Christians are not sinless, but they sin less. – Alistair Begg

Are you making God a liar? Some professing Christians do in fact make God a liar.  They might not mean to or think that is what they are doing, but they do.  Here is how, believe it or not, there are professing Christians out there who believe that since they have been born again and Christ has taken away their sins, they no longer sin, they just make mistakes.

Is this true? Is there anything in the Bible that supports this position? The Bible clearly teaches that believers do sin. As long we live on earth and are still human, we will sin.  The difference between the believer and the unbeliever is that the believers does not make a habit of sinning.  This means that sinning is NOT their lifestyle.

Here are a couple of Biblical references:

1 John 5:16

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

“Brother” in this verse refers to a Christian. Here the Lord is showing us how to help a sister in Christ who sins. Another verse that speaks to the issue is

1John 1:8-10: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

In fact, 1John 1:10 says if we say we have no sin, we are calling God a liar and His word is not in us. Pretty serious. So, for those who believe Christians do not sin, nothing could be further from the truth.

When we became born again, we were saved from the penalty of sin because Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to us, we were justified, as believers walking with the Lord, sin no longer has any power over us, so as we daily walk with Christ, we are being saved from the power of sin (sanctification) When we get to heaven we will saved from the presence of sin – our glorification.

As Pastor Alistair Begg used to say, Christians are not sinless, but they sin less.

Soli Deo Gloria!