Sins: Are there some true Christians would never commit?
Haven’t you ever heard someone say—A true born-again Christian would never do something like that. They may not say it quite that way, but I think you know what I mean. It is granted that there are people who think of themselves as Christians when they are not. But usually when this subject comes up, the discussion is about the person’s sinful life, rather than whether they have put their faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the sole basis for their salvation. The fact of the matter is that only people who have accepted this provision alone for their salvation have been saved. And exactly where is this provision stated in the Bible. If you come to this website often, you’ll see me refer to these verses of Scripture many times. I never apologize for such because this is the most important information that I can ever give to someone. Furthermore, there are always new people coming to our website.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel [the good news] which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: [Emphasis added]
What so many people don’t understand is that gaining salvation isn’t about “giving up sin,” but about accepting the provision God made through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection to deal with our sins. There on the cross of Calvary Christ was judged for the sins of the world, paying the complete penalty for them. In other words, believe it or not, Christ had YOU in mind when He did this.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit [that is to say], that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Yes, Christ allowed Himself to be identified with your sins and He paid the penalty for them all on the cross.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ [His personal representatives], as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]
People typically assume that they must DO something to earn or deserve Heaven. However, if there was anything you could for it, there was then no need for what Christ did so you could have it through His death, burial, and resurrection. The fact of the matter is that none of us have anything in good deeds or whatever that would merit our salvation and a “ticket” into Heaven. Your salvation is all a matter of grace and faith, not any work or payment at all on your part.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. [Emphasis added]
That’s right! Anyone who is saved and Heaven-bound hasn’t done anything to earn or deserve it. It is truly a gift God provides for all those who accept the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ and Christ alone who provided a way of salvation for us.
Christ’s work for all mankind by no means says everyone is saved, but that anyone can be saved. Even the worst of sinners can be saved by accepting what Christ did about their sins. Salvation doesn’t come to anyone by giving up sin because they can’t fully do that anyway. No one ever has! You will sin till the day you die. You shouldn’t but you will. But that’s true about all of us. Therefore, again, our salvation isn’t about giving up sin, but about accepting what Jesus Christ did about it in paying the full penalty for them.
Again, 2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]
Therefore, this means that the righteousness God demands for our salvation is the perfect righteousness He will credit to you as a gift the moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Personal works of any kind on our part have nothing to do with it. What a job it proves to be to get self-righteous people to accept this!
Romans 4:4-5
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. [Emphasis added]
If you have further questions about this matter concerning the place of works in all this, you can go to my other articles on this website that address this matter specifically—
Works: How important are they?
Works: Are we blessed because of our production of them?
Works: What about verses that seem to demand them for salvation?
One thing you’ll find, if you haven’t already, is that every Christian still sins. You won’t find one that doesn’t. The major difference is that there are both saved and unsaved sinners. For instance, if you ever study the book of 1 Corinthians in the Bible, you’ll find that it was a church made up of some people who sinned in just about every way imaginable. In fact, you’ll probably find some of your own sins listed among theirs. The apostle Paul reminds these people of their sinfulness early on in his letter to them, yet he speaks of them as saints.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
1 And I, brethren [fellow brother and sister believers], could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal [living often under the influence of their sinful nature]: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? [Emphasis added]
When he says they “walk as men,” he’s saying they were living just like unbelievers. To look at their conduct, there was no difference. Here he’s pointing out that they were a very sinful group of people who desperately needed to change their ways. They were by no means in danger of losing their salvation because we are assured that the salvation of every believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit the moment of their salvation. We see this fact in a statement Paul made to another group of unruly Christians. Note what he says to them.
Ephesians 4:29-31
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Obviously, he tells them NOT to do this because it was something THEY WERE THEN guilty of doing.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: [Emphasis added]
If you’ve never known believers who were doing some of these things, I assure you that you eventually will. Certainly, they shouldn’t, but they do. And, yes, these were “saints” he was rebuking about these things. We are told that in the opening words of this letter.
Ephesians 1:1
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: [Emphasis added]
If you have Christian friends who you don’t think commit sins, I assure you that it is only because you’ve never been close enough to the situation to see them commit them. Should every Christian strive to refrain from sin? Of course! But even a man like the apostle Paul admits his own “shortcomings” in this.
Romans 7:18
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will [the desire] is present with me; but how to perform [ongoing] that which is good [with perfect consistency] I find not. [Emphasis added]
Can you identify with that statement? Every believer can! No exceptions!
The battle between the Spirit of God who now lives in you, along with your sinful nature, will continue for as long as you live on this Earth. Note what Paul told the Galatian saints about this.
Galatians 5:17
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. [Emphasis added]
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is the written record of the sinfulness of that group of saints. In addition to the sins we noted that Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 3:3, we have in chapter five a case of incest.
1 Corinthians 5:1-2
1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
Then to make matters worse, fellow believers were arrogantly ignoring the situation.
2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. [Emphasis added]
Here they’re being exhorted to separate themselves from this person. But that doesn’t mean that he was somehow no longer saved. One’s salvation always remains perfectly secure.
Then in chapter six we see these “saints” quarreling and filing lawsuits against one another.
1 Corinthians 6:1-2
1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? [Emphasis added]
Then later in that same chapter Paul rebukes these “saints” for their fornicating activities.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. [Emphasis added]
Obviously, the Corinthian church was made up of many fornicators. Otherwise, he wouldn’t make such a statement. When he says they were “bought with a price,” he’s reminding them that their sins of fornication were ones Christ died for right along with their many other sins. He had paid the redemption price by His death on the cross. It was the gospel, the good news about that, which drew them to accept Christ for their salvation.
Then in the next chapter, Paul rebukes them for their sinfulness in their own marriage.
1 Corinthians 7:5
5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency [AKRASIA = lack of self-control].[Emphasis added]
Then there’s more spiritual failure cited throughout the following chapters. By the time you get to chapter 15 you find that they’d even stopped believing in the resurrection of Christ. Paul devotes a whole chapter concerning their foolishness in this. But, again, had they somehow lost their salvation over it? Of course not! These were all sins for which Christ had died, paying the full penalty for them all. Their salvation rested upon the righteousness of Christ they had become identified with the moment they were saved, not their own.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]
All our sins were held against Christ at the cross where He was judged for them.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. [Emphasis added]
For that reason, our sins can never rightfully be held against us. Did we earn this? Of course not! All this is a wonderful expression of God’s grace and His mercy.
Titus 3:5
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration [PALINGENESIA = born-again, the new birth], and renewing of the Holy Ghost; [Emphasis added]
When we accepted Christ as our Savior we were instantly born into the family of God.
Galatians 3:26
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. [Emphasis added]
This only happens by being born again. Apart from it, just as it has always been, the unbeliever remains unsaved and a part of Satan’s family.
John 8:44
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. [Emphasis added]
But faith in Christ changes everything for us. We then become a part of a new family with a new destiny—Heaven.
Conclusion—
Always remember that there’s no sin you’ll ever commit for which Christ did not die. He was judged for all of them. They were all in the future when He did this. Not one was overlooked. He was aware of them all and He died for them all. He is never taken by surprise by anything we may choose to do. We may be surprised, and others may be surprised, but not Him. Still having a nature to sin, there’s no sin we can’t commit. We must face that every day. The only real power we have that we can utilize to resist it is in our knowledge and application of the Word of God. Therefore, there’s the ongoing need for us to be learning it and applying it every day and in every situation where there’s a demand for it. The words of King David are always applicable.
Psalm 119:11
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. [Emphasis added]
