First, it is important to address why Christians say they should not sin any longer. A Bible study I'm in studied Romans 6 right after the conversation I mentioned earlier (I pause here to give a hat-tip to those I study with for the wisdom they shared in the Spirit that I will be using in this post). This chapter is filled with language of freeing believers in Christ from sin, and instead having them cling to righteousness. Paul, the writer of Romans, ends chapter 5 saying that where sin was abundant, God's grace was extended even more, so that it will be in control through Jesus. He continues like so:
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
(Romans 6:1-11, ESV)
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.Paul's argument in this passage is that the increasing extension of grace in the presence of sin is not a reason to continue sinning. The evidence of this is Christ's death and resurrection. Jesus' perfect life, death, and powerful raising are the ideal visual of how our life in sin has ended and our life in God's righteousness has begun for the Christian. Our sinful nature (old self) was killed with Jesus so it would be destroyed and we are no longer slaves to it. So if we died with him, we surely have been raised and will live with him. His resurrection shows his conquering of death and, therefore our sinful nature, so that we are free to live to God. "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14, ESV)Here is the instruction for the Christian, who is dead to sin and alive in Christ, free from sin's power and free to live for God. We have no more reason to sin, we no longer are required to by our master unrighteousness. We are no longer subject to the law, which brings death, but we are subject to grace, which brings life.
Some may raise the question "if we are not subject to the law, doesn't that mean we can continue to sin with no consequences?" That is Paul's next point. Christians are not free to do whatever they want, but in this analogy they are free from sin's rule and have switched to being under the rule of a righteous God. This next passage displays a basic truth of human nature: we are always slaves to our nature. Before I was a Christian, I was a slave to my sinful nature and my flesh's selfish desires but now that God has single-handedly changed my nature through his Son, I am a slave to righteousness. I do the things I do because I want the things I want. When I wanted to sin, I sinned, but now that my nature wants to do good in God's name, I do good in God's name.
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.Here's what this might look like if we put it in a modern analogy. Say you have a job and while you're working, someone you don't recognize walks in and starts telling you what to do. You find out he does not work at the company and therefore has no authority over you. Do you follow his instructions? No. You continue to do what the boss you know tells you. Fast forward a year. You've left your place of employment and have come to work at a new company. Who do you find is in charge but this man who tried to tell you what to do a year ago at your old job. Do you follow his instruction now? Of course!
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:15-23, ESV)
I hope we understand now the transformation that happens when we are committed to Christ. Our nature changes from a selfish, sinful nature to one that desires to serve God, we are not slaves to sin, but to righteousness. This is where the confusion between what we read in scripture and what we see in our lives comes in. If the Bible tells me that Christians are not supposed to sin, why are they sinning as much as anyone else?
A major key to understanding comes not in the sixth chapter of Romans, but in the fact it exists. If we all stopped sinning as soon as we were saved, would this chapter be necessary? What would the point be to tell Christians that they should not sin or that they are no longer slaves to their flesh if they could not sin? But this passage, and those like it, exist as an encouragement to live in the manner we have been newly created to be. It would not be here if we did not need to hear it and we were not still capable of sin.
Christians are like the person who was in the military for years under the same commanding officer. They were trained to snap to attention at the sight of their officer and do as he said. Once they left the military, there was no need to present themselves to the officer the same way. But walking down the street they see their former officer and out of habit, because it used to be required of them, they snap to attention before they realize it is not necessary. In the same way, we used to be under sin's rule but have been set free. However, it was so ingrained in us, we still act as if it has dominion, as if we need to snap to attention every time we see opportunity to sin.
There is a truth in the Bible we refer to as sanctification. This is the progressive act of shaping us to look more like Christ everyday and to remove the habits of sin from our lives. This work is not promised to be complete until the day of Christ, when he returns. So we struggle with sin as God shapes us, knowing our salvation is secure, not using it as a reason or excuse.
We are all born with a nature of sin and selfishness and like a man in jail, we are unable to declare ourselves free and walk out the front door. Someone else needs to do this for us. That is why Jesus lived a perfect life, died, and raised from the dead to conquer sin and death. Now those who trust him are set free, and even though we are continually breaking habits, we know it is a process and find freedom knowing it is God's work in his children.
