The Difference Between Sinning and Walking in Sin (KL2 Version)
From my book Kingdom Lessons Two
While the first epistle of John doesn’t directly say that there is a difference between sinning and walking in sin, if you read the chapter carefully, you may see the principle I am talking about. When John begins, it seems that he is referring to an unsaved person being forgiven their sins. However, if you read on to verse seven, the phrase “fellowship with one another” is used. In chapter 2 verse 1, John says, “My little children, I write these things unto you.” My little children speaks not of unsaved people, but new Christians that John is teaching, rather than a group being evangelized in letter.
First John 1:8 says that if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves. The next verse states, if we are faithful to confess our sins, that Christ will forgive those sins. While this is true for those who are unsaved, please keep in mind that John, although according to Wikipedia is known as being an evangelist, is not penning an evangelistic tract here. Once again, from the context of the epistle, it seems that he is writing to (my little children) a group of converts. First John 2:6 says that, if we truly belong to Jesus, we will keep His commandments and walk as Jesus walked. Note that walking in the light is the goal. We must balance that teaching by warning that if we sin, we need to repent. We will be forgiven. Then we start again. We should strive to walk in the light as Jesus did and not sin, but if we stumble, we need to repent and get back on track.
The reason I am writing this missive, is that the subject of sinless perfection came up last night, (7/7/15) at one of the fellowships I attend. While I agree with my brother’s position from a theoretical point of view, I believe that it must be balanced by other scriptures that point to the fact that as Christians, especially immature Christians, we have a tendency to make mistakes, sometimes multiple times in a day. Even the most mature of us have a bad hair day and commit sin while, as a general rule, walking in holiness.
If you read first John carefully, I believe you will see elements of the sinless perfection doctrine, but you should also see that the Lord already had plans in place for those occasions where we would fall short in our daily walk with Him. If we think that we will never sin again, that is foolishness (see first John 1:7)! When we, as Christians, don’t try to walk in the light with Jesus’ help, that is a much worse scenario. I will now share all of first John 1 and part of the second chapter, which I believe, after a careful reading, should show that while sinless perfection is the goal, from a practical perspective, we will err and need to repent from time to time.
1 John 1:1 – 2:6
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
I am going to list only a few instances, where there are examples in the scriptures, warning us that sanctification does not end with our initial repentance.
I heard it said last night that verses, which balance out the error of instant sinless perfection, do not exist. I assure you, they do exist, and I urge you, yourself, to study and find them.
After we are saved, we still need to allow the Lord to work with us for our sanctification. If He has the power to save us, He has the power to sanctify us, but while His saving grace is instantaneous, for the most part, sanctification is a work in progress.
Philippians 2:12-15
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
While there is an element of sanctification that is instant, there is also another element of sanctification that is a lifelong process. That is why Paul said in Philippians 2:12 that we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. In the next verse, he says that it is God which works in us (through His Spirit). If this isn’t the case and we have instant sinless perfection, then it would be patently obvious to everyone that we are walking in sinless perfection.
Which brings me to another point. If we are trying to reach sinless perfection by our will, eventually we will fail. In the meantime, we may begin to look like the white-washed sepulchers that Jesus warned us about in Matthew 23:27. All this to say that, while in theory, if we allow the Holy Spirit to change us inwardly and we may come to the point where we walk in the light and don’t stumble, that is not something that happens naturally from the first point of our salvation. From a practical standpoint, the less matured we are, the more likely we will make mistakes and sin, therefore necessitating repentance, and then moving onward as the Lord continues to work sanctification into us. While on one hand, we have an “honorary” perfection that comes from Jesus, because of our immaturity or propensity to weakness in some areas of sin, on the other hand, Jesus must continue to have foot-washing sessions for us. Hopefully, we need less and less foot-washing sessions as we become more mature and Christ-like!
Another passage that implies a continued need for perfection is found in the 18th chapter of Matthew. Peter asks how many times he must forgive a brother who sins against him. I think seven times seventy is an ancient Jewish manner of speech which means always or every time. Why would Jesus have any need to teach us that we must forgive a brother or sister who sins against us if, once we are saved, we never sin again?
Matthew 18:21-22
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
So yes, theoretically, the goal is sinless perfection. Daily, we need to work at submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and allow Him to change us inwardly, to become more mature and Christ-like and continue walking in the light (not walking in sin). Hopefully, the more we mature, the less often we will stumble away from walking in the light into walking in darkness (walking in sin).
However, from a practical standpoint, the less we have allowed the Lord to mature us, the more likely we are going to make mistakes and fall into sin. This means that if we become saved, we will still find that we need to seek repentance from the Lord and our brothers and sisters.
Salvation is not meant to be a fast food experience. While we can be forgiven instantly and receive Christ, the sanctification part of our experience will be ongoing. It is a process that we cannot do by our own works and willpower. If it is a technique of our own works and willpower and done independently of Jesus, it may look good outwardly, but inwardly it will be tainted by religiosity, stubbornness and pride, and at the time of judgment, it will be burnt as a worthless work. True sanctification can only be accomplished as we surrender to the work of Jesus in our lives. That means, that if we have too much pride to repent, or stubbornly kick against the goads rather than give up certain sinful activities or attitudes, some that are obvious to others around us and some not so obvious, except to the Lord, we will resist the transformation of sanctification.
Thus, the true crux of the matter is this: if we have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, and not merely religious knowledge of Him, if we sin, “That sin is not imputed to us,” as my friend Ken Welker likes to say. We still need to repent. We still need to allow Jesus to help us make things right. If we only have a religious knowledge of Him, not only is Jesus not there to help us when we sin, but those in that position may very well one day hear Jesus say:
Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Thankfully, Jesus is working daily to bring people out of religious bondage. So some who do not really know Jesus, but who have been converted like a top salesman sells vacuum cleaners, may be truly transformed by the Spirit of God, and brought into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is imperative, or else such deceived religious people will end up going to the wedding feast only to find that they are “improperly attired.” To their shock, they will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth!
Matthew 22:11-14
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Be encouraged! Jesus is good! All of the time! Jesus would not have asked Peter to forgive his brother every time if He would not be willing to forgive us, each and every time, we sincerely repent. In Romans 6:1, Paul said, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Then Paul stated emphatically, in verse 2, “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” So yes, we need to diligently work with Jesus to walk perfectly as He did, but if we do fail, and if we are sincere and repentant, Jesus will be right there, just like in the Footprints poster, to help us back onto the path of righteousness.