Do Christians Continue to Willfully Sin?
To most believers in Jesus, the answer to this question is obvious. Yes, of course, we still sin against God. We transgress His Law, daily. The question, however, is asking whether we do so willfully.
The Christian’s relationship to sin has changed. Instead of being a slave to sin (Rom 6:6, 16–20), the redeemed are slaves to Christ and to righteousness (Rom 6:19; Eph 6:6). Grace now reigns for those transferred into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13), realized in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). This means that the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit who is the Lord (2 Cor 3:17), is the prevailing influence upon the Christian’s mind (1 Cor 2:16) and in his heart (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11; Jas 4:5).
Prior to regeneration, the soul and body of a man is influenced by sin, Satan, and the world. It is natural for this man to want to sin, to love sin, and to applaud other sinners in their practice of sinning. Sinning is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4), and lawless rebels, haters of God (Rom 1:30), derive a momentary rush from their acts of disobedience, before the wrath of God appears in judgment (see the Deluge, Babel, Sodom, Jerusalem, etc.). Sin is the very nature of natural man, the sons of Adam (Rom 5:12–21; 1 Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1–3).
The sons of disobedience are children of the devil (Eph 2:2; 1 Jn 3:10) whose ways are only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). Many vice lists are provided in the Bible for the purpose of calling sin…”sin.” Sinners obviously do not appreciate the name the Bible gives to them, but the fruit from their corruption is recognizable (Mt 7:15–23).
On the day of our Lord Jesus Christ’s return in glory (Mt 24:29–31), the Holy Spirit will raise the dead in the resurrection (Jn 5:28–29). Two groups will be obvious on that day, for one group will be changed in a twinkling of an eye (1 Cor 15:52). The reunion of the soul, with a glorified body (Rom 8:30; 1 Cor 15), will result in those who will be caught up together in the air with King Jesus (1 Thess 4:17).
The resurrection of the other group to judgment, actually sentencing, consummates, as they are cast into fiery hell for eternal punishment (Mt 5:22; 18:9; 25:46; Jude 1:7). This latter group is the mass of humanity, born into Adam (Rom 5:12–21), and prepared by God to suffer the consequences of sin (Rom 9:22). In this action, God displays His righteous judgment and perfect justice.
Man is responsible for sin, and God is not obligated, nor guilty for not saving everyone. He owes mercy to no one. Sinful men charge God with being a tyrant, unfair for not saving everyone. Others twist the Scripture to try and protect God’s reputation (while bolstering their own!). In doing so, they rob God of the glory He deserves, for being sovereign in salvation (not a conditional co-venture with man). The Universalist and the Arminian are both called to repent for their misrepresentation of our Sovereign King and Lord of all (Ps 10:3:19; Acts 10:36; 17:30; 1 Tim 6:15).
The Christian does not go on sinning willfully, after receiving the knowledge of the truth (Heb 10:26). The truth, as it is in Jesus Christ (eph 4:21), holds that we have complete forgiveness for our sins: past; present; and future (Rom 8:1; Col 2:14).
The occupying evil conscience has been cleansed by the blood of Christ (Heb 10:22); and the saint is daily washed by the water of the Word (Eph 5:26). The fully sufficient sacrifice for sins moves the God-fearer from attempted obedience to the Law (utter failure), to a life of faith in the great High Priest over the house of God (Heb 10:21).
Our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, has offered His body for sacrifice (Heb 10:10), as the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29; Rev 5:6, 12), who in one infinitely valuable offering for sin, has atoned for His people from all over the world (Jn 1:29; 1 Pet 2:24; Rev 5:9). In Him, the forgiveness of sins is preached, in the hearing of all people (Mt 24:14; Mk 16:15; Acts 17:30).
The sinner, under the Law, has many witnesses who could be called to testify of transgressions, resulting in a justifiable death sentence. Who is the witness, today, but the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29)? It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness of Christ (Acts 1:8; 5:32), through the preaching of the Gospel of God. The consequences of disobedience to the Law of Moses demanded death, so where is the sin of unbelieving in these matters?
It is the Spirit who teaches men the incomparable Christ (Heb 10:15). The knowledge of God in Christ is eternal life (Jn 17:3; 1 Jn 5:20). The proud man willingly sins against God, in rejecting the Gospel of Christ. He insults the Spirit of God, who is graciously making Christ known to him (Heb 10:29–30).
The arrogant pride of the self-confident man is his own demise (Prv 16:18). His sinful flesh has no righteousness of its own, nor does it have any inclination to seek the God, who is true (Rom 3:4; 10–12).
The regenerate believer sees the Lamb and the great High Priest, and he is humbled by his participation in the tragedy of humanity. Seeing his own wretchedness (the unbeliever never sees this), compared with the beauty of Christ, he can only marvel at the love, mercy, and grace shown him by our Triune God. He knows he has been granted the grace of repentance (Acts 5:31; 11:18) and the gift of faith (Eph 2:8–9; Phil 1:29).
Unregenerate unbelievers hate the Law of God and dismiss the Person, who perfectly fulfilled the Law, our Lord Jesus Christ (Mt 5:17; Jn 7:7). The regenerate believer (Jn 3:1–8; 1 Pet 1:3), made to be a new creature in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15), sees the magnanimous love bestowed by God onto His church (Rom 5:5; Eph 5:25). The saint cannot willfully sin against love (God is love), which is why true believers hate their sin. It is a gross offense to be rude in the face of kindness. The believer increasingly laments life in his body of sin, living out his days in this world of sin. He wishes to go home (Phil 1:23), to be without stain or blemish, holy and blameless in the eternal presence of Him (Eph 1:4; 5:27; Col 1:22), who loved His own (Jn 13:1) and who gave Himself for them (Gal 2:20).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 11, 2022
