PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Being a Christian doesn’t mean we’re perfect.
We are still going to mess up.
That’s why we need constant awareness of our thoughts and actions.
Today’s post is based on something I read this morning.
It was the comment section of an article; people were debating a topic and someone wrote that Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.”
The writer’s argument was that a true Christian won’t sin anymore and if they do, they aren’t saved anymore.
Friends, this is exactly why I believe in the importance of context when quoting the Bible.
Jesus spoke those words in two situations.
One, in John 5:1-15, when He said it to a man He healed.
Specifically, Jesus said in John 5:14, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
We can infer from the story that the man’s situation had to do with a past choice and Jesus gave him a fresh start.
While not all illnesses and injuries are due to sin, sometimes they are a side effect of it and Jesus’ words give a warning to that truth.
Then, the second time He said, “Go and sin no more,” is found in John 8:1-11.
A woman was caught in the act of adultery and the Pharisees were preparing to stone her when Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
One by one, they dropped their stones and left.
Jesus said to the woman, “Go, and sin no more.”
Jesus was telling the woman not to commit adultery anymore.
He didn’t expect ongoing perfection from the woman because He knew that was impossible for her, just as He knows it’s impossible for us.
It’s the very reason we need a Savior.
If it were truly possible for us to live without sin, then Jesus wouldn’t have needed to die for us.
And if we think we lose our salvation every time we mess up, we diminish the power of Jesus’ saving blood!
He didn’t die repeatedly.
He died once.
And that one death was enough to cover all our sin.
We are going to be tempted by sin.
But we have options.
We don’t have to fall to it.
We just need to be very diligent that we don’t think we are above sinning because otherwise, we really need to revisit the words of John found in 1 John 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
Similarly, Paul warned the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
But we find hope in the next verse, “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13b).
Today, as you pray, thank Jesus for His redemption.
Thank Him for saving you.
And thank God that when we do sin, we don’t lose our salvation but can be restored to fellowship with a repentant heart.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you when you’re tempted, that you may readily cling to Jesus, and not fall.
