re in the pursuit of that. It’s a purifying process, and that’s what we’re talking about tonight. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness. And sin is lawlessness. Now there’s nothing good in sin. And you know that he appeared, and that certainly refers to his first visit. He appeared in order to take away sins. And in him there is no sin. And then this no one who abides in him sins. No one who sins has seen him or knows him. Little children. Let no one deceive you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.

The one who practices sin is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning. He’s all about rebellion against God. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that he might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin. Because his seed abides in him. And he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. And he just is going to talk about now loving your brother as an outgrowth of being born of God. The one who is born of God loves his brother.

1. Born of God Means a Decisive Break From Sinning

But how can I ever commit a sin once I’m a believer? Am I really born of God? Should I question whether I was really burnt into him or not? Well, let’s look at the context of these statements and then draw some conclusions about our lives. Number one, certainly, this passage is saying that we are to live lives that are foreign to this world. And may I suggest that what you’ve done today has already suggested something very foreign to the experience of most of the world. The way that we have worshiped together, not just once on the Lord’s day, but we’ve had Bible classes and we focused ourselves on God and this assembly together. And this is just the beginning of what we’re all about. We live distinct and unique lives as God’s people.

And we’ve already seen in verse 3 that the child of God continually pursues the ongoing task of personal purity in the likeness of Christ. And Christ’s purpose was not to leave us in our sin, but to remove sin from our lives.

And Paul’s wretched condition in chapter 7, and now his condition in chapter 8. There is now, therefore, no condemnation in Christ Jesus. And he gives us some clues as to how to defeat our adversary here, the Spirit of God dwelling in us, verse 9. And if the Spirit of Christ doesn’t dwell in us, we do not belong to Him. And he says, and if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. And by the Spirit, he says in verse 13, you are putting to death the deeds of the body.

And he said, by doing this you will live. He’s not saying that you have put to death the deeds of the body as something only accomplished in the past, but again, this is an ongoing effort and pursuit for believers. And certainly this passage is saying being born of God means a decisive break from sinning. There is a conscious effort to defeat sin in our lives. A decisive break from sinning and a failure to do so. Means that we have not seen Jesus nor known him. And that speaks of an intimacy of association with Jesus. And that’s what Paul is talking about in Romans chapter 8. Christ in you. Or as Paul was saying, Colossians 1 and 27, Christ in you, the hope of glory. And this break is made possible by his seed abiding in us.

That’s why we do the preaching that we do, the teaching that we do, so that this seed will come to take place in our hearts, that it will germinate and produce the fruit that the Holy Spirit intends for this word to make, to be powerful in our lives in shaping and transforming us. This is how the great men of old were the people of faith that they were. This is not anything new. Their reverence and respect for God led them to walk intimately with him. Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. Abraham was the friend of God. And that tells us a lot about how we’re to go about living as God’s people. As we said this morning. God would desire perfect performance from us.

But he realizes our struggles in this regard. But he wants our sincere effort toward it. Now, we look at 1 John chapter 3, and it seems to be saying on the surface, look, if I sin, that means I’m not born of God and I’m a counterfeit.

2. John Is Answering Gnosticism

John is answering Gnosticism, and he’s doing so in a very extreme way. The Gnostic would promote sin and say, what you do in the flesh doesn’t affect your spirit. You could, instead of sing and be happy, you could sin and be happy. Just sin all you want. It doesn’t affect your spirit. God saves your spirit. So the flesh is unaffected. Sin is irrelevant. And what John is saying in 1 John is sin is very relevant. Sin in your life and heart is relevant, and no one who is born of God thinks otherwise. The one who was born of God practices righteousness in the flesh. That’s what he’s answering. First and foremost, he’s not dealing with our efforts to pursue righteousness and our occasional failure. How do you know that?

1 John chapter 1 and 2. Tell me as much. Because he says in verse 8. If we say that we have no sin in 1 John 1 and verse 8, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. That may not, that verse may not be describing our circumstances and that we’re sinning all the time. I really don’t think that’s what that verse is saying. But he does say in the next verse, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Look at verse 7. Go back to verse 7. When he says, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. Okay, that’s good.

And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us, that’s good, from all sin. But again, it’s not saying that was only done in the past. Cleanses us. There will be need for cleansing even now as we strive to walk in the light, but experience shortcomings. Look at 1 John 2. I write these things that you may not sin. But then he says, if anyone sins. If anyone sins, he’s not born of God. No, that’s not what he’s saying. If anyone sins, we have an advocate. With the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. Obviously, John is not saying when he comes to chapter 3 that if you’re really doing this thing right, you will never transgress.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. There are passages we’ve looked at before. We stumble in many ways. James chapter 3 and verse 1. And we know he would go on later in that text to say the tongue is a different, a difficult and unruly creature that we have to deal with. Sins of the tongue are common areas of pitfalls for believers. So what are we learning from this text? Yes, we have been blessed beyond measure. Yes, we have been redeemed from the pit, washed in the Lamb’s blood, but why then are we still struggling from time to time with transgression? James chapter 1 and verse 21. Again, whatever understanding we have of 1 John chapter 3, we can’t reinterpret the rest of the Bible by that.

Because in James 1 and verse 21, he says, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness. And James understands full well that we’re still going to have our struggles, putting aside all filthiness and all the remains of wickedness in humility, receive the word implanted. Oh, that’s like the seed of God abiding in someone, isn’t it? Receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. And so there’s a pursuit of perfection that’s going on, puring it, purifying ourselves just as he is pure, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 3. So it’s because of this passage and our concerns over our shortcomings that I want to address for a few minutes tonight this question, and that is that why do Christians sin? We need to understand why it is that we still sometimes fall short of his glory, and perhaps some things that will help us from 1 John chapter 3 in dealing with this problem.

Notice I did not call this sermon Why the World Sins. The God of this world blinds the minds of the unbelieving. The gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those that are perishing, 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4. The fact is, what he has going on out there is a well-oiled machine that he has put into motion. He has 2,000 years of experience since the resurrection of Christ to deal with not just the world, but believers. And he is trying the best way that he can in this world to destroy souls. And so he has this well-oiled machinery that grips the world all around us. I mean, most people in our culture just that drinking is okay. What’s the harm in it? Well, you need to control yourself, not go too far because obviously a bad thing can happen, but drinking is okay, and these days.

I mean, if you’ve got some chemistry, that’s what our movies are telling us on a continual basis. I was reading a review of a movie on plugged in online, and that’s what they said about the movie. If you’ve got this kind of chemistry, then, you know, by all means, seek sexual expression. That’s the normal thing to do. It’s considered normal. And that’s gotten to such an extent that now even homosexuality is trying to get into the normal category. If you have that kind of affection towards someone of the same sex, or just curious about that, well, go ahead and fulfill that too. I mean, that’s our world. And it is a well-oiled machine that he’s running. The God of this world. We are to live differently.

3. Satan Can Take Advantage of Us

But why is it that believers struggle? And again, I guess the goal of this sermon would be the same as John in 1 John 2 and verse 1. I say these things tonight so that you may not sin. So that you may sin not. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 1. So what happens? Well, this well-oiled machinery that the devil has going on in the world around us, that can affect us. Satan can take advantage of us. And that’s exactly the words of Paul, if you didn’t notice that in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, as he warned the Corinthians not to allow Satan to take advantage of them. And I would say more about that, but I’m getting ready to teach 2 Corinthians, and we get there, we’ll do it.

About what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians, because he obviously Satan is affecting the world, but how does he affect believers? And he said, You Corinthians are under his spell. Don’t let Satan take advantage of you and deceive you. And he was doing it very effectively. And like Paul says in Ephesians 4 and verse 27, here’s where we struggle. Do not give the devil a place. Do not give the devil an opportunity. A lot of different sins, a lot of different areas of righteousness being described in chapter 4 and chapter 5. And he says, do not give the devil an opportunity. Why do we struggle? Why is it that sometimes we do not reflect the born of God status that’s true of us? Why is it that we need the advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous for our sins?

Why do we need cleansing from time to time, even though we are in Christ? Well, here’s the answer. We’ve allowed Satan to take advantage of us. And I’ll tell you, one of the things that happens is we get absolutely oblivious to the presence of the devil. We don’t see his attacks as personal. We live our lives day after day without even regarding him. Without even thinking of what he might be trying to do to me. Oh, we know he’s out there. And again, he’s got this machinery in the world, and we see some of the really bad effects of that, as I mentioned before. But do we ever think of the devil about, you know, he’s really after me? And how’s he going to attack me?

How is he going to get you? Well, I know exactly where he’s going to get. He’s going to get you where you’re at the weakest. That’s where he’s going to probe and attack you. And he’s warning the Corinthians look, you have a very real adversary that’s after you. And the way you’re thinking, and he addresses them as a group, but it’s not happening as a group, it’s happening as an individual. Each individual is being influenced by the devil. And he comes along in chapter 11 and he talks about the craftiness of the devil and how he beguiled Eve. Do you think we’re any smarter than she was? He’s weaving that kind of craftiness among the church at Corinth. And in the context, as we’ll see in 2 Corinthians, I love this, I love this book.

They’ve turned against the Apostle Paul. He has turned the church against an apostle. Now that’s pretty crafty. That’s pretty deceitful. And they’re accepting these false apostles and false workers who have transformed themselves, and this is what the devil is really good at making bad things look good. What are those who call evil good, a good evil, Isaiah 5? He’s good at making bad things look really good. And so he transforms himself into an angel of light. That’s not talking about literally the devil transforms himself into an angel of light. Oh, look at the devil. He’s an angel of light now. That’s not what that passage is saying. That passage is saying he takes things that are dark and evil and sinful, and he puts a shine and a veneer on it that’s very attractive and appealing to us, and we say, Yeah.

That’s the way to go. Satan often supplies a beautiful background to his activity. Pretty people. Exciting events. He mesmerizes. He tantalizes. He’s all about making it so inviting. He’s the master of camouflage and trickery. In the old worm, he squirms and he slithers until he finally gains access into our thinking and it spreads out like a virus. A book has been written by Jim Bamford about selling national security secrets. And how people get wrapped up in that and involved in that. And he says in his book, The Puzzle Palace, once you’ve sold one secret, you’re hooked. They don’t start by asking for a top secret document. They usually ask for something like a telephone directory. And he says, once a person gets started, they’re hooked. And that’s the way the devil does it.

4. We Take Advantage of Ourselves

He doesn’t come in boldly and say, look here, would you offer me your soul so I can destroy it? Here, jump into this thing feet first. It’s little compromises that he’s wanting us to make. Seeds, thoughts that lead us into the path of transgression. Satan, if we’re not careful, will take advantage of us. John is warning us of that. But secondly, sometimes the guilty party is us. We take advantage of ourselves. We fail to really appreciate the sweet will of God and how it elevates and enhances our lives and we settle for less. When we reject God’s way for ourselves in any area, whether it is a failure in zeal, and I think sins of omission is something that really scare us in regard to this.

But when there are sins of omission, or when there are sins where we’re actually choosing to do something we know is in violation of the will of God. And we think, you know, I really want this thing. I really want to do this. This thing will really provide some zing and enthusiasm for my life, really spice things up. This will make it better. And we choose this thing that is actually rebellion against God, and we say, I’m getting a little more. I’m getting more of this life. You’re not getting more. Whenever you reject God’s way for your life, you’re always getting less. And sometimes it’s hard for us to convince ourselves of that because of the passing pleasures of sin. Because those passing pleasures, we think, I’m getting a little more.

I’m getting something here that’s good. But whenever we reject this wisdom in any area, we are never the better for it. This is a high calling, not just because it’s a standard that’s really high, but because it’s picking us up out of sin and bringing us into heavenly places in Christ. This is exalting. This is ennobling to be able to engage in worship and study of the Word of God with God’s people. It brings us out of the futility of the world all around us. And so one of the problems is Satan is taking advantage of us, and we are taking advantage of ourselves. We live in the age of alarms.

If you have one of those fobs for your car and you leave the car on and you get outside the vehicle, it sounds like you know, it’s alarm. You’re not supposed to leave the car running with the key in your pocket. Or your home alarm. You forget to turn your home alarm off as you’re going out the door. Beep, whatever it does, beep. Don’t do this. This is bad. Alarm. Or if you’re sleeping in the middle of the night and the alarm goes off. I know how it is around here. Grab your gun. Grab your wives grab their guns in this church. They may grab their guns first. Alarms. Where are our spiritual alarms? They need to be going off. And God built us with one internally.

You realize that, right? That’s your conscience. It’s the soul’s automated warning system. And if it’s properly trained by the word of God, when we come into the presence of temptation or a place where we are vulnerable, it should start going, beep. This is bad. This could potentially be hazardous to me spiritually to make this choice. And I’ll tell you, if we choose to sin, and again, sometimes, you know, our foolishness, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Why does Paul say on Ephesians 5? After he says, walk as children of light, trying to learn what’s pleasing to the Lord, he says that because he knows we’re still going to be foolish. From time to time, no, not all the time, but from time to time, we won’t act consistently with our calling.

We will forget about our born of God status, and we will lose sight of our association with the Lord and his seed abiding in us, and we’ll reject that in that moment.

5. We Fail to Take Advantage of God's Blessings

He knows we’re going to act foolishly. When we don’t listen to the warning signs, or because our consciousness have become dull, they don’t fire like they should. We take advantage of ourselves. But there’s the third thing, and that is that we fail to take advantage of God’s blessings. He has put some things in play to help us in our battle against sin. And four things come to mind prayer, hope, health, and time with the Lord’s people. Intimacy with God, as I suggested in 1 John chapter 3. It’s the way the men of old walk with God, we’re the friend of God like Abraham was. Intimacy with God, the seed of God abiding in us. This relationship is the key. And when that relationship is strong, when we’re investing of ourselves time in prayer and communion with him, that’s when we’re going to be at our strongest.

Look at Ephesians chapter 5 as it talks about putting on the full armor of God. Where does all of that go with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit? Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18. And the verse before the one that was really hard in 1 Thessalonians 5 18. Always giving thanks. This is God’s will for you. You know the verse before that, right? Verse 17. Pray without ceasing. I’ll tell you another thing that’s important in our spiritual success. It’s our hope. We have this hope fixed on him, he says. We’re going to be like it. It’s a hope, it’s a treasure far beyond what we can ever imagine. I’m going to preach a sermon soon, maybe. I’m still looking at this as a possibility.

Have we lost sight of heaven? We are saved by hope. Romans chapter 8 and verse 24. Hope is anchor, it’s an anchor for the soul. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 19. We must cling to the prize. It’s when we lose sight of the prize that we get vulnerable. Perhaps we need to expand our horizons, expand our perception of the prize. Spend some time meditating about the prize. And that’s another thing. We’ve got a lot of help available to us. Let’s go back to the Psalms. The Psalms were written by flesh and blood believers who had struggles and difficulties. Do you read about struggles in the Psalms? That’s what I see. I’ve got difficulties, troubles. David, when he’s in the cave, no one cares for my soul.

Have you ever been there? A lot of these psalms are about the troubles and experiences of righteous people and their struggles to live by faith, and yet they’re maintaining, you know, this is really hard for me, but I’m going to maintain my faith and confidence in God. There’s a lot of help there. And that’s why the psalmist says in that really long psalm. Psalm 119, thy words have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.

And there we have a secret. God’s help, his solution. How can a young man cleanse his way? Well, that’s what we want to do. We want to defeat this problem of sin. We want to do this purifying that our born-again status is calling us to. How can a young man keep his way pure? Well, I’m not giving attention to the word. Meditating, verse 10, meditating upon the word as we’re doing tonight. Let the word of Christ richly dwell in you. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16. The things written aforetime were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Romans 15 and verse 4. And beyond all that, there’s the very real assistance of our high priest, Jesus. Heaven is concerned about our struggle, fully aware.

First John says, God is fully aware of our struggles. But he is challenging us and encouraging us. Live according to your born of God status. Let the seed abide in you. And again, that’s about relationship. Let it dictate your thinking and movements. Bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And all of the emphasis that we see on our brothers loving one another and serving one another, that’s part of God’s solution to our problems with selfishness and sin. It’s a good thing when we say no to our flesh on Sunday evening and come to worship for an hour with the Lord’s people. Oh, I know it involves more than an hour. There’s the time getting dressed and the long drive here and the long drive home, but the time that we spend with our brethren, don’t you feel better about yourselves on the Lord’s day than any other day?

Conclusion

I do. Because this is one of the things, this service among brethren. This is one of the things that’s involved in our spiritual progress and this righteousness that we’re pursuing. Christ died not to save us in our sins, but to save us from our sins. Now, getting back to 1 John 1 7 and following, where he says, He says, if we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he’s faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins. I write these things that you sin not. I want to read to you something A.J. Gordon wrote about this text that I think he’s absolutely right. Listen carefully, and I’ll be done tonight. We gravely fear that many Christians make the apostle’s word if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

The unconscious justification for a low standard of Christian living. He says, it were almost better for one to overstate the possibilities of sanctification in his eager grasp for holiness than to understate them in his complacent satisfaction with traditional unholiness. He says, what do you say about that? Let me interpret that for you. It’d be better to talk about sanctification in a way that says you all can do that without any problem. It’d be better to overstate sanctification than to understate the problem of sin in our lives. He says, if we regard the doctrine of sinless perfection as a heresy, he says, we regard contentment with sinful imperfection as a greater heresy. Don’t misuse these verses. John 3 is not telling us that one sin means we’re not born of God, or that we’re not practicing righteousness generally in our lives.

But neither is 1 John chapter 1 saying, don’t sweat sin. Because sin in our lives is inconsistent with our calling. As we talked about this morning. And whenever we do sin, it is because something has gone amiss in our relationship. The seed is not abiding in us in that moment, and we need to get back to that in our lives. There’s a remedy for our failure. Don’t ever give up in the pursuit. But at the same time, don’t ever delve into sin isn’t a big deal in our lives. God wants a cleansed and righteous people. The sincere believer is trying to rid himself of all sin, knowing the potential consequences, knowing the harm that it brings to our existence and our souls. The child of God is to be constantly busy sweeping sin out of our lives with the help and assistance of the spiritual realm, God and His Word.

And so I ask, is God’s word abiding in you? Have you set yourself to the task of pursuing righteousness with the people of God? And that’s really what Paul was saying when he was talking about Timothy cleansing himself from all of these things and being a vessel for honor. And he says, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the master. And he says, flee you from lust and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Do you need to begin tonight, calling on the Lord from a pure heart, to pursue these ultimate things? Don’t minimize this. Don’t think, well, maybe I’ll consider that at another time, at a more convenient time.

Because when you do that, you are choosing the inferior as a way to live. If you think, no, I’m pretty satisfied in my particular course that of all these practices that I know the Bible doesn’t teach, but I’m okay with that for now. You’re choosing less. These passages are calling upon us to choose something better to be redeemed. Not just from the marks against our souls because we’ve sinned, but to be redeemed from the futility of the walk of sin. And so won’t you come to Jesus and find cleansing and salvation and purpose and hope. We stand to sing, stand and sing to encourage your response.

Because of Moses and the Lamb by and by Jesus ever.

Just the cross of the every forcing the song of Moses and the Lamb by and by Jesus evermore.

So it’s waves are round me on We will rest in the barren happy land by and by just the cross of the every single song of Moses and the Lamb by and by and with Jesus evermore.