No born again believer remains in habitual sin after Christ has changed them. However, they do sin, this sin does not lose them the Holy Spirit. We are sealed by God as His child.
Anyone who believes they can sin and enjoy it and still claims to be a Christian has never been born again.
Christians hate it when they sin, the Holy Spirit in them convicts them, gives them consequences and disciplines them until they confess to being cleansed and return to obedience.
Remember the Passover, when God said, in order for Him to Passover their house so the people in it will be protected? The blood on the door protected God's children not their deeds. The people in the houses were protected by the blood representing Christ the sacrifice to come.
No one is saved by their own works or kept by their own works, they must be covered in the blood of the Lamb. There was no example of the blood on the posts of the Jews being removed because of anything the people inside were doing.
New Christians have been changed into a new creation by Christ, they do not want to sin, if they do then they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ and they grieve over the sin.
Unbelievers do not grieve over their sin, they do not seek Christ to be cleansed, only believers do that.
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
These verses were written to changed born again believers.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Did you see that James, "old things passed away."
Ephesians 4:30-31 "30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.…"
Born again believers can grieve the Holy Spirit Who lives in them. If we sin after we are born again, Christ in us disciplines us.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
James if you are depending on yourself to be cleansed or for keeping your salvation then you have not trusted in Christ.
Christ has the power to save us, to cleanse us and to keep us He said so and I believe Him.
2 Timothy 2:13 "13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. "
The lie that is going around that God never leaves us but we can leave Him is not found anywhere in the Bible.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"
God made a promise to us when we became born again, that was that He would never leave us. His promises are not predicated on anything we do as born again believers. God knows we mess up at times, those who think they never sin again after salvation are denying Christ and His promises.
If anything we did depended on our salvation then Christ's death on the cross would be foolish. He did it all and He said it was finished.
When we become born again we hate sin, when we fail we hate grieving God. Born again believers do not remain in habitual sin after the have become born again.
The born again believers receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is the fruit of Christ's character when they are changed by God.
That fruit is the character qualities of Christ. They never lose this fruit, it remains, it becomes a part of them.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.
Those who are pretenders do not have the fruit and born again believers can see who has it and who does not.
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will [a]know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits.
This fruit is no works or deeds, they are character qualities that lead to the deeds that Christ works in us.
How do you identify a born again believer or a nonbeliever? Never by what they say to you. We identify them by their love of the brethren, and their hatred for sin. Born again people are grieved when they sin, but the nonbeliever will be defensive when confronted with their sin. They will fight to defend what God hates.
The born again believer will be ashamed of any sin they do, they will confess quickly because they want to be cleansed by God.
1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
"Practice" meaning living a general lifestyle of consistency in obedience to God. Even if a child of God sins they do not remain in it, the conviction of the Holy Spirit in them will torment them until they confess to be cleansed.
1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
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