Living as a Christian
Can I be a Christian and still sin?
Yes. Christians still sin, and God still forgives them. What changes is your attitude to it: a Christian cannot be comfortable with sin, and the struggle against it is itself a sign of new life.
Every Christian sins
If you have become a Christian and are dismayed to find that you still do wrong, you are in the same position as every believer who has ever lived. The Bible is quite direct about it.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The apostle Paul, one of the greatest Christians of all, described his own experience like this:
For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
What is different now
Before, sin may not have troubled you much. Now it does. That discomfort is not evidence that you are failing as a Christian. It is evidence that God’s Spirit is at work in you, giving you a new conscience and new desires. A dead body does not struggle.
What to do when you sin
- Admit it to God straight away. Don’t hide, and don’t wait until you feel worthy to pray.
- Accept his forgiveness. It was paid for at the cross and it is promised to you.
- Put right what you can with anyone you have wronged.
- Get up and carry on. Don’t wallow.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
“Counselor” here means an advocate, someone who speaks up for you. When a Christian sins, Jesus himself is on their side.
So does it matter if I sin?
It matters very much. Forgiveness is free, but sin still harms you and other people and grieves God. The Bible expects the opposite attitude from “God will forgive me anyway”.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?
Sins that keep coming back
Many Christians have a particular temptation that they fall to again and again. Fighting it alone and in secret rarely works. Tell a mature Christian you trust, such as a church leader, and ask them to pray for you and check how you are doing. Where an addiction is involved, proper professional help is not a lack of faith. God often works through it.
God finishes what he starts
Progress is real but uneven, and nobody is finished in this life. Your confidence lies in the fact that God does not give up on his people.
He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.