Why Do I Still Sin If I Am Saved

We just explained what it means to be born again in the last unit. Before a person is born again, their soul is dead in trespasses and sins. But when the Holy Ghost moves into a person, He breathes life into their soul. We become new creations.

But here’s a question: Does that mean Christians no longer sin? I’ve heard many people claim that if you have been born again, you will never sin. I’ve even heard some say that they themselves do not sin.

The fact is, the Bible does not teach this. In fact, it teaches the opposite. Christians do sin. Christians will sin. And if you claim to have no sin, the Bible calls you a liar.

Some may argue that this verse speaks only about people who have not yet been born again. They say that after you come to Jesus, you will not sin again. But notice how it says, “If we say we have no sin” and “the truth is not in us.” John is using present tense language—meaning now, not in the past.

Look at the verse right before it:

John is speaking about people who walk in the light, have fellowship with those in the light, and are cleansed by the blood of Jesus. He is clearly addressing those who have been forgiven.

It sounds like Paul was having a hard time! In case anyone thinks he’s talking about a time before he became a Christian, take note that he’s also speaking in the present tense. Paul is currently dealing with this issue even after being born again.

OK—surely there’s something we’re missing here! How can Paul say he sins as a Christian when John says whoever is in Jesus doesn’t sin?

Soul vs. Flesh

Here’s the key: The soul of a person may have been born again—but what about the body? What happens with that part of us?

If you haven’t noticed by now, our bodies (what the Bible calls the flesh) want to sin. This is why we are tempted to sin even after being born again. In fact, sometimes it may feel as if we can’t stop sinning at all.

This is because the flesh has not been born again like the soul has. The Bible says the flesh is still dead—it is not redeemed, and it is corrupt. That will not be changed until the resurrection.

Even though our soul has been born again, our flesh is still dead—in a state of decay. That’s why we sometimes have repeated sins that we deal with over and over.

This is what confuses many people. On one hand, we have the born-again soul that wants to do good; on the other, we have the flesh that wants to sin.

Paul said in Galatians 5:17 that the two are at war with each other. So we cannot do what we truly want to do. We are “stuck” between the mind of the flesh and the mind of the Spirit. Yes—the flesh has a mind of its own.

Are Christians Double-Minded

Does that make us double minded? Do we have split personality disorder? No more than anyone else. What person hasn’t wanted two different things at the same time? As the joke goes, “I want to get in shape, but I also want tacos.”

We all face choices between two things we strongly desire. The question is: how do we decide? What area of your life is weakest? What area is strongest? Does your love for tacos have a stronger pull on you than your desire for fitness?

Does your flesh have a stronger pull than your spirit? Let’s be honest—sometimes we give in. It wouldn’t be much of a war if one side won every battle, would it? And that’s exactly what we have on our hands: our flesh and spirit are at war.

The difference is that the war has already been won by the Spirit. The flesh just doesn’t know it yet. No matter how many battles the flesh wins, it has already lost in the end.

The simple fact is that even though we have a born-again spirit, we still have to deal with the desires of the old flesh. That’s because the flesh is still dead in sin.

If you haven’t noticed, all flesh dies—including the flesh of those who have been born again. The soul does not, but the flesh does.

Who Are We

We often look at ourselves in the mirror and think we are seeing a reflection of who we are. But are we really? No—we are seeing a reflection of our body, not our soul.

The body is only dust. It has a physical form with physical needs and desires. It only knows the physical world. It only knows what it thinks. This is why Jesus could be tempted: He was God (a Spirit) who cannot be tempted, but His flesh was human and could be.

Who you are is the soul inside that body. Our mistake is failing to tell the difference. We tend to think of ourselves as one being with one desire and one mind. We don’t usually understand that the desires of the flesh are not the desires of the spirit.

When we die, our body and soul separate. The body exists for a time until it returns to dust. The soul exists eternally. When your soul and body separate, which one are you?

In the last unit, we spoke about the fact that God made a separation between the flesh and the spirit. If there is a separation between the two, then which one are you?

John gives us the key to understanding this. That which is born of flesh is flesh—it is filled with sin and the base desires of all flesh. That which is born (or born again) of Spirit is spirit—it is filled with the desires of righteousness and the heavenly desires of God.

If you have been born again, then you have a body that was born to this world and a soul that was born to God. You have two natures battling within you.

It is clear there is a difference between the Christian and his own flesh. In Colossians 2:11–14, we see that God makes a separation between the spirit and the flesh. This is why Paul understood:

When we sin, it is not the real us—it is the old flesh, which is dead. The flesh wants sin, but our soul does not.

What does that mean? It means the real you is the living, born-again spirit on the inside—yet that spirit is housed inside something that isn’t truly you: the old, dead body of flesh and sin. That body is still in decay, and it still wants sin.

What Happens If You Sin After You Are Saved

In Christ, we are sinless, righteous, and blameless. Even if your flesh commits a sin, your soul did not. But does that mean it’s okay for us to allow our flesh to sin—since it isn’t who we really are anyway?

That old, dead flesh still wants to sin. It’s still trying to pull away from God while the spirit is fighting against it, pressing on toward Him. There’s a tug-of-war going on. The Bible tells us we are to bring our flesh under subjection. In other words, we—the real us—are supposed to rule over it.

The flesh will never want to follow God. It will always resist. But it is not in charge of us. Sure, it can trip us, pull at us, and try to lure us away from God. But as long as our spirit keeps pushing toward God, it doesn’t win.

Many people ask, Does God forgive sins if you continue to repeat them? The answer is: “What sins?” As Scripture says, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

The word impute means to attribute something to someone. In other words, God does not attribute sin to you—He attributes it to the flesh, which is already considered dead.

Paul sums it up here: the life he lives on earth—in the flesh, with all its unrighteous actions—is lived by faith. He trusts Jesus and refuses to frustrate God by acting as though the sins committed in the flesh could nullify the grace of God.

Do Believers Need to Repent

What happens when our flesh sins? Do we have to repent again? Is it a never-ending cycle of turning to God, then from God, and then back to God? No—it’s not.

Remember—you are not in the flesh. If you have been born again, you are no longer that same old, dead flesh. You now have the Spirit of Christ in you. Even if the flesh sins, the spirit remains!

You already repented when you turned to Jesus. When your flesh sins, that doesn’t mean your soul has turned its back on God. It simply means the flesh took its liberty in that moment. The flesh cannot repent, and the soul no longer needs to.

Some people claim that if you sin after becoming a Christian, it means you never truly repented—because if you had, you would never sin again. But that is only a half-truth.

The spirit inside of you will never sin, because it is born of God. But the flesh is born of flesh. The spirit in you has repented, but the flesh has not—and cannot—according to Romans 8:7. That’s the whole truth.

Let me say it again: the flesh cannot repent!

The real you—the born-again spirit—keeps pressing toward God, even when the flesh pulls the other way. So when Christians sin, it is not because the real you sinned, as Paul explains. It is because your old nature has sinned. Therefore, you do not need to repent again, since it was the flesh and not you that sinned. You never turned from God, even when the flesh had its way.

So what should we do when the flesh tempts us? We need to bring it into submission. We should not allow it to take control. But what if it already has? What if it has had its way, and we’ve sinned?

John tells us to confess it and move on. We should never pretend we are perfect in both body and soul. We should be willing to admit when the flesh has acted. But we must also remember (like Paul) that we are already forgiven.

Your flesh cannot repent in the first place—Romans 8:7 tells us it cannot and will not turn to God. This is why the book of Hebrews says it is impossible to renew us again to repentance once we have become Christians (we’ll examine that in detail later).

Even if our flesh sins, we do not need to repent again—we already have.

Still, a few questions remain: Is it possible for our spirit—not just the flesh—to turn from God? Can sin committed in the flesh cause us to lose salvation? These are important questions we will address in the next few units.

Unit 3:12 – Can You Lose Your Salvation OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 3 – Repentance and Salvation