For those who think Christians never sin again after becoming born-gain, God says this:
If we did not sin then there would be no need for believers to confess their sins one to another.
James 5:15-16
"15 and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
These passages were written to and speak of born-again believers. Unsaved people have no advocate with the Father, God does not hear their prayers except for the prayer of repentance to be changed into a new creation.
Hebrews 12 makes it clear that believers who are born again do sin or there would be no need for His discipline. However, believers do not practice a lifestyle of ongoing sin.
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.…"
Hebrews 12:5-10
"5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are punished by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."
There is never an excuse for believers to keep on sinning because they have the Holy Spirit Who brings conviction and has promised to cleanse us if we fall, but we must confess to be reconciled to God. He does not throw us away for sinning but He brings consequence to discipline and will not hear our prayers until we confess to be cleansed.
Those who never confess remain spiritual babies without growth in emotional and Spiritual maturity.
Pride prevents growth in holiness.
Hebrews 5:12-14
"12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil."
The condition of our modern churches is that the gatherings are full of unsaved people who only say they are Christians without any born-again experience and those who are born-again who have remained emotional and spiritual babies because rather than following the Word of God they are following the example of those who are unregenerate.
Romans 12:1-3 "1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.…"
Pride causes believers to think they know better than God how to win souls to Him. They think coddling the unsaved will make them like Jesus more, but God told us to share the gospel, which means we will have to tell the truth often disdained by those who want to be a part of the Jesus club but don't want Christ. Rather than confronting people in the church with the convicting truth of sin they try to make friends with the world.
The truth is that this idea that if the sinner likes us they will like Jesus is a lie because those who operate this way are more concerned about the unsaved liking them, it has nothing to do with winning a soul to salvation God's Way!
It is a sin to do things our own way, we must submit to Christ and His Word and then we will do things His way.
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