Do true Christians still sin?

Quick Answer: Do true Christians still sin? Some wrongly claim that Christians no longer commit sins. However, Scripture is clear that Christians can and do still sin. Our confidence should not be in the illusion of sinless performance but in the forgiveness and righteousness we’ve been given freely by God’s grace.

Diving Deeper: Some Christians claim believers no longer commit sins. Yet, this does not stand up to the scrutiny of Scripture.

Some argue that Romans 5:12-14 means sin was non-existent before the Law. Therefore, since Christians are not under the Law (Romans 6:14), they claim Christians can’t technically sin.

However, the Apostle Paul was not saying sin only exists under the Law. In fact, the same passage says spiritual death reigned from Adam until Moses (Romans 5:14). In addition, Genesis 6:5 tells us that “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” Of course, this pronouncement about the reality of sin occurred long before Moses came down Mount Sinai with the Law.

In sum, Paul’s point in Romans 5 is not that Christians don’t sin, but that the true gravity of sin wasn’t known until the Law came in to highlight it (Romans 7:7).

Others claim that 1 John 3:6-10 suggests that Christians cannot sin because God’s seed remains in them. However, the passage is not speaking of committing sins, but practicing sin as a pattern or lifestyle. NBA players practice basketball to get better at shooting, rebounding, and blocking shots. Similarly, sinners (unbelievers) practice sin to get better at sinning. It’s their pattern and practice. But saints (believers) have a new pattern and a new practice. We are practicing righteousness, and over time we get our minds renewed by God (Romans 12:2) leading to new practices in our attitudes and actions.

We believers do have a new pattern and a new practice now that we are born of God, but we still stumble in many ways (James 3:2). Our confidence should be in the forgiveness and righteousness we have in Jesus Christ, not in the illusion of sinless performance.

Let’s Make It a Conversation!
1. Have you ever heard the false teaching that Christians no longer sin? What did you think of it?
2. What are Paul (in Romans 5) and John (in 1 John 3) really saying? Think pattern and practice.
3. React to this statement: Our confidence should be in the forgiveness and righteousness we have in Christ, not in the illusion of sinless performance.