The Doorpost: It’s not OK to sin (1 John 1)

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
1 John 3:4-6

First John 1:8-10 tells us that “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” At first glance, the passage we are looking at this month in 1 John 3 might seem to contradict this.

The two passages show the tension we live with as Christians. On the one hand, if we deny our sin, we deceive ourselves. We need to confess our sins. When we do, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

But the fact that He forgives us does not mean that it is OK to sin. The reason He appeared was to take away our sins. In Him is no sin. No one who is truly in fellowship with Him will be comfortable sinning. When we see sin our in lives, we will realize we need to turn from it. We will turn to Him to rescue us from it. We will not continue in it.

If we have decided that a certain sin is acceptable in our lives and we decide to continue in it, we have no basis for saying we have a relationship with Him. The passage says that anyone who does this has neither seen Him or known Him.

If we are habitually doing something that He says is sin, we must turn from it. We must turn to Him, confess our sin, and receive His forgiveness. If we are seriously entangled in it, we may need to go to a trusted Christian leader or friend to get more help (James 5:16).

Jesus Christ appeared to take away our sins. There is no sin in Him. If we truly see Him or know Him we will not be comfortable continuing in sin.