Avoid Sin

“Whosoever committeth sin transgressseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”…”Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.  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.”  I John 3:4, 7-8

When God gave His law to Moses on Mt. Sinai nearly 1,500 years prior to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, God was giving man the acceptable way to conduct his life in order to be in right standing before God.  Keeping the law was not the means of salvation but rather the means whereby man was shown that he was a sinner and not able to meet God’s standard of perfection on his own.  When Christ came, died for man’s sins, paying the penalty, and then being raised again which provided the only way to salvation, God’s standards for conducting one’s life did not go away.  The standards that God set for righteousness are kept, not for salvation, but because one has been saved.  Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law, but rather to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).  He was the only One who could fulfill the law perfectly and, thus, the only One who could satisfy God’s penalty for sin.  A sinful man could die for his own sins and pay his own penalty for eternity, for the wages of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23), but Jesus was able to die for the sins of all people because He was and is sinless.

As John wrote to sin is to break the law, to violate God’s standard for righteousness.  Thus, to sin is to reject God’s authority.  God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and pay man’s penalty of violating God’s righteousness, so to sin deliberately, over and over, is to slap God in the face, which is an indication that the arrogant sinner regards Jesus’ sacrifice as nothing.  If a person has truly been born again through repentance, trusting in Christ, and living a lifelong commitment to Him, then the thought of intentionally sinning against the Lord is repulsive to the believer.  When we think of the torture that Christ suffered on the cross to save us from our sins, how could we ever have a desire to do those things which put Him on that cross?

If we are abiding in Christ, that is, walking with Him on a daily basis, studying God’s word, praying, serving Him and others, and striving for excellence in our Christian lives, then we will not deliberately sin.  We will sin, but we will know it immediately and know we need to repent.  We are not sinless like Jesus, but our goal is to sin less and less as followers of the One who is sinless.  John made it clear that whoever follows a pattern of sin doesn’t know Christ, doesn’t’ see Him for who He is, the sinless, righteous Son of the most High God, nor does he or she see himself or herself as a sinner, “lost and undone, without God or His Son”.  Satan has blinded their eyes to the truth working through the sinner’s pride which convinces the sinner that he or she doesn’t need God nor Christ.  If we are abiding in Christ, the sinless Savior, then God doesn’t see our sin because He is looking at Christ whose shed blood covers our sin.  We are justified, that is, seen by God as if we had never sinned.  So amazing, but true.

Satan desires to confuse believers in every aspect of living for Christ.  If someone attempts to deceive a believer by suggesting, because of some error he made while attempting to live righteously, that he is a failure or a fraud, the believer must not fall for Satan’s lies.  If a person is living for Christ and striving to obey Him, he is a righteous person because he received the righteousness of Christ in exchange for his sins.  He will sin from time to time because of his sin nature, but not in a pattern of sin.  A true believer can’t sin and enjoy it.  Because Christ is righteous, all those who belong to Him are deemed as righteous.  If we truly love Jesus Christ, we will desire to be like Him.

On the other hand, the one whose life is marked by sin is a child of the devil, and, boy, does he sure have a lot of them if the condition of our world is any indication.  All people are either a child of God because they follow Christ or a child of Satan because they follow him whether they realize it or not.  The true believer in Christ has the advantage of knowing to whom he or she belongs, but unbelievers, while some think they belong to God, are in Satan’s family by forfeiture because they have forfeited eternal life for a sinful earthly life.  But they don’t have to be one of Satan’s minions.  God did not leave sinners without a remedy for their sinful nature.  He sent Jesus to destroy the power of sin over man, thus giving man the opportunity to break free from Satan’s grasp and become a child of God.  When Jesus came the first time, He did not destroy sin but rather the power over sin for all those who will trust in Him.  When He returns, He will destroy sin and the devil forever.

There seems to be more and more interest in Satan and the occult these days.  People don’t know what kind of trouble they can get into by getting too involved in the things of the devil.  Much of it is curiosity, but one can get caught in Satan’s trap very easily.  Matthew Henry wrote, “Let us not serve or indulge what the Son of God came to destroy”.  That’s not only good, but life-saving advice.