HOW does a Christian NOT sin?

I am a toddler Christian. What I believe is that only Christ can do it, I can do nothing, just as He could do nothing were it not for the Father. When Christ isnt doing it, we are doing it and that is Sin and that is short of the perfection and that is not a work to be recognized and rewarded at Bhema. Surrender to Christ is it as he surrended to His Father onto death, but also every moment he walked, so therefore he never sinned.

We are dead to sin but we sin, anyone can see it. But it is not accounted to us. Why look at it? You sinned because you looked away from Christ, reliance on Christ to live through you makes us quit commiting sin. His Father could no more sin through Christ, then Christ could sin through us.

If this is all gobbeldy gook, well thats what toddlers speak.

I believe Christianity is practical (Livable). Even most of my posts in SI seeks to be practical. I find it very difficult to live a life of imagination.

Regarding sin, I understand that there are 2 types of sin. One you know clearly is a Sin (Conscious Sin) and another is something you do not know yet, but it is still a sin you are committing (Unconscious sins).

One example I can think of unconscious sins in my life is, I was not at all conscious that many of my messages and sharing in Church were given with an intention to project (exalt) myself above other fellow brothers and sisters. I was doing this sin without being conscious of it. But now God has given me light on my own intentions, now I know I have to correct it. Only when we near God more and more his light will show us our unconscious sins. It is like seeing your hand under a microscope that can show how many germs are in it. With naked eyes you cannot see them. The more we near towards God in our walk, the more our eyes are enlightened to see our own sins. We can only near God by overcoming our already known sins. When we still live in Known Sins, there is no point in asking God to show the unconscious sins that we commit! I can quote scripture for each one of these but I want to keep it practical.

There are certain things I know are wrong or sin (Conscious Sins). For example getting angry with my wife. Now I have to cleanse myself of it. Every time anger comes into my heart, I repent and seek God's grace to cleanse my heart. I ask for God's love to be poured into my heart so that I can love my wife. This is the only way I can overcome anger which is a known sin to me.

Another example is lust in eyes. Every time a lust enters into my heart towards another women, I run to Jesus, asking him to fill my heart with a desire for my wife alone. I cry to him that I want only my wife to be desire of my eyes. I tell him to give me contentment in this area. He gives me his grace. I also do my part which is to run away from an object of temptation (can be a women dressed provocatively).

If you observe in all the 3 cases I have put, they are all sins that are handled in the heart. So to me the battle ground has shifted from actions to heart. I NO Longer struggle with my actions as my heart itself is set clean. This is the secret I found to NOT Sin, which is to take the battle to your heart.

By loving Him:)

"If you love me you will keep my commandments"

It's actually very simple and quite practical....

Think about the time when you fell in love,... Nothing nor no one could turn you away from the person you loved, and you didn't "have" to do it but were compelled by the love in you to do it (good works).

So our Lord says "be zealous and repent and return to your first love and do the works you first did"

So maybe the question is why do we depart from our first love...?

Re: HOW does a Christian Not sin?

By dying - I mean literally physically dying.

Short of that, I still believe we must choose not to sin. I believe that the vast majority of sins occur because we choose to sin over choosing not to sin. I don't think we are tricked into sinning. We are most assuredly tempted but that is not sinning.

I still remember a quote I heard a long time ago that has always stuck with me: "sin fascinates- then assassinates."

I think everyone has touched on some element of how to not sin. Just reading through the replies is edifying and encouraging to me!

As someone who is constantly screaming (internally) at pastors, "Yes, I understand what you're saying but HOW? What's the practical application of this in our lives?!" I can relate to what Blaine is actually asking. (If I'm wrong, Blaine, please correct me. Sometimes I can over-analyze posts!)

Dying to self and loving God are definitely the ANSWERS to not sinning. But Blaine is asking HOW do we do that? HOW do we not sin? HOW do we die to self? HOW can we love God? Knowledge alone isn't enough. It must be applied to WORK.

All I can do is give my own method.

There is a period of time that occurs before a sin is committed. A time when the conscience speaks out to advise us that we know better; that what just crossed our mind that our body wants to do/say is wrong, or a lie. It's self-centeredness, pride, the lack of self-control and ego that goads us with, "Just do/say it! You've already done/said something like this a million times before anyway! What's one more sin for God to forgive you for? It's a small one anyway! Just do/say it! You feel better! You'll show that other person they shouldn't mess with you or treat you that way!"

You know those dozen or so thoughts that go through your mind in a twinkling of an eye before you let loose on that sin? THAT'S the time before the sin that I'm talking about.

Whenever I'm tempted to sin, off all things or of all people, Ronald and Nancy Reagan ALWAYS come to mind before I sin. (It really IS remarkable how many thoughts can run through your mind in a twinkling of an eye to a few seconds.)

I ALWAYS hear Ronald Reagan saying, "Well, Nancy says to just say NO!"

There's so much truth and maturity in that. Just say no. Here's an example: I got to work with my friend who has a carpet cleaning van today. We were shampooing the carpet of a vacant apartment that was recently renovated. One of the guys working on the renovations came in. As he passed by me, said he had some work to do in the bathroom. I smelled alcohol on his breath. I wanted to turn to my friend and say, "Looks like someone had a liquid lunch today."

As God is my witness, this was my entire thought process in just a few seconds:

"What? That's so rude! I may like to be funny once in awhile but I'm not a mean person! Still it would be funny and not really hurt anyone and my friend would get a chuckle out of it. Yeah, but at this man's expense, unbeknownst to him? All he did was come in to do a job! Do you know WHY he drinks during the day? Do you know his struggles or what he may be currently going through? Show some compassion."

Then 1 Peter 4:6 came to mind, "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."

(Thought process continuing...)

"Sins aren't covered by jokes and gossiping. Jesus not only covered all of my sins, He forgave them completely.

I'm going to practice self-control and discipline and NOT say that to my friend. I want Jesus to be proud of me."

So, that's my practical way of dealing with sin: Ronald and Nancy Reagan and the short, but powerful phrase: "Just say NO!" It's possible to just say no. We just don't like going through the self-denial (dying to self part) or loving God more than ourselves. Odd, I know. But it works for me.

There IS a time that passes before we CHOOSE to commit sin. And it IS long enough to reason out and choose holiness. It IS enough time to turn away from that sin. Will we be controlled by self-discipline and the love of God and others? Or are we not filled enough with the Word and spending abiding time with Jesus? Are we instead filled with our own desires and self-centered thinking? "I can't help it" is a self-centered cop-out. Or, in today's humanistic vernacular, "That's just how I'm wired." Or, "Sorry if you don't like it but I'm not changing who I am."

It IS a choice. Just say no and choose Jesus. Choose holiness.

ZSUZSANNA SAID: by Tozsu on 2016/5/19 22:53:21

Keith Daniel said this in one of his sermons:
This book will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from this book. SOAK YOURSELF IN THE BIBLE...

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Golly that sure is true! I think that's my favorite quote from Keith Daniel.

Even though this may not initially sound like "practical application," it really is. When we saturate ourselves in the Word, the Holy Spirit uses it to do many works in us, changing us more into the likeness of Jesus. When that happens, our desire to sin decreases as the ability to not sin increases.

John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (Just like you illustrated in your previous post, Zsuzsanna!)

I just wanted to clarify my post- when I answered the question "how can a person not sin" by saying we must die- I didn't mean dying to self- I meant dying like when your body gets put in the ground. That is the only sure way to not sin.

Of course we aren't supposed to be sinning while our hearts are beating. That's where dying to self and all that stuff comes in.

But I still really think that we sin because we are a bunch of wimps. We allow the devil to push us in the chest like a bully saying "what are you gonna do about it, punk?" and far too often we say "nothing I guess."

Tuc- I get your gist but you are taking it way too far.

Cause and Effect

There are many "cause and effect” passages in scripture. Here are several:

”¢ "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord[cause] will be saved [effect].” Acts 2:21
”¢ "Come near to God[cause] and He will come near to you[effect]” James 4:8
Ӣ "Any of you who does not give up everything he has[cause] cannot be my disciple[effect]. Lk. 14:33
”¢ "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed[cause], you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you[effect].” Lk. 17:6
Ӣ "I have hidden your word in my heart[cause] that I might not sin against you[effect]. Ps. 119:11

Similarly, Prov. 3:9-10 contains a cause and effect: Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops[cause]; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine[effect].

In all of these examples, what we do is the cause; what God does is the effect. Why did God "set things up” this way? A primary reason is that He wants to relate to us; He wants to partner with us in His enterprises. God can do anything He wants, but He chooses to use us. What a privilege, and what a responsibility! If we refuse to be the "cause,” then we limit how God can "effect” His blessings on us. Not only that, but we limit our worth in God’s Kingdom.

lol, maybe bearmaster could've added a caveat:

"with testimonies appended please!"

Resisting Temptation: What’s Faith Got to Do With It?

Let’s face it: temptation is a common occurrence in our daily lives. No one is immune; even Jesus was tempted. What does faith have to do with resisting temptation? Everything!

What is temptation? Boiled down to basics, temptation is simply Satan’s attempt to convince us that his way is better than God’s way. He does this by preying on our lack of belief. What lack of belief? Our lack of belief in a God that cares about our daily lives and who is grieved deeply when we succumb to temptation, but who will bless us when we resist.

When we succumb to temptation, we are essentially saying to ourselves: "God won’t really mind that I do this. Maybe He won’t even notice. At any rate, what I will gain from succumbing to temptation outweighs any potential gain from resisting." That’s what Satan wants us to believe! James 1:14-15 says: [B]ut each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Why was Jesus able to resist temptation, every time? Because He had the faith to believe that the fruits of obeying the Father outweighed any seeming "benefit” from succumbing to the Enemy. But how did He have such faith? Because He was close to the Father, all of the time. You have probably noticed that when you are in a period of spiritual dryness, you are much more likely to yield to temptation. Conversely, then you are walking in the Spirit, close to God, you are able to resist temptation. You don’t let it grab hold. In other words, you win! Believe it or not, we are able to live holy lives. But it takes diligence and discipline””and faith.

Here is God's great secret of holiness; not fighting sin, but being filled with God. It is the old principle of the expulsive power of a stronger force and a supreme affection. Just as water excludes air from that tumbler when it is filled with water; just as light excludes the darkness when the room is lighted, so the indwelling of the Holy Ghost excludes the presence and power of sin..... A. B. Simpson

Well honestly it really seems to come down to what we feed on.... You are what you eat... "Unless you eat my flesh"...

1 John 2 talks about not loving the world which is to say not to feed on the world for all it (can produce in us) is lust... Which the enemy can then use to draw us away through temptation because we are filled with things that he has control of.

Which is how Jesus could resist him and say "he hath nothing in me"....

But we will consume what we love, what draws our affection... So the whole purpose of most of what Paul talks about is keeping Christ first. Firstly by declaring He is preeminate and then encouraging us to daily make Him so in our personal lives by "putting off the old man with his lusts, and putting on Christ"

However this will become a "work" as has been pointed out by Tuc unless we have received the "love of God" or "love of the truth"...

John 17 contains the last words our Lord spoke as a free man (civilly speaking) and I'd encourage you all to spend some time feeding there, it's nutrient rich!
And you'll find in the last verse the "key" as it were to this whole thing.... and that is that we have to receive the Fathers love for His Son. There is a very practical reason Jesus prayed this and its effects are eternal.

26 "And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."

Notice Jesus asks that not only would He be in us,...but also the love of God for His Son would also be in us!

So if we've received this and keep Him first (by daily renewing our minds to the truth) then faith will come quite naturally much like when you first fell in love with your spouse,.. You couldn't help but to do them things that pleased them no matter the cost... But then the cares of the world got in the way and we became distracted. Tho we still did these "good works" they were now more out of habit, obligation, or expectation. You know what it's called when we do the works we once did out of a compulsion of love but now out of habit or obligation?..... Religion! Ha!

Stale,... no life in it~

One of the reasons this is so important is because this is true "fellowship" or communion with God. He communes or fellowships with us exclusively through the shared love for His Son.

We have our left over relics and rituals and that's all fine but don't mistake that for communion,... it's just an act.

There is nothing more intimate that can be experienced by a human than sharing in Gods love for His Son,... That's why we are called brothers, that's why there is a spirit of adoption,... This is tabernacling which is what God the Father wants with us here and now~

So to answer brother Blaines OP question rather bluntly...
The way a Christian doesn't sin is by not focusing on not sinning! But focusing on Jesus, real life!

A Christian tryin not to sin is like a race car driver trying not to crash,... that's not racing!
Or a surfer trying not to fall off his board,... That's not surfing!
The only way to do either of these is to accept the inherent risk involved and allow your love of the sport itself to guide you...
And IF you crash or fall off,.. Don't freak out and pout, humble yourself and get back up and keep going- for if any man sin, we have an advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:)

God is love
God is a spirit
God is light

I agree 100% and that is what I have been trying to say but not as effectively.

To directly answer the question in the original post, here are my thoughts:

1)\tIDENTITY IN CHRIST

It is critical for the Christian to understand his new nature in Christ. When you became born again you were translated from the kingdom of darkness and brought into God’s kingdom of light in Christ. This occurred in your SPIRIT. Before salvation you were in fallen Adam and your spirit was dead to God. It wasn’t extinct or annihilated, but your spirit had no relationship with God. At salvation you became identified with Christ both in His death and his resurrection. When the Bible says that your "old man” died with Christ, this is the old sin nature that was your old dead-to-God spirit that you inherited from fallen Adam. Your new born spirit man was born of the Holy Spirit and always loves God and wants to please Him. The nature of the new spirit is love, purity and holiness.

Christians no longer have a sin nature but they do have minds that have not been renewed (reprogrammed by the spirit). Your old programming that you learned before salvation taught you to live a life independently from God and rely on your own resources. This is what the Bible calls "the flesh” in Romans 7 and Romans 8. It is not the old "sin nature”; that would be too strong of a term for it. It is living from the self-life apart from Christ. You can think of the flesh as the "ghost” of your old sin nature that was left behind in your mind. Galatians 5 lists the works of the flesh. There is also something called "religious flesh” which can look good on the outside but is abhorrent to God. The apostle Paul when he was Saul the Pharisee is a good example of religious flesh. Many Christians display religious flesh because they don’t live in union with or dependence on Christ. They do good works to try and impress God and give Him a reason to like them. They don’t understand grace and are forever trying to attain right relationship and fellowship with Him by works.

Without a clear understanding of the nature of your spirit and your flesh, your fight against sin will not be effective. When tempted you need to understand that it is the flesh that is tempted to sin. Think of the flesh as the old "false self” and the spirit as the new "true self”. We do not deny the existence of the flesh. Even after salvation you can recall old memories of sinful activity that was pleasurable. God does not erase your mind at salvation. And just like Pavlov’s dog, we also respond to fleshly stimuli and respond with sinful desire. It is important to believe and confess both your being dead to sin and also your resurrection and union with Christ in your spirit. So many people don’t consider the difference between their spirit and their flesh and so when tempted they just assume that’s just who they are. They look at everything at the deed level without considering the source. They also think God only cares about things at the deed level and therefore things like attitude and motive are unimportant.

When you are tempted you need to be bold and tell yourself (not necessarily out loud) that this temptation is trying to stir up the old dead self (programming) and you have been delivered from that domain and lifestyle. If you don’t stand firm on the truth of this fact the devil will succeed in stumbling you since your unbelief will allow or give permission to go the next step and sin. I find it helpful to say "I’ve been there, done that and it’s a mirage and illusion that appeals only to my flesh. I never found the satisfaction that the temptation alluded to by giving in to it.”

God gives grace to the humble. When tempted in an area that you fail repeatedly it is good to RELAX and tell God in prayer something to the effect: Lord, I have failed in this area many times and I know that the only way of overcoming is to lay hold of your power which resides in me by the Holy Spirit. I confess my inability apart from You and so I now look to you and trust and rely on your Spirit within me to put to death the deeds of the flesh. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sets me free from the law of sin and death. Thank You.

2)\tTHE MIND

You become like and do the things you set your attention on. If you are battling overeating it is not a good idea to look at or be around tempting foods. Often times we are tempted by thoughts that arise in our minds without a visual component. What is weird is that if your try to forcefully try to not think about something it will be even more stubborn in leaving. This is because you gave it power in your mind by over-reacting to it. If you think the thought is all powerful, it will be. It is best to have an "Oh That” attitude toward it. Sort of like how you would respond to a pesky little mosquito. The Lord told me to not "reminisce or get sentimental” about the sinful practices and lifestyles I engaged in before getting saved. You still have flesh that can get "heart sick” for that old stuff but if you entertain or have dalliances with that kind of thinking you will sink for sure.

3)\tLOVE FOR THE LORD

Finally, the Christian life is above all else about relationship. Jesus obtained our good standing with God so I’m not talking about earning or attaining right standing with God. As you progress in your walk with the Lord your love for the Lord should increase. I am very humbled when I think about God’s goodness to me: how He has forgiven me of all sin, how He has been SO patient and forbearing with me after I got saved, how He has provided my every need and protected me all along the way. And by the grace of God I have been delivered from idolatry and several addictions. I’m not perfect but with those big things out of the way it’s like there is so much more room in my heart for the Lord to fill and possess! I don’t pray out of duty anymore and sometimes I pray for a short time and sometimes it’s a long time. I don’t look at the clock. I pray from the heart what’s real to me. And now that the Lord’s love is taking a firmer hold on me, I want to obey and please Him. Previously, I would often be motivated by fear, guilt or duty. Not always but sometimes. It always made me feel separated and further from God. There is a place for warning people about reaping what you sow and the destructiveness of sin, etc. But calamity from sowing wild oats or the destructiveness of sin are baked into the sin system just like falling down is built into the gravity system if you fail to take heed to stay balanced. Anyway, Jesus said that no one can serve two masters, he will love one and despise the other. I don’t want to put too much of a guilt trip on someone who has a besetting sin because I feel it might cause them to hide from God. Instead I would hope that they would just have an honest prayer with God asking that God would give a greater and deeper revelation of His great love for them. Meditate on these two verses:

It is the mercy of the Lord that leads to repentance.

We love Him because He first loved us.

Blessings from my heart,

-Daniel

Brother Blaine,

It's very nice to see the grace of God at work in a man and His hand is quite clearly upon you:)

Not too long ago this (post) might've been submitted in a pointed, combative fashion... But for a while now there is an earnestness, a sincerity to your disposition that seeks the truth and is a blessing as it really helps to further fellowship rather than draw lines and defend:)

So just wanted to give thanks to the Lord for the work He is doing in you and to you as well for yielding to His loving hand as He grows us up in Christ:)

Brother Daniel,

These are very well articulated thoughts and practices!
very similar to my understanding/relationship and I am blessed and encouraged by your sharing them!

Yes and amen! to how you present the "problem" of our flesh-
Recently a friend pointed out that when Christ was tempted in the wilderness that, tho it was the devil whom tempted Him, it was nonetheless His own flesh that He was speaking too, keeping it in subjection to the spirit. I mean after 40 days of not eating you know He had to be hungry! So the devil appealed to that "good desire" to eat but did so in a way so as to subject our Lord to His flesh if He gave in... so He tells His own flesh to (quiet down) that it is written that man shall not live by bread alone...
And that everytime it was an attempt for Him to exalt His flesh above His spirit...

I had never thought of it in this way before, but it seems consistent with and parallels what Paul says about beating his own body into submission lest he become castaway...
-

Daniel wrote:

"When tempted in an area that you fail repeatedly it is good to RELAX and tell God in prayer something to the effect: Lord, I have failed in this area many times and I know that the only way of overcoming is to lay hold of your power which resides in me by the Holy Spirit. I confess my inability apart from You and so I now look to you and trust and rely on your Spirit within me to put to death the deeds of the flesh. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sets me free from the law of sin and death. Thank You."

I suspect there are folks who have prayed something similar 10,000 times yet still sin in that area. Why might that be? I certainly have no issue with that prayer- I think it is appropriate. What I might take issue with is the "relax" part. Jesus said to cut off body parts that cause us to stumble. Now, I do think he was using a rhetorical device to make a point- and that point is that sometimes violent and severe action may be necessary.

Dr. Michael Brown has an excellent sermon called "Are You Backsliding?" (at least I think that is the sermon I am thinking of). Anyways in there he talks about getting serious about not sinning and has some great pointers.

If it was simply a matter of prayer, why not just pray" Lord, I don't like sinning. You don't like sinning. Please help me to never sin again. Amen." I mean, that would clearly seem to be God's will, right?

Todd, I'm sorry if you understood my advice to relax to mean we should be indifferent or apathetic to sin. That was not my point. Also, the prayer I offered as an example was not meant to be just a beggy, "hail mary", hopin' and a wishin' prayer. The last half of that prayer was a statement of faith in the power of Christ in us by the Holy Spirit. In both cases the idea is to get the focus on Christ within us to be our resource for living and overcoming the trials and temptations we face every day.

As I have stated in other posts, there is a divine balance in the Christian walk between our being responsible and taking action and our dependence and reliance on Christ to live through us. It is easy to over-emphasize either part too much. I, in my early walk, took the attitude of "I got this Lord, I can handle this sin problem, you can rely on me." I experienced the Roman 7 outcome and was quite dismayed. Trying to whip up more resolve did not help things. And just as Paul moved out of Romans 7 reliance on self and into Romans 8 reliance on the Spirit, I too experienced the same breakthrough. There are many sinful temptations I don't struggle with I suppose because Christ's character in me handles it without my thinking too much about it. But besetting sins which have a history of "hooking" me are ones that I most definitely do need to be humble and put my focus on the Holy Spirit in me to overcome. As Paul said God told him, "My power is made perfect in weakness."

I hope this helps clarify things.

-Daniel

Daniel-

I did not mean to sound critical of your post. I agree with all that you said and appreciate it. Just trying to work the "balance" out in my own mind.

This morning when thinking about this a thought popped into my head:

Is it possible Jesus went into the wilderness to fast because he was experiencing temptation?