Christians and Sin

Message / Question

Dr Dave, what's the difference between living in Sin, and Sinning? So confusing! haha. Can someone be living in Sin but yet a genuine Christian?

Response

People tend to use the term “living in sin” to describe a man and a woman living in a de-facto relationship and yes, it is possible for someone to be a Christian a still be living in such a relationship.

However, the broader question of sin and the Christian, is one that has caused a great deal of angst down the years. I think that most evangelical Christians would agree that it is quite impossible to attain a state of sinless perfection whilst living on earth, so it needs to understood that everyone, Christian included, live in or with sin to some degree. The primary difference between the saved and unsaved is their standing or status with God. Those who are “in Christ” (i.e. the born again believer, the true “Christian”) have a standing described in Scripture as “saint” – i.e. one who has been sanctified (set apart) as belonging to God. This means that they are heaven bound and have a communion / relationship with God. Those who are “outside of Christ”- i.e. one who has NOT been sanctified and does NOT belong to God has the status of a sinner. This means that they are hell bound and have no communion or relationship with God. Clearly, a person cannot hold both statuses at the same time (e.g. it is obvious that you can’t be heaven and hell bound at the same time!). So we have saints and sinners, two types of people. Sinners obviously sin, however it is possible (and just about inevitable) that a saint will sin also. Being a Christian deals with the spirit of man – the spirit is renewed and belongs in the Kingdom of God’s dear Son, being a sinner means that the spirit is still dead, cut off from God and belongs to the realm of darkness. But the mind or soul realm remains active in both the sinner and the saint and both are apt to sin – some more regularly or habitually than others. The Christian who sins however, has an advocate with God, the One Christ Jesus – the Christian’s sins were nailed to the cross of Jesus and their penalty was paid. Does this mean that the Christian can just go out and sin to his heart’s content? No, Paul deals with this very issue – he asks why a Christian would go out and intentionally sin when he knows that God has freed him, separated him from sin?

Yet I see sin in Christians constantly – things like pride, gossip, greed etc. Such sins are less noticeable because they’re more “acceptable” in society – yet the reality is that they are sins and they are regularly committed by Christians. Before we point the finger at the splinter in someone’s eye (i.e. the sin that we know that they have committed) we would be wise to check our own eye for logs!

Christians are still human, our soul (mind) is still engaged in spiritual conflict and sometimes we’ll fail. So yes, it is possible for someone to be live in (/ with) sin but yet be a genuine Christian. I am SO glad that we have a great God who is full of grace, overflowing with mercy, a God who orders our steps and delights in them, yet when we fall His hand is still there to lift us up!