I am a christian and I keep sinning? Is something wrong with me? Feat. Sarah Reid

If you are a follower of Jesus you may be questioning yourself? Why? Why do I keep on sinning if I have been saved and transformed!

In this conversation we talk about this topic, the importance of obedience, as well as the importance of repentance and how no matter what, because of Jesus we are made blameless and holy.

Time Codes:

0:00 - Intro
0:48 - The effect of salvation
2:55 - What a christian doesn't mean
3:28 - Difference between salvation and sanctification
3:51 - What a christian does mean
5:16 - Biblical concession of sin
7:30 - The state of a sinner
8:24 - Framework of repentance
10:31 - The complacent christian
11:20 - Summary

Music by
Over the limits
Vernacolmusic

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:48 The effect of salvation
• 2:55 What a christian doesn't mean
• 3:28 Difference between salvation and sanctification
• 3:51 What a christian does mean
• 5:16 Biblical concession of sin
• 7:30 The state of a sinner
• 8:24 Framework of repentance
• 10:31 The complacent christian
• 11:20 Summary

Transcript

Wildfire podcast is an extension of Wildfire, which has a focus of igniting men and women of God into a deeper discipleship with Christ, instilling people with a passion to radically and relentlessly pursue Christ wherever that leads.

That God's truth will spread like a wildfire.

Hi everyone, so welcome back to another Panda Conversation.

I'm joined with Sarah Reid.

Hello, Sarah.

Sarah has been looking to do this Panda Conversation for I don't know how long.

Honestly, you've really wanted to do it.

And here you are now.

What's your thoughts?

I'm so excited to be here.

Yeah, you have a lot to say in this topic, I do believe.

So we're just going to dive straight into it and ask Sarah loads of questions.

So the topic that we're going to look at tonight, the candid conversation that we're going to talk about is, I am a Christian and I keep sinning, is something wrong with me?

So there's this idea that we've, the Bible teaches that we've gone from darkness to marvelous light.

So you were once a sinner, but now you're saved and you're saved by grace.

And this salvation has brought this new identity.

You're a new creature.

You have been crucified with Christ and you've arose with him.

And now we live in Jesus.

We live in the vine that is Jesus.

And we're holy temples and the Holy Spirit now lives inside of us.

But yeah, we keep sinning.

And people really struggle with this tension now because they think now that I'm saved, you know, sin shouldn't be a reality in my life, but yet it is.

And so they start to ask themselves these questions, is something wrong with me?

So what's your initial thoughts on that?

Like, is that something that you thought about before, or what would you say?

I think when you first become a Christian, you kind of are, or I think like, you go through this like Christian high, or like, when you come home from like summer camps or like things like that, you're on like a high, and like, you try so hard, and like, you're so, so passionate about everything you do, and then you just kind of go back to the way it was before.

But you're still a Christian, and I suppose, yeah, like, I move and like, is, am I doing something wrong?

But I think we do, we live in a fallen world still, and like, Jesus hasn't returned.

Like, yes, ultimately, Jesus has won, and he like, died on the cross for our sins, but until he returns, we still have that battle of sin, and still have to pursue purity and try and strive for being as Christ-like as we can.

But that's hard, and that's when we do fall short, and like, all have sinned and all fall short of God's glory.

But it's like, I probably do think like, oh, is there something wrong with me?

But I don't think there is, like, yes, okay, there is, because you're not perfect, and no one's perfect, but we're all made in the image of God, and he sees us, when he looks at us, he sees us through the lens of Jesus.

Yes, so good, yeah.

And so, then, to build on that a little bit more, then what does it mean?

Okay, if it doesn't mean that, as a Christian, that we go from this sinless day to complete perfection, and we'll never sin again, if it doesn't mean that, what does it mean?

So if you're a follower of Jesus, you're now filled with the Spirit, and because of the work of Christ, because of the Father giving the Son, the Son securing it, and now the Spirit that enables us, because of the Trinitarian work in our lives, through the Gospel, that allows us to have three things in our lives in this process of what we call sanctification.

So salvation, we're definitively saved from sin, we're secured in Christ, and we'll be with him, and that's our relationship, and it's something we can always go back to.

That's the foundation.

Sanctification is us being saved from the power of sin.

So it's being, it's this constant process, where every day of our race, we're coming more like Christ.

And so sanctification, a key aspect of that is obedience.

So as a follower of Jesus, you're now given the power to have a conviction towards sin, the motivation to abstain from sin, and the power to abstain from sin.

So I don't know if you noticed, but before, whenever you were a sinner, that you constantly sinned, and there was nothing much to it, and guilt and shame attached with it.

But now as a follower of Jesus, you have this resounding conviction whenever you do sin.

There's this hatred towards the sin that you've done, and great lament and remorse.

And that's one of the key indicators that you're saved.

Another thing is this motivation.

You now have the motivation towards obedience, that you want to do the things of Christ and to be pure.

Whereas before, you weren't saved.

You weren't doing those things.

But also, the key component is that you have the power now.

The power of God lives inside of you.

So now you don't normally have the conviction, the motivation, but you now have the power to abstain from sin.

You no longer have to sin.

So that's number one.

So then, the second avenue is I don't sin.

As the follower of Jesus, you sin, and I sin, and the people watching this sin, and perhaps there's a sin where it's just constantly, you're just constantly going into the same cycle.

And so what do we have to say about that?

And in 1 John 2, we actually see that the Apostle John was slightly like this, and he said that, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

So that's the first aspect, the first avenue that we talked about.

You've got the conviction, the motivation, the power, so don't sin, okay?

But if you do sin, he then says, but if you do sin, if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

So even in the Bible, there's this concession that sin is this prevalent inevitability based on who we are as sinful creatures in the world around us with the devil tempting us.

It's important that we always focus on the triumph that we can have in Christ, but yeah, there is this area in our lives where there's this concession towards sin.

Do you have any thoughts on any of that?

I've said...

Um, I think if it's something that's like...

All of us sin, but if it's a recurring sin and something that keeps on...

Like as a Christian, if it's something that just keeps on coming up and you keep doing it and you consistently feel bad about it, I think you need to really think about that.

And cut off whatever it is that's...

If it's a temptation, then just cut off like the root cause of that and stop thinking about whatever it is that causes those thoughts or...

Then like makes you do the...

Like whatever the sin is.

Um, I think that's when you like repent and you...

Each time that you do it, like you repent and you pray and you ask God to forgive you, which He will, and to the power that you have in you, you will then be able to overcome that, like you said, and like...

Yeah, to not perfect, but grow closer to Christ's likeness.

Yeah.

So good.

Um, and it actually says in 1st John 3, it says, if everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness, sin is lawlessness, you know that he appeared in order to take away sins and in him there's new sin.

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning.

No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

So it's this idea of the, so we know that as Christians, that we've gone from this darkness to light and that we're saved, and we're in this process of sanctification, that we have the power, the conviction and the motivation to deal with sin, and that we who are saved will not make a practice of sin.

That will not be our state.

Our state is salvation.

That's where we are.

We're in Christ.

We abide in Him, and there's a natural fruit of that, and that fruit is obedience, the conviction, the power, the motivation.

But also, it's this idea that no follower of Jesus will have a sin in their life, such as lying, for example, and say, yeah, I lie all the time, and that's all right, and I'm going to keep doing it.

No follower of Jesus will ever do that.

And so there is a difference in the person who says, I'm just going to keep doing it.

And the difference says, I have lied in my life before, and I seem to continue to lie, and I have great remorse and hatred towards that, and I have repentance, and that's different.

So if you're a person who keeps on sinning, there's nothing wrong with you.

That's all of us are in this race of sanctification, but all of us are not making a practice of sin.

Rather, there's this remorse, there's this lament, and there's this repentance that goes along with it.

And so one framework of repentance that people can do is this.

Knowing that we're being saved, it's this idea that our bucket is leaking every day, and that we need Christ.

And that's what sanctification means.

And knowing that when we do sin, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us.

So take the sin, confess it, knowing that God is faithful and just to forgive it, and claim that promise.

And why is that?

Why would God forgive us of our sins?

Because his mercies are renewed every morning.

And so God says that he no longer remembers the sin.

It's not that he said to just forget it.

No, it's because of what Jesus did in the cross, that sin was taken and attuned for.

And so whenever we confess through the blood of Jesus, we are saved, cleansed, restored, and that's down to the power of Jesus and what he's done.

And so we can then say, forget what is behind and press on to what is ahead.

And that's this liberating freedom.

So as a follower of Jesus, you should never feel this permanent guilt and shame.

Your guilt and shame should lead you to a place of repentance.

And that repentance, when you do it, like that framework there now, should take you to this place of complete freedom and joy and peace.

Not because of anything that you've done, but because of what Christ's done.

Your salvation was always about what God did for you, and your sanctification is always going to be about what God did for you.

It's never going to be about you.

Anytime you look at you, it just highlights your sin.

But because of Jesus, not only are we given the power, the motivation, the conviction to avoid sin, but when we do sin, though our righteous man falls seven times, we can get back up because of Jesus, because we live in Jesus.

And so there's one more verse, and it says, so should I keep on sinning so the grace may abound?

So knowing that if I do fall to and fall, you know what I mean?

You can't have that security of you fall back on, but you shouldn't have that attitude towards it.

Yeah, speak into that, because I think you get what I'm trying to say.

That like, do you see that happening in a cult?

First of all, say what we're talking about just in case nobody else has picked up on it, and then say, do you see it happening?

I think sometimes there can be like a complacency in the security of Jesus sang on the cross for us.

That no matter how much we sin, we can just always fall back on the fact that our sins are forgiven.

And yeah, okay, they are, but as a Christian, you should be striving to be as Christ-like as possible.

So if you're sinning and not thinking that that's a problem and continuing to do it and just knowing that like, you're going to be forgiven anyway, I think that's the wrong attitude.

It is the wrong attitude to have because that's like, that what that verse is.

Yeah, that verse is.

Yeah, first John 3, first 4.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't think you should have a complacency in your security of forgiveness.

Totally.

Totally.

Yeah, so, that's it.

That's it.

To summarize, we've said, I'm a Christian and I keep on sinning is something wrong with me.

So, what the Bible doesn't say is that once you go from darkness to light, and you experience salvation, you're going from this place of complete sin to complete perfection, and you'll never sin again.

That's what the Bible does not say that.

So then, knowing that the Bible doesn't say that, what does the Bible say?

As a follower of Jesus who is now saved, that's your foundation and always your starting point.

You can always come back to the security of your salvation, that it was always about Jesus, always will be about Jesus, and will never be about you.

And that's something that can give us complete peace and joy.

But in this process of sanctification, this race that we're running, becoming more like Jesus, conforming to his image, that looks like two things that we've highlighted.

And one is this idea of obedience.

God has given us the conviction, the power and the motivation to deal with sin so we can be triumphant and not practice lawlessness and sin.

And through Jesus, that can be our battle cry and the normative lifestyle of a follower of Jesus.

But then if we do fall to our own fall, if we do sin, we can know that though a righteous man falls seven times, he can get back up again.

So on one hand is obedience, on the other hand is when we sin, there's repentance.

And repentance brings us back to this place of obedience.

And who the son of man sets free is free indeed.

That repentance without change is like a gun without bullets.

It's useless.

So this change brings this transformation.

As we talked about, it's not so grace may have bound and you can keep on living in that liberty of sin.

No, this repentance leads you back to obedience and leaves you back on to that lifestyle of obedience and being conformed to the image of God.

And that's the Christian life.

And it should ultimately just bring us joy and peace.

So is there anything else that you would like to say to anybody, anything that stood out, anything that you want to leave with people, any encouragement for those who maybe are struggling with this idea of sin and they really do feel that sense of guilt and wonder why?

I don't think you should feel, yes, okay, your guilt should lead you to conviction, but once you have repented, I think you should be free from your guilt and shame.

And that guilt and shame isn't from the Lord once you have repented, unless you're continually doing the same sin.

That's not from the Lord.

And you shouldn't feel guilt and you shouldn't be living in that guilt, but you should be like as Luke said, I think the son of man sets free.

It's free indeed and you should feel that freedom as a Christian, yeah.

Brilliant, well that's it for this kind of conversation.

Thanks for watching, and we'll see you on the next one.