Every born-again believer sins daily, knowingly or unknowingly, because their sinful nature remains intact and will not be eradicated until Heaven. The apostle Paul described the struggle between the flesh and the spirit in Romans 7:14-20. He stated, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
Although believers still sin after redemption, a significant difference exists between committing sin and practicing sin. Believers commit sin, but unbelievers practice it. Two examples of this fact are found in John’s writings. John wrote of believers in 1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” He also penned in 1 John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” In both declarations, John unequivocally revealed that Christians still sin, despite their redeemed state.
Yet, in the very same book, John dispelled the idea that born-again Christians practice sin. He wrote in 1 John 3:9, “No one who is born of God practices sin because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Similarly, Paul wrote in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Believers do not practice sin as a lifestyle because they have been set free from the power and bondage of sin and death. Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” Additionally, believers are being transformed into God’s image daily, causing them to sin less as they spiritually mature. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
The difference between committing sin and practicing sin is as vast as the difference between a parent administering first aid to their child’s scraped knee and a physician who practices medicine for a living. One demonstrates an “isolated” act; the other, a lifestyle. The same idea applies to lawyers who practice law or skilled tradespeople who practice their craft as a lifestyle, compared to those who dabble in those arenas.
I hope this information helps you understand why believers still sin and reconcile the distinct difference between committing sin and practicing sin.
