Does Sin in My Life Mean I'm Not Really Saved?
by David K. Bernard
Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: 1 John 3:6, 1 John 3:8, 1 John 1:6-7, 1 John 1:8, 1 John 1:9-10, 1 John 2:1-2, Psalm 19:14, John 17

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--does-sin-in-my-life-mean-im-not-really-saved
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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The short answer is no. Just because someone sins does not mean uh they have not been saved. But there is a warning. There is a red flag. to to um really understand this, it's helpful to read the entire book of first John, but also it's very important to understand the Greek present tense. So in English, the present tense can simply refer to one act.

So I sin. If if you just say um um if you say I sin, that could mean a one-time sin. That could mean a a habit of sin. But in the Greek, it always is continuous. So the present tense would mean I am sinning, ongoing, continuing to sin. So that helps in the text that you uh referred to in first uh John 3:6. If you look at various translations, modern translations, many of them say something like continues to sin, keep on sinning. Here's the ESV. Uh 1 John 3:6. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

And then verse eight, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. So if you claim to be saved, but you are habitually sinning, you are deliberately, consciously, knowingly continuing to sin with impunity, without regard, then John is indicating you weren't saved. Or I would probably say if there was a time that you did get saved, you're no longer walking in that condition. You're just deceiving yourself. So that's what John is saying. If you're habitually sinning, so if as a lifestyle you are living in sin and you think you're saved, you're only deceiving yourself.

You're not saved. You either never had a true conversion experience or you have forsaken that conversion experience because you would not keep on living in that sinful state if you had really been born again. Now, that's far different from have you committed a sin because I I'm sure every Christian uh we would have to say has sinned since they've been saved. Um especially if you think of sin is not only an act that you might do that's a specific violation of the word of God. But it could be what if you fail to act when God has prompted you or what about your attitude, your spirit, your heart.

Many times we may harbor an evil attitude which is sinful such as hatred, jealousy, pride, prejudice, um you know, ungratefulness, malice, on and on and on and not even realize it. But then we're reading the word of God or we're listening the preaching and teaching of the word of God and then we're convicted and we recognize our own sinfulness. Or what about speech, tailbearing, strife, sewing, discord, uh things we might say something in a moment and not really realize the true implication or true significance until a later time. So I think all of us have had an experience where we said, I I've sinned. And in fact, first John gives us some perspective in addition to what I've just read.

So let's go back to chapter one. If um let's go back to one and six and since I have the ESV I'll just continue there. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth. So it's talking about a lifestyle two opposing lifestyles. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus's son cleanses us from all sin. So there's an indication that if we're walking in the light, if we're following Jesus, if we're having faith in him, if we're sincerely seeking him, there still might might be some sin, but we're cleansed from that.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So this is written to the church. So if somebody says, "Well, no, I've never sinned since receiving the Holy Ghost or I've never sinned since becoming a Christian or I've never sinned my life." Well, the same first John says, "You're deceiving yourself." If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So that's chap 1 John chapter 1. That's reading verses 9-10.

So let's put this all together. talking to Christians. If you're living in a sinful lifestyle, you're knowingly choosing it, you're desiring it, you're wanting it, you're flaunting it, you're immersed in it. This is your way of life. No, you're you're not saved. You probably never were saved to start with, or if you were, you have turned away from that and you're now considered unsaved. However, the opposite extreme. If you say, "I'm pure and perfect. I've never sinned." Well, you're lying and you're making God a liar because he said you have sin. So, I think the balance is uh and then let me also read because chapter 2 verse one follows right along.

My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation or sacrifice of atonement for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So that's 1 John 2 1-2. So, putting this all together, if you're habitually and continually sinning, you are living in deception. You're not saved. You're serving the devil. You're not serving God. On the other hand, if you say, "I've never sinned." Then you're also in deception. But the normal Christian life is not to sin.

Live a victorious life. Live an overcoming life. I often quote from the Psalms. You can get up every morning and say, "Lord, let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight." In other words, today, guide my attitude and my heart. Guide my speech. Because those would be the two most common ways that you could maybe slip into sin without fully realizing it or without making a premeditated decision. So, if you're going to steal something or kill somebody, you know, that requires some obvious forethought and overcoming a barrier. But the meditations of your heart, the words of your mouth, you can easily be susceptible and slip into something before you're 100% um aware or at least you so easily deceive yourself.

And so I think if we pray that prayer, then when temptation comes, we can be conscious of that and say, "I resist temptation." Or if the devil attacks, the Bible says, "Resist the devil, he will flee from you." So with that attitude, do you think you could spend one day without sinning? Well, yes. In that case, get up every morning, make that a daily commitment, and live every day without sinning. So that's what 1 John 2:1 says, don't sin. I'm writing these things so you won't sin. Um so that you can live a holy life. And I think with faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can live a holy life victoriously.

But then to be realistic, there could be times we fail. And in those cases, if we confess our sins, 1 John 1:9, God is faithful to forgive us. That means he will do it every time. So even if you feel like, well, I sinned too many times, but God is faithful. He'll keep his word and just. So even though God has no obligation to save us, once Jesus Christ died for us and paid the price and offered it, it becomes a matter of God's justice. So on the one hand we we follow in his mercy Lord I don't deserve anything please forgive me but on the other hand as a child of God having faith in Jesus Christ baptized in his name filled with his spirit we can say in all humility you know I know the Lord will forgive me uh because he's that's a matter of it's a matter of faithfulness with him a matter of justice with him you know if if he paid the price he's not going to take it back now I I do think it means we need to re be repentant so That's why 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sin," so it's not automatic.

I don't believe once saved, always saved. Just sin with impunity. But since you were born again 25 years ago, then nothing else matters. I think we still have to confess our sins. And some will say, "Oh, so you think Christians are saved one minute, lost the next minute, saved the next minute, lost the next minute, saved one day, lost the next day." No. I feel like we're as we walk in the light, we're covered by the blood of Jesus. But that presupposes that when we sin and recognize it, we immediately confess it to God. So I think we stay saved. I think we stay in holiness.

But it's recognizing that we're not perfect yet. We're not sinless yet, but we're covered by the blood of Jesus. That implies or or requires a repentant heart. Um and that requires when we do recognize we've done wrong that we confess that we've done wrong to God. Uh so to summarize, first John gives us a picture. We as spiritfilled Christians who have faith in God and in whom the love of God is working. We can live a victorious life. We can follow the teachings of God's word. We can resist the devil. We can say no to temptation. So the three main sources of temptation are the world, the devil, and the flesh.

And we can we can to some extent insulate ourselves from the world, although not perfectly. Jesus said, "I don't take them out of the world." John 17, they're in the world, but not of the world. We can resist the devil, although we can't prevent him from attacking us. We can always win. Uh the flesh we have to live with. We can't cast out the flesh, but we discipline and subdue the flesh. So yes, we can live a holy life one day at a time, but recognizing that over the course of our life, there will be times we sin. Immediately we repent, we're covered by the blood of Jesus.

But if we start deceiving ourselves and thinking it doesn't matter, it's trivial. Don't worry about it. Don't examine myself. uh and then allow through deception or choice we just end up living a life of adultery, a life of lying, a life of hypocrisy, a life of racial prejudice and that sin is consumes us day after day after day and we live in it. Then first John says, you know, you're just deceiving yourself. No, you're not saved. Uh so I think there should be a warning but also a great confidence that uh as we walk by faith we can indeed live a holy life pleasing unto God.