Sin is breaking God’s commandment. Anyone who rejects God’s commandment makes himself God’s enemy. If you say that you know God and you still sin, then you do not know Him.
Anyone who commits a sin acts as an enemy of the law of God, any sin is a rejection of his law. You know that he came to take away our sins, and that there is no sin in him. Whoever remains in him has no sin, whoever sins has not seen or known him. My little children, do not be led astray, those who do what is right are upright, just as Jesus Christ is upright. But those who sin belong to the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. This is why the Son of God was shown to us, he was to undo the works of the devil (1 John 3.4-8).
None was found perfect in Israel because none could keep the whole law (Romans 3.13-19). Many were willing to obey but failed to obey because of the weakness of the human strength. The Old Covenant law was holy. The Old Covenant was meant to give life to those who obey it. However, it brought death to many because many could not keep it. Should we then say that the Old Covenant law was unholy? Certainly Not! Sin, because it is sin, used a holy thing to prove itself. Sin used the holy law to gain power. Human strength was too weak to obey the law. Thus, man became a slave to sin. Man is unable to do the good thing that he wills to do, instead he does the bad things he does not want to do. Sin gained dominion over man. The old law though holy, became a law of sin and death. If there is no sin, there is no death. The prize of sin is death.
Those born of God do not sin, for the seed of God remains in them, they cannot sin because they are born of God. What is the way to recognize the children of God and those of the devil? The one who does not do what is right is not of God, so, too, the one who does not love his brother or sister (1 John 3.10 & 1 John 2.11-3).
Sin is sin, be it a believers’ or an unbelievers’. Some believers are yet to be born of spirit (perfected in holiness), so they still sin. Some believers have been born of Spirit (they have put on God’s holy nature), so they no longer sin. One who is born of God (water and spirit) no longer sins because he is in control of his sinful human nature and tendencies. Such a believer has experienced the full victory of the cross.
The cross of Christ wrought for man the forgiveness of sins and the power to stop sinning.
The LORD Jesus went to the cross solely to take away sins. He died to bring man to complete restoration from sin. He bore our sin in his body and by his wounds we are healed in our spirit. Before the LORD Jesus healed in the land of Israel, he first forgave sins. If sin is not forgiven (especially deadly sin), healing cannot be administered. Bodily health is a by-product of the cross. The LORD went to the cross to defeat sin so that we can be empowered to walk in uprightness. Man can live a sinless life.
The power of the cross is greater than the power of sin.
Sin can no longer overpower believers because the LORD Jesus on the cross freed man from the power of sin. Sin can no longer compel believers to sin. Before the cross, no one could win the fight over sin. But now, we can fight in faith and win. We must believe the work of the cross. Without faith in the LORD, the cross will be of no effect. Fight the good fight of faith and sin will give way.
The proof of the victory of the cross over sin is the remission of sins and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit is the power of the believer over sin. The blood cleanses all sin. The Holy Spirit brings believers to holiness.
Dominion over sin is not instantaneous when a man first believes. Dominion over sin is guaranteed if a man follows the LORD Jesus daily. Jesus Christ defeated sin on the cross and those who follow Him in faith will eventually experience this victory in their lives. If a man wants to claim his dominion over sin:
1. He must first know that the cross of Christ freed him from the power of sin.
2. He must refuse to go on sinning and receive forgiveness and cleansing from sin.
3. He must be led by the Holy Spirit. Only those who are led by the Spirit can be born of spirit. We can deal away with all unrighteousness only in the power of the Holy Spirit. Gradually sin will lose its grip on us. Then we shall become dead to sin (Romans 6.11). Those who walk after the spirit cannot gratify fleshly and sinful desires.
A believer can live a sinless life. It is wrong to believe that perfection is impossible. God wants man to be perfect (Mathew 5.48)
The power of the Holy Spirit is stronger than the power of sin.
When a man first believes, he receives from the LORD forgiveness and cleansing from his sins. When he is filled with the Holy Spirit, he receives power to put away with his sinful nature.
If you are not filled with the Spirit of Christ, you will continue to live after the flesh even if you are a believer. The Holy Spirit is the power of the believer to have dominion over sin.
The believer who is not spirit filled can easily return to his sinful way of life. Such a believer must be careful not to commit deadly sins. If he commits and remains in those deadly sins, he may lose his salvation.
We must do all we can to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not settle for any fake baptism. We must copy the example of the five wise virgins who gave up their all to buy as much oil as they could. We must not copy the example of the rich young ruler who could not sell his all to buy treasure in heaven (Mathew 19.16-30). We must not be like the crowd who followed the LORD Jesus but were not ready to pay the price of discipleship (Luke 14.25-33). If we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must liberate our hearts and set our hearts on spiritual things. If we walk after the Holy Spirit, we will be born of spirit. Those who walk according to the spirit do not give in to sinful desires (Galatians 5.18-24).
By our own strength, we can never win. If we try to walk under the Old Covenant system, we fall from grace.
The Old Covenant relied solely on the strength of man while the new covenant relies on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Under the new covenant, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus operates but under the Old Covenant, is the law of sin and death. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has sets man free from the law of sin and death. You may have believed in the LORD Jesus but if you do not operate under the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, you will not gain victory over sin. Only those who follow the Holy Spirit are on the path to victory. You cannot walk after the spirit except you are filled with the Holy Spirit.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. …..For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live (Romans 8.1-13).