What should we do about the sin in our lives?

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

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 that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:8-10‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭KJV‬

when we come to Jesus we have to just be honest and real about our actions if we do something that we know is sin we can’t just pretend we haven’t sinned we have to acknowledge it to our self and to him.

if we pretend we haven’t sinned when we have , we will never confess and repent. David is a good example for us he committed adultery , he attempted several times to deceive Uriah to cover his adultery , then he plotted to have Uriah killed and it was carried out by David’s Will.

this is how David approached repentance he didn’t just claim he was righteous but acknowledged his sins in repentance from his heart

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭51:1-3, 6-14, 16-17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

notice that David wasn’t talking about what he was going to do , but was actually putting his trust in Gods mercy towards him , his multitudes of loving kindndess , Gods ability to wash his sins away , Gods ability to blot out his transgressions , Gods power is what he was requesting

if we get real about our sins and simply acknowledge that we need to repent because it’s not okay , and turn like David did and confess that we’ve done something terribly offensive ( in David’s case) to God and then ask him to forgive us and cleanse us he is faithful and merciful to a thousand generations of those who are seeking after his ways

it’s only when we refuse to hear him and acknowledge our transgressions before him that we become hard in heart and stop having an interest in repenting

I agree, repent, but it will probably have to be an ongoing repentance. He wants to see by our actions that we've truly repented. He wants us to get rid of the sin in our lives but I also think He's more interested in progress than perfection.

Hello Blik, although it has already be posted above, I think that this verse says it most concisely for believers (and it not only tells us what we need to do, but what the Lord will do for us as a result ).


Also, here's an excerpt from one of my word studies. It takes a look at 1 John 1:9's ὁμολογεω, the word that we translate as "confess" in our English Bibles.


God bless you!

~Deut

There is no action required for salvation or sanctification. Only God's mercy is required, and our knowledge of our need of and desire for said mercy.

I disagree. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins...". I don't see how confession fits into the category of "no action". We can know that we need mercy, and desire it, and still not be cleansed of the sin.

For me, loving justice and mercy and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8) are key.
Having learned to be an Introvert because of circumstances, a simple thing like being nice to people is often a challenge.

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

A Spirit led life can abstain from sin for they will not fulfill the desires of the flesh for they crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts, and show the ways of the Spirit and not the flesh, and God will not allow them to be tempted above what they can handle and will give them an escape from the temptation so they will not sin.

So there is no excuse for a person to have sin in their life but if we do sin it can be forgiven.

A Spirit led life is not under the law for the person is not sinning therefore the law cannot touch them for prosecution.

2Ti 3:4 lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Some people have a form of godliness but deny the Spirit leading them for they want to live in sin, and are ever learning and never able to come to the truth for they think they are alright with God and sin does not affect their relationship with God.

But God said withdraw yourselves from them and there is many people that believe sin does not affect their relationship with God and live in sin.

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

If we hold unto sin then the blood of Christ cannot wash it away.

1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Since we can abstain from sin then this must mean if anybody does not want to confess a sin believing they did not do wrong, or in general to people that first come to Christ like those who have a form of godliness but do not come to the truth but hold unto sin and think they are alright.

Hi John, is that what we might refer to as the, "love means never having to say that you're sorry", approach to our ongoing sin problem and the effect that it has on our relationship with God

Here's a 3 minute video that discusses judicial/positional forgiveness and relational/familial forgiveness in the Christian faith. The text of the video is posted right below it in case you'd prefer to read it instead, just FYI. Enjoy


Why do we need to confess our sins if they have already been forgiven (1 John 1:9)?

The apostle Paul wrote, “To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:6-8). This forgiveness is referring to salvation, in which God has taken our sins and removed them from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). This is the judicial forgiveness that God gives us upon receiving Jesus Christ as Savior. All our past, present, and future sins are forgiven on a judicial basis, meaning that we will not suffer eternal judgment for our sins. We still often suffer consequences of sin while we are here on earth, however, which brings us to the question at hand.

The difference between Ephesians 1:6-8 and 1 John 1:9 is that John is dealing with what we call “relational,” or “familial,” forgiveness—like that of a father and a son. For example, if a son does something wrong to his father—falling short of his expectations or rules—the son has hindered his fellowship with his father. He remains the son of his father, but the relationship suffers. Their fellowship will be hindered until the son admits to his father that he has done wrong. It works the same way with God; our fellowship with Him is hindered until we confess our sin. When we confess our sin to God, the fellowship is restored. This is relational forgiveness.

“Positional” forgiveness, or judicial forgiveness, is that which is obtained by every believer in Christ. In our position as members of the body of Christ, we have been forgiven of every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit. The price paid by Christ on the cross has satisfied God’s wrath against sin, and no further sacrifice or payment is necessary. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it. Our positional forgiveness was obtained then and there.

Confession of sin will help to keep us from the discipline of the Lord. If we fail to confess sin, the discipline of the Lord is sure to come until we do confess it. As stated previously, our sins are forgiven at salvation (positional forgiveness), but our daily fellowship with God needs to stay in good standing (relational forgiveness). Proper fellowship with God cannot happen with unconfessed sin in our lives. Therefore, we need to confess our sins to God as soon as we are aware that we have sinned in order to maintain close fellowship with God.

~Why do we need to confess our sins if they have already been forgiven (1 John 1:9)? | GotQuestions.org

~Deut
p.s. - additional links to articles on the same, general topic can be found at the bottom of the page that is linked above (from our friends at GodQuestions.org).
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Luke 17:3-4 keeps it simple. We try to make excuses by saying we must have someone greater than ourselves to teach and explain to us. We are lying to ourselves.

Hello Blik!

Please compare the following scriptures:

=========================================================
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 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 out to be a liar, and His word is not in us."

"Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.

"Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start."
==============================================================================

Without having understanding of what is being said, it would appear that John is contradicting himself, with one scripture saying that "if we say we have no sin, we are liars and the truth is not in us. While the other is stating that if we practice sin we belong to the devil.

John is speaking about two different types of sinning:

1). Sin that we commit as believers while walking in Christ and confessing them, while continuing to move forward in faith

2). Willfully practicing and engaging in sin separating himself from God, and offending Him by acts of disobedience, indifference, or rebellion, which are the values of Satan and not from God. In short, this is apostasy which leads to condemnation if one dies in that state.

So in regards to 1). we are sinners who are continuing in faith, always quick to go to the Father and confess them to keep our relationship right with God. And as we continue from faith to faith, we continue to be transformed into the image of Christ.

Regarding number 2). That type of person is willfully engaging in the sinful nature, having gone back in the world and is practicing the values of the sinful nature which is of the devil.

If we say that we have no sin at all as believers, then we are deceiving ourselves refusing to admit our acts of sin and by doing so we make God out to be a liar by contradicting Him and His word is not in us.

We're are saved sinners who are not willfully practicing sin.

I hope that this clears up this issue a bit.

I love what you say about "ongoing repentance".

And the bottom line is that when we repent and ask forgiveness, always our gracious Lord forgives and saves.

Paul explained it best when Paul said he did what he did not want to do. Paul was a human man so he was a sinner, bu Paul lived in a state of repentance.

We need to know that we are dead to sin. Dead people can do nothing. Who takes a dead man to court to try him for a crime, no matter how bad he was? Who would imprison him, fine him or treat him as if he was alive? You bury dead people - and that is exactly what baptism in water is about.

Dead people do not react. I briefly knew a pastor who was a little abrasive with some people. He reminded me of how Lord Jesus dealt with the Pharisees. People pushed back, of course. Someone asked him how he coped. He said, "You can't hurt a dead man".

On the positive side, Lord Jesus is the power in our lives to overcome sin. He was tempted as we are but never sinned. He lives in us to keep us from falling. If we try to overcome ourselves, we will fail. If we confess our helplessness to Lord Jesus, He will deliver us and be our victory. It's an ongoing battle. Some things we tolerate about ourselves we begin to see as sin as we mature in Christ. Satan is always trying to trap us.

The biggest problem for Christians is pride. As soon as we look down our noses at someone who is struggling, we are in danger. God may withdraw His power and leave us to work it out ourselves. Many Christians are brought low for that reason. We may imagine that we have changed. That is not true. God's way of dealing with us is by exchange. God wants us to let go of our selfish ways and have Lord Jesus do the living instead.

God's answer to every human need is Christ. If Lord Jesus can fail, so can I. If He can commit the unpardonable sin, so can I. I would love for Christians to focus on what Lord Jesus has done for us instead of fussing about sin. "Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith".

Agreed! I was just defining what John was talking about by defining the two types of sinning.

Repent.

IF one is a blood bought, born again, child of the One Living God, and has been washed in the cleansing blood of Jesus the Christ............then.........

One has been forever freed from the chains of sin and death.

Now, believers will sin on occasion because we are human and thus not perfect. However, we are not enslaved to sin, thus we only have to pray to God and repent for our sin slip and He will forgive us, and our salvation remains.

Jesus taught us how to pray, and in that prayer He taught us to pray:

"and forgive us our debts/trespasses as we forgive our debtors/those who tesspass against us"

It is important that we forgive those who trespass against us.......Jesus said so.