To sin or not to sin, that’s your decision to make. Every Christian is responsible for his or her own life and decides to believe God and His Word and walk in the will of God or not. In John 5:1-15, Jesus healed a man, who had an infirmity for 38 years. This lame man laid on a bed at the pool of Bethesda. When Jesus saw him, He went to him and asked him, if he wanted to get well. The lame man answered Jesus, that he didn’t have someone to bring him to the water to get healed. Then Jesus commanded the man to rise up and take his bed and walk. The man obeyed the words of Jesus and stood up and walked. The lame man was healed by Jesus, but what did Jesus say about the decision to sin or not to sin to him?
“Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee”
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee (John 5:14)
The man went to the temple and after a while, Jesus found the man in the temple. Jesus commanded the man, who was healed, to sin no more, lest a worse thing would come unto him.
Jesus healed the man from his sickness; his infirmity. The man was made whole and the Kingdom of God had come unto him.
The kingdom of darkness had captivated the man for 38 years, but when the Kingdom of heaven came unto him, the man was released from his bondage.
Jesus released the man from the spiritual prison of darkness
Jesus released this man from this spiritual prison of darkness. Now, that this man was released from this spiritual prison of darkness, Jesus commanded him, not to violate the spiritual laws by sinning. In other words; Jesus told the man to do the will of God and stay obedient to Him instead of doing the will of the devil (who works in the flesh) and obey him by sinning (Read also: ‘The will of God vs the will of the devil‘)
Because if the man decided to disobey God, by sinning, he would be taken captive again by the forces of darkness and then worse things would happen to him.
Jesus warned the man, because the man was carnal and didn’t see the spiritual realm and couldn’t discern the spirits. But Jesus was spiritual and knew the spiritual realm and the spiritual laws. Jesus knew the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of darkness and wanted this man to stay free and not become a prisoner of the devil, again. Therefore, Jesus commanded the man to sin no more.
“Go and sin no more”
And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more (John 8:11)
In John 8:1-11, we read about a woman, who was caught in the act of adultery. The woman, who committed adultery was brought to Jesus. The Scribes and the Pharisees accused the woman of adultery and told Jesus what she had done.
They suggested stoning her according to the law of Moses. But the words of these men didn’t come from a good conscious. All they wanted to do was tempt Jesus, so that they might be having a ground upon which they could accuse Jesus.
Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger and said to them: “he who’s sinless among you, let him be the first to throw the stone upon her“.
Jesus knew, that everyone, who belonged to the old generation of fallen man was carnal and was trapped in the sinful nature of the flesh.
These men left one by one until there was no one left except Jesus and the woman.
At that moment, Jesus had the power to condemn the woman, because He walked in the authority of the Kingdom of God (as the new creation), but Jesus said unto the woman that He wouldn’t condemn her either, since it was not Jesus’ time yet to judge but to save.
BUT…… Jesus didn’t approve of her works of adultery either and commanded the woman to go her way and to sin no more.
The new creation is separated from the world
When you become born again and enter the Kingdom of God, you leave the kingdom of darkness and become separated from the world. You have been redeemed and made whole by the blood of Jesus Christ and have been made holy and righteous in Him.
You have become a new creation and will put off your old man with his old habits. You will no longer walk the way you walked before your repentance, because you have repented from that lifestyle and its works.
It is essential to realize that you are no longer a sinner but that you have become a saint.
Because if you don’t realize this, then you will always think and live as a sinner and be stuck in your sins and never be freed from your sins (Read also: ‘Are you still a sinner?‘).
When you became born again, you stepped from one spiritual kingdom into another.
In your old life, you walked in sin (sin= everything which is against the Word of God that represents the will of God) and were of the devil.
You possessed his character, his nature, and in your fallen state, you were not able to submit to God and do His will. Instead, you lived after the flesh in rebellion.
You were rebellious towards God and lived in sin and were obedient to the words and will of the devil. The Bible says, that if you sin, you have the devil as father (John 8:44).
When you decided to repent, you indirectly said that you didn’t want to have the devil as your father anymore. You didn’t want to obey his words and walk in his will. You were fed up with your life under his authority. When you heard the words of the gospel and met Jesus Christ, you believed in Him and accepted Him as your Saviour and Lord.
You wanted God as your Father instead of the devil and obey His words and walk in His will. You didn’t want to obey the words of the devil and walk in his will.
The nature of God will do His will
From the moment you become born again and receive the nature of your Father God, you will long for Him and the things of the Kingdom of God. There must be a desire to do His will and to walk according to what He says.
A real father knows, what is good for his child; he wants the best for his child. If an earthly father wants the best for his children, how much more your heavenly Father.
That’s why, God revealed His will to us in His Word. He revealed to us, not only what pleases Him and what not, but also the way to salvation, how to become a new creation and how to walk as the new creation in His will. He revealed it all in His Word. So that, His way would become your way and His thoughts would become your thoughts.
To sin or not to sin
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40)
Jesus told the man, who was healed from his infirmity and the woman, who was caught in the act of adultery, to sin no more. Therefore, these people had the power to sin no more and say ‘no to sin’.
The woman had the power to say ‘no’ to adultery, because otherwise, Jesus wouldn’t have given her the commandment to sin no more.
The question is, did the woman respond to Jesus’ commandment to sin no more?
Did she obey His commandment or did she let her feelings, her lust, and her desire rule over the words of Jesus and give in to her feelings, lust, and desire?
Remember, when Jesus commanded to sin no more, His crucifixion and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had not been taken place yet.
So these people were not born again but were still the old creation and had the power to say ‘no’ to sin and to sin no more.
You too have the power to sin no more. You decide to sin or not to sin.
By the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, you have been made holy and righteous. Now that you have been made holy and righteous, you’ve also been called to live in holiness and righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Saved by grace and doing the works of the Spirit
You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and you shall love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40)
You are not saved by works, but by grace. But being under grace doesn’t mean that you are allowed to keep sinning. Because if your flesh has died in Christ when you became born again, how can you do the works of the flesh?
When you are saved and become born again, you will see the nature and effect of sin, which is the fruit of death and you will hate sin, just like God. You will hate your former life as a sinner and will not return to it (Read also: ‘Can you keep sinning under grace?‘ and ‘What does Jesus hate?‘)
When you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength you shall love doing His will. You shall spend time with Him and renew your mind with the Word of God and apply His words into your life, so that you become a doer of the words of God and do the works of the Spirit. You don’t have to, but you want to, because you have been made in His likeness and you love God.
When the Word and the Holy Spirit dwell inside of you, you will walk after the Spirit in obedience to the Word. You will walk in love, holiness, and righteousness, doing the will of the Father and exalting and glorifying Him.
“Be the salt of the earth”
