IF I’M NOT A SINNER, WHY DO I STILL SIN?

If you have followed my teaching for any length of time, you know I believe that when a person becomes a Christian, they are no longer a sinner.  Their old self died with Jesus and they have been reborn just as surely as Jesus has been raised from the dead.  They are a new creation and now carry the nature of Christ instead of Adam.  If you doubt this or don’t understand it, go back and read Romans 5-6!

But people ask me, “Then why do I still sin if I’m not a sinner?”  Good question!  I’m glad you asked.

You have a choice

You sin because you choose to.  Adam and Eve were created without sin but with a free will.  They didn’t have a sinful nature.  They didn’t have to sin. They still chose to sin.

Even if you were born with a sin nature, you died and were buried with Christ in baptism. Now you are in the free state of choice that Adam and Eve started in.  You are not a sinner, but you can still choose sin.

Jesus was too smart to sin

Jesus could have chosen to sin.  But he was too smart. He knew it was stupid. Temptation came to him.  It was real. But he was not predisposed to evil and he didn’t fall for it.  You have his nature now. And you don’t need to fall for temptation either.

Sin can become a habit

The problem is that you have chosen sin enough times in your life that you have created habits of thinking, feeling and acting that are sinful.  These are simply pathways in your brain that automate your behavior.  You can change them with practice.  They are your habits, not your nature.

Don’t fall for the lies

The other problem is that you have an enemy who loves to lie to you and tell you that you are a sinner . . . that you like sin . . . that God is not enough for you . . . that you deserve it . . . etc.  And you sometimes fall for those lies because they seem true at the time.  But when you recognize them as lies and you understand their source, you don’t have to fall for them. When you confuse your habits or your thoughts with your nature, you end up fighting yourself, hating yourself and punishing yourself.  Guess whose agenda that serves!