How can someone sin if they are saved?

[Hosanna]

Every Christian sins daily, knowingly or unknowingly. That is because their sinful nature remains intact and will not be eradicated until Heaven (Revelation 21:4, 27). Even the apostle Paul wrestled with his flesh as a believer, as recorded in Romans 7:14-25. However, there is a significant difference between committing sin and practicing sin.

According to the Bible, believers commit sin, but unbelievers practice it. Two examples of this fact are found in 1 John. John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). He also penned, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). In both declarations, John unequivocally revealed that Christians still (commit) sin.

Yet, in the very same book, John dispelled the idea that genuine Christians practice sin by writing, “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” (1 John 3:9). 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.”

Therefore, though Christians still sin, they are not characterized by it like unbelievers. Rather, they have been set free from the bondage of sin and death (Romans 8:2) and are being transformed into God’s image “from one degree of glory to another" daily (2 Corinthians 3:18).

I hope this information helps you understand the difference between committing and practicing sin.
Kris Jordan Author, Bible Teacher, Defender of the Faith

 

[Aeliana]

Yes this information is correct and it does help.

A person must be born-again to receive God’s forgiveness since forgiveness and salvation go hand-in-hand. If someone confesses their sins to God without genuine repentance and does not trust Jesus for their salvation, their confession accomplishes nothing. However, when a person agrees with God that their sin is wrong (repents) and puts their faith in Jesus for what He accomplished on the cross for them, they are forgiven and born-again simultaneously. This reborn state means they are justified before God—having been cleansed from all unrighteousness—and are positionally righteous before Him. In other words, God renders them innocent.

Practically speaking, a born-again believer still sins, although not habitually like before they were saved. In other words, they commit sin but do not practice sin as a lifestyle. They do not lose their salvation or righteous standing before God when they sin but break their intimate fellowship with God, which needs to be restored. This reinstatement occurs when they confess their sins to Jesus, agree with Him that their actions were wrong, and ask Him for forgiveness. In response, Jesus forgives and cleanses them from all unrighteousness.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:9-10

 

[Diserner]

"How can someone sin if they are saved?"

Pretty dang easily.

 

[Lily]

"How can someone sin if they are saved?"

Pretty dang easily.

I've had it explained this way... You did real good while you were asleep but then you wake up and get out of bed....

 

[Clifford]

We get up in arms, and rightfully so, when a major denomination appoints a practicing homosexual as a Pastor. But it's easy for us to overlook our selfishness, our critical spirit, our impatience, and our anger? It’s easy to let ourselves off the hook by saying that these sins are not as bad as the flagrant ones of society.

But we don't have the right to establish values for different sins. God says through James, “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for [is guilty of] all of it” (James 2:10).

I know we're not under the law we're under grace but think about this for a minute.

The fact that this Scripture is it's difficult for us to understand because we think in terms of individual laws and their respective penalties. But God’s Law is seamless. The Bible speaks not of God’s laws, as if many of them, but of God’s Law as a single whole. When a person commits murder, he breaks God’s Law. When a Christian lets speech that tends to tear down another person come out of his mouth, he breaks God’s Law.

Jesus actually warns us that it's sinful to slanderously call someone a fool out of personal anger or hatred. Maliciously calling another person a fool is equivalent to murder and worthy of discipline by God. “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23).

 

[TedT]

But we don't have the right to establish values for different sins.

Exactly!!!

The difference in how GOD deals with sin is not found in the severity or lack thereof of the disvalue of the sin as all sin has an equal and ultimate disvalue in GOD's sight.

It is the relationship of the sinner to GOD that changes how the sin is dealt with. The so called smallest sin by an elect puts Christ on the cross. The so called smallest sin by a reprobate puts them in hell.

 

[TedT]

Hebrews 12:5-11 is about the experiences of the legitimate children* of GOD as per verse 6. This section implies a yo-yo like experience of repentance and failure to rehabilitate them so they only choose righteous decisions... from then on they are holy, fully trained / leavened in righteousness.

*Contrary to the opinion of many there are in fact created beings who are NOT the children of GOD: Deuteronomy 32:5 “They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children because of their blemish but a perverse and crooked generation. I believe they became not HIS children by the eternal blemish found in their own free will decision to rebuke HIM as a liar and therefore a false god, repudiating HIM as their Father.

 

[TedT]

How can someone sin if they are saved?​

Salvation is a process, not a single act, causing confusion. The elusive nature of the meaning of the word salvation is more precisely defined by the words, election and rebirth.

A reborn can sin because they are now only free of the legal and natural consequences of choosing to rebel against GOD by their free will but they are not yet trained to make righteous decisions as their minds are still full of the pleasures and profits of choosing sin.

This is cured by the rehabilitative effect of harsh discipline Heb 12:5-11, where discipline, V6 actually means to scourge someone by tying them to a post then whipping them with the cat of nine tails.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

How can someone sin if they are saved?​

Why don't you tell US why you SIN after being saved??

 

[Hosanna]

Why don't you tell US why you SIN after being saved??

Sure no problem, the same reason we all do. Temptation, it's still alive and well. John tells us in 1st John 1:8 that Christians are self-deceived if they claim they have no sin in their lives.

“Sin” is any thought, word, or action that is contrary to the character or law of God. We all sin (Romans 3:23), and even what we consider good deeds are often tainted by selfish motives or pride (Isaiah 64:6). Left to ourselves, it is impossible to please God or to be completely free from sin (Romans 3:10; Ecclesiastes 7:10). Got?

 

[Obadiah]

Sure no problem, the same reason we all do. Temptation, it's still alive and well. John tells us in 1st John 1:8 that Christians are self-deceived if they claim they have no sin in their lives.

“Sin” is any thought, word, or action that is contrary to the character or law of God. We all sin (Romans 3:23), and even what we consider good deeds are often tainted by selfish motives or pride (Isaiah 64:6). Left to ourselves, it is impossible to please God or to be completely free from sin (Romans 3:10; Ecclesiastes 7:10). Got?

We still live in the flesh, and the flesh is prone to want what it wants. In Romans 7:21–23, Paul admits the battle between flesh and spirit in his own life: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”

Each battle with temptation is won or lost based upon how fully we are surrendered to the control of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16–17). So if you get up one day say you're not feeling well or your worried about something and you're kind of into yourself not being controlled by the holy spirit not being surrendered. You know what I mean? You're walking in the flesh and it becomes quite easy to become tempted into sin and fall short of the glory of God, to miss the mark.

But all is not lost because the Bible tells us then if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. See 1 John 1:7-9