Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

As a result of humanity's original decision to willfully and knowingly break its fellowship with God by disobeying Him and committing sin, each human inherits a fallen sin nature from birth that makes it impossible to achieve the perfect compliance with God's Law that God requires in order to live eternally in God's presence.

This fallen sin nature remains a part of all Christians, even after acknowledging their sin; receiving the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus' sinless life, atoning death, and resurrection to make them acceptable in God's sight; and being indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.

However, the continued presence of the old sin nature does not serve as an excuse for a Christian to yield to it, as Paul noted in Romans 6. All Christians should strive each day (with the aid of the Holy Spirit now living within them) to avoid conscious, deliberate sin, and to progressively move closer toward obtaining the moral perfection of Jesus. But that sinless state will never be achieved in this life. And if a Christian ever believes that he has, in fact, achieved it and is now without sin, then (as the apostle John said in the passage being asked about) he is deceiving himself.

Immediately after indicating that believers are without excuse for continued sin in Romans 6, Paul discusses in Romans 7 the conflict and tension that is nevertheless created within each Christian as a result of the struggle between the old sin nature and the new person that we become as a result of faith in Christ.

Even though our faith has saved us from the eternal consequences of our sin, the struggle between our new and old natures will be present all through this life. As John indicated, that is why we still need to confess our sins to God, and receive His forgiveness and cleansing, as long as we live.

September 01 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report