Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .

How much can a Christian sin?

How much can a Christian sin and still say he or she is a Christian? Every day? Every
hour? Constantly and continually? As a regular practice of life? Just how much can a
Christian sin and still say they're a Christian?

There are two general extremes on this issue of "How much can a Christian sin?"

VIEW #1 "Christians Can't Sin."

On one extreme are those who argue a real Christian can't sin, because being delivered
from sin is what being a Christian is all about. These folk argue that if you claim to be a
Christian but you are sinning, you are a liar—Christians can't sin. You might be able to
say, "I used to be a Christian," or "I thought I was a Christian," but if you are sinning you
can't say, "I sin, but I am a Christian." Christians can't sin.

The "can't sin" people can assemble plenty of Scripture to back up their position. They
use verses like 1 John 3:6 & 9, "No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning." "No one
who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him and he
cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." The Bible is clear. Jesus came
to save people from their sins, not in their sins, they assert. Christians don't sin. They
can't. And if they should sin, they are no longer saved. After all what is the difference
between a saved and an unsaved person? One lives like they always have—in sin and
disobedience, and the other has a changed life: they have stopped sinning.

Those off on the "can't sin" edge of doctrine often come from hyper-Arminian or holiness
denominations. They have a great concern for the pure life—a life without sin. This is
admittedly an admirable hope. But they go too far. They eventually came to insist on
absolute purity as the minimum requirement for the Kingdom. They think they are
following John Wesley. In fact, they start with Wesley then ride off on a tangent into the
sunset with an aberration of Arminian doctrine. Instead of offering the future hope of
living above sin, they insist on the present minimum of a sinless life—just to be in
Christ's family.

The "Christians can't sin" doctrine leads to all kinds of crazy eccentricities in practice and
doctrine. For instance, for these folk, every time a Christian does indeed fall into sin, he
loses his relationship with Christ and has to start all over again and get saved. To them,
sin is not allowed for Christians. So, whether a person sins or not is the ultimate
measurement of your Christianity. The spotlight is on sin and self, not Christ and the
cross. This is a seriously misplaced focus.

Doctrines, even wacky ones, tend to be self-correcting. The people who teach and believe
a doctrine somehow have to adjust to the reality of daily life. And the reality is that
Christians in fact sometimes do fall into sin. The "can't sin" teachers are embarrassed by
good solid Christians repeatedly getting saved all over again, every time they slipped into
some wrong act, attitude, word, or thought of disobedience. It is awkward to have so
many of the Christians getting saved so often.

So the "can't sin" folk eventually came to re-label sin. Words, thought and actions which
were formerly labeled "sin" were simply re-labeled "mistakes." The list of "sins" was
slimmed down to the things—mostly outward actions—which few Christians ever
actually did. Presto! Immediately the church was full of sinless Christians. At least sin the
way the "can't sin" people defined it.

Sure, the church still had some people with rotten attitudes, and questionable methods
were sometimes used in local churchly politics, but these were now labeled "mistakes"
and not sin. The doctrine had self-corrected to reality. But the correction may be more
dangerous than the aberration! With the power of this new label—"mistakes"—many
Christians could sin more boldly than even before. They just labeled it a "mistake" this
time. And of course, people being what they are, there is always the tendency to label
your actions and attitudes "sin" while I label mine "mistakes!"

The "can't sin" people are still around teaching this doctrine. It is, however, a doctrine far
over on one extreme. But there is another group far over on the other side of the road.

VIEW #2 "Christians must sin."

This group takes up position on the other end of the scale. They argue that Christians
must sin—they "can't not sin." This group teaches that sin is a natural and normal part of
being human, and getting saved doesn't change that at all. Why do we sin? We sin
because we're human, that's why. We were born sinners. It's in our blood, or at least our
nature to sin. Adam was a sinner, and since then so have all his progeny—we are sinners
at heart, and becoming a Christian doesn't change that a bit. Before I was saved I was a
sinner. After I was saved I am still a sinner, just a "saved sinner" now. In a sense God
switched the label on me!

Then what does getting saved change? It changes our position before God, these folk
teach. Before being saved we were a sinner on the way to hell. Now we are a sinner on
the way to heaven. Our position changed: we are now adopted into God's family. And
because of this, all our sins—past present and future—were forgiven at one moment on
the cross of Calvary 2000 years ago.

For the "must sin" people the focus is on Christ and the cross, never sin and self. They
argue that St. Paul confessed he was the "chiefest of sinners" yet certainly he was a
Christian wasn't he? They like the book of 1 John too, especially preferring chapter one,
verses 8 & 10, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us," and "If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has
no place in our lives." The Bible is clear, they say. Christians sin. They are human. Sin is
just what we do. The point is not to be sinless, it is to recognize that the sins you
regularly commit were forgiven in advance. They teach that Christians do not confess to
gain forgiveness. Rather the value of confession is internal—a value to the person
themselves.

So they say you are destined to keep on sinning. In fact, every Christian sins regularly,
even "in word, thought, and deed every day." These teachers deny that a Christian could
ever "stop sinning." Sorry, it's just not possible. You might overcome an individual sin.
You might even overcome a number of individual sins. But, they say, you will never
overcome all sin. You must sin. There will always be some sin in your life. So just expect
it and confess your daily sins to God each day. You might as well start now—you'll have
to do it until the day you die.

As we remarked earlier, doctrines on the edges of the spectrum tend to be self-correcting.

The "must sin" eventually had to do some light-footed doctrinal dancing to adapt to
reality. While the "can't sin" people narrowed their definition of sin until they could
pronounce themselves sinless, the "must sin" people simply broadened their definition so
they could pronounce everybody sinners.

The "must sin" folk define sin as anything falling short of the perfect example of Jesus
Christ. In other words, any single thought, word, or deed which is not completely Christ-
like is sin. What would Jesus say? How would Jesus think? What would Jesus do? If you
fall even 1% short of this perfect standard you are sinning, these folk teach. So, presto!
Every Christian becomes an immediate and habitual sinner. Who could claim absolute
perfection in thought, word, and deed every day? Not one of us. So the "must sin" folk,
with their broad definition of sin, sweep everybody in. If you accept the definition, you've
got to admit you're a sinner...regularly, habitually, daily.

But the danger here is to treat sin too casually. With the focus totally on the cross, and
none on my daily life, it provides the Christian an "out" for all kinds of practices and
attitudes the Bible warns us about. The "must sin" teaching is pessimistic, offering little
hope of doing what Jesus commanded us to do—love and obey Him. We are stuck as
sinners. The "must sin" people see only the forgiveness side of the atonement and ignore
the deliverance side. If I "must sin" then why try to stop? If I'm destined to sin regularly
until the day I die, what good was getting saved, other than to save my neck for eternity?
Isn't there more here and now? Isn't the blood of Jesus Christ stronger than this? Can't
God forgive me of sin, and deliver me? Is this all there is to it?

The "can't sin" people offer a false hope. The "must sin" folk offer no hope. Where is the
middle ground?

THE MIDDLE GROUND

Christians can sin...but they don't have to. You can't help reading the two extremes on
this issue without wondering, "They're really saying the same thing aren't they?" It's true.
At least in a way. While the teachers of these two extreme positions probably would not
admit they agree, the average person in today's church can quickly see the sensible
middle road approach to these doctrines. They say, "Sure, Christians can fall into sin, but
they don't have to." Where is the middle ground? What is the position where the vast
majority of sensible laymen stand?

1. Christians CAN fall into sin.

James was hot-headed, John was judgmental. Peter denied Christ. The Bible is full of
sinners—saved ones. To say that Christians can't sin squares neither with the Bible nor
life. Christians can and do sin. When they do sin they don't immediately "fall from grace"
either. Their relationship with God is stronger than that. How can you read in Paul's
epistles the constant call for Christians, saints, the redeemed, to put off sin, lay aside sin,
crucify sin, mortify the deeds of the flesh. If Christians never sinned why would Paul
address these "saints" and tell them to stop? The truth is, Christians can fall into sin.

2. But Christians don't HAVE to sin.

While sin is possible for Christians, it is not required. To say that Christians have to sin—
that they can never be delivered from disobedience—sells short the blood of Christ and
the cross. Sure Christians can sin. But they can not sin too. Sin is a choice we make. We
can choose to do it and sin. Or we can choose to refrain, and not sin. But we are not
trapped forever in a sinful cycle. It is possible to resist temptation and keep from sinning.
I might admit that I sin every day in word, thought, and deed. But I don't have to. The
atonement is powerful enough to not only forgive my sins, but to deliver me from sin.
Christians don't have to sin.

3. There are two ideas of sin.

Perhaps the biggest reason the middle ground is so hard to find on this issue is there are
two ideas of sin. These two ideas are both in the Bible. But even our culture and legal
system makes a distinction between them.

A) Sin as falling short. This idea of sin focuses on God's standard of holiness. It says that
anything which "falls short" of God's perfect standard as seen in Jesus is sin. Our life is
like an arrow, and any time the arrow of my thought, words, or deeds "falls short" of the
perfect target in Jesus, I sin. This is the first idea of sin.

B) Sin as intentional disobedience. The second idea of sin focuses on intentions, or my

will. This idea states that sin is knowing something is wrong but doing it anyway. Or it is
knowing God wants me to do something right, yet refusing to do it. This idea of sin
emphasizes only willful disobedience. Sin is a deliberate, premeditated incident.
Sometimes this is called "sin, strictly speaking" to distinguish it from the more global
definition of sin in A) above.

Anyone who works with children can readily see the difference. If a 13 month old child
knocks over his milk because of his childish clumsiness, he clearly falls far short of the
perfect standard of adult table manners. But any sensible and loving parent would not
punish their baby for this. The parent overlooks this behavior as an unintended
shortfalling. The baby is held to be "blameless" because "he didn't mean it."

On the other hand, suppose your 12 year old son is fooling around with his brother at the
dinner table and you warn him to be careful before he spills his milk. Let's say he looks
defiantly at you, then reaches out his finger and knocks the milk over on your table. He'd
better run, right? Parents see the difference between purposeful and unintentional
disobedience.

So does the legal system. For instance, the crime of murder is purposeful and
premeditated. However, "manslaughter" is a lesser crime where there was no intent to
kill. Some kinds of fraud require intent. And, of course, treason or conspiracy must have
intent. These are all examples of the two levels of disobedience to the law, one with
malice or intent, the other an actual breaking of the law, but without intent to do so.

The point is, both ideas of sin are accurate. In a sense every thought word and deed which
falls short of perfect Christ-likeness is sin...in the general sense. But it is also true that,
strictly speaking, we are only held accountable for intentional disobedience.

4. Christians CAN'T live above sin, generally speaking.

In the sense of sin as falling short, Christians will always sin. That is, they will always
fall short of being exactly Christ-like in every attitude, word, action, or response to
others. This kind of perfection is neither promised nor given on earth. Christians can
daily confess that they fall short of absolute perfection every day. This is speaking of sin
in its general, or falling short manner. Do you sin every day in word, thought, and deed?
In this sense of sin, yes. We all do.

5. Christians CAN live above sin, strictly speaking.

However, on the other hand, Christians can live above sin if you mean sin in the stricter
sense—purposeful premeditated sin. A Christians can indeed grow up...be cleansed...get
deliverance...be filled with the Spirit...walk in the light...so that they do in fact come to a
place where they do not purposefully disobey God in their day to day life. There really is
hope for "obedient living." At least for a life free from defiant and deliberate sin. Sure,
such a person may still fall short of perfection, but they can live above purposeful
disobedience. This is the optimistic hope of the atonement.

So, what about you? Is there purposeful sin in your life? Is there something you are doing
—or not doing—which is out of line with God's instructions to you? You know its wrong
but you are doing it anyway? Or you know God wants you to start something, but you're
dragging your feet? If so, what you need to do is clear. You need to (1) confess this sin to
God, then (2) repent—turn away from the sin and "get in line." If you are sinning in
defiance, the issue is not to debate the definitions of sin. The issue is to stop your
defiance. And the route to stopping has always been the same: confess and repent. Trust
God's atonement for the power to both forgive and deliver you from this sin. He can do it.
And He will do it.

So what do you think?

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu

By Keith Drury, 1996. You are free to transmit, duplicate or distribute this article for non-profit use without
permission.