Jesus said:

John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Paul also said:

1 Corinthians 15:34 Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

Both Jesus the Christ and Paul the Apostle said to sin no more.

What did they mean when they said to sin no more?

Did they really mean for us to actually sin no more?

As much as possible, please back up your reply with at least one reference.

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In His Love, Mercy & Grace

Daryl

John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

The part where Jesus said "sin no more LEST A WORSE THING COME UNTO THEE" makes me think of the story of the man who swept and garnished. She had already been doing wrong and was forgiven. If she were to go back into the sinful lifestyle, Satan would then see it as a "free for all" I believe. I get this idea from here:

The Desire of Ages, page 323, paragraph 2
"Then He added a warning to those who had been impressed by His words, who had heard Him gladly, but who had not surrendered themselves for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is not only by resistance but by neglect that the soul is destroyed. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man," said Jesus, "he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there."

There were many in Christ's day, as there are today, over whom the control of Satan for the time seemed broken; through the grace of God they were set free from the evil spirits that had held dominion over
the soul. They rejoiced in the love of God; but, like the stony-ground hearers of the parable, they did not abide in His love. They did not surrender themselves to God daily, that Christ might dwell in the heart; and when the evil spirit returned, with "seven other spirits more wicked than himself," they were wholly dominated by the power of evil.

When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end."

And yes we are really to sin no more, because we can only serve one of two Masters. If we continue in sin, we are choosing Satan, as spoken about in the quote above. And once you do know better, its even worse for you to go back to sinning.

Claudia

This may repeat a little bit from the previous posts, however, here it is anyway.

Jesus says,

"Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" John 5:14.
"Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" John 8:11.

Go and sin no more. That's a pretty tall order! But God means what He says, and says and what He means. So, there's no reason for us to feel threatened by the command - "Go and sin no more." Why? Because Jesus' commands are God's promises. Our Savior does not command us to do something that He cannot enable us to perform unto the honor and glory of God. Therefore, we have every right to expect the Holy Spirit to empower us to go and sin no more.

Any thoughts on this?

__________________________
In His Love, Mercy & Grace

Daryl

I think this subject is the very heart of salvation. Part of the three angels' messages is the everlasting gospel (Rev 14:6), that is, the goods news that Jesus can empower born again believers to literally go and sin no more.

A logical question to ask at this point is - WHEN can we expect power from on High to empower us from within to live without sinning?

And how complete is the promise - "Go and sin no more"? Is it fair to expect God to miraculously re-create us NOW so that we can go and live without committing any known sin ever again?

Or can we only expect the Lord to GRADUALLY restore His character in us so that after years of sinning less and less often we eventually, in our old age, come to the place where we finally experience the promises of perfection?

And another question - What is the relationship between the PROCESS of conversion and the PRODUCT of conversion?

Mike

Hello Mike

I like the fact that you called "go and sin no more," a promise.

SDA legalists would call it a commandment.

I believe that this promise is very complete in that once Jesus helps us to deal with a particular sin; we are enabled, if we choose, to no longer be involved with that particular sin.

With most of us, there are usually a few more sins waiting in line for Jesus to deal with; and I suppose thats why the Bible tells us: "By grace ye are saved, through faith."

Good thing eh?

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Courage is fear that has
said it's prayers.
Therefore, the Bible
says: "Be of good
courage!"

I believe part of the answer to the question as to when does God give us the power to sin no more is found in this verse: "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13. The power to resist temptation and avoid committing sin is available right now.

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The Lord is the strength of my life and my portion forever.

[This message has been edited by Cathy Sears (edited February 12, 2001).]

The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the word of God. This word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It transforms the nature and re-creates the soul in the image of God. {Ed 126.4}

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For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
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Linda

This is a fantastic study. Thanx everybody for chipping in so many good insights.

It sounds like at least some of us dare to take God at His word, and when He promises to empower us to live without sin we are willing to believe He can perform His promise.

I like what Paul said in Phil 2:13 - That it is God who works in us both to will and to do those things that are pleasing to Him. But just how complete is that promise? Is it a partial promise that depends on well informed we are?

And what about Rom chapter 6. In what sense is it true that the old man habits of sin are crucified and we no longer serve sin?

And Eph 4:24 and 1 Peter 1:23? When do we receive the sinless seed of the new man?

And that hard text in 1 John 3:9? What do we do with that inspired promise?

And as one person wrote - 1 Cor 10:13 doesn't seem to allow room to excuse sin. Does that mean we can live without sin now? Or must we first be born again and receive the seed of the new man?

And finally, when is 2 Cor 5:17 true?

I'm sorry I didn't quote all those passages in full, but I don't have a Bible program on this computer, plus I'm working with a broken arm - sort of slows me down.

Looking forward to what you have to share.

Mike

John 8:11 in the NIV says "go and leave your life of sin". This makes me to wonder if it is more of a "follow me" command? For instance, the only way I know of to "go and sin no more" is to follow Jesus because I cannot do it on my own - and trying to do it on my own could be considered sin because I am placing my faith in someone other that God. Perhaps Jesus was admonishing them to follow the true path (Himself) without actually inviting them to physically follow Him through His ministry. Every time Jesus healed someone or had contact with someone, He admonished them to follow Him with their hearts and to work for Him. (For example see the 10 demon possessed where the demons were cast into the pigs - Jesus commanded them to go into their village and share what had been done for them - their own mission work, although they were not to follow Him physically [sorry I don't have the text on me at the moment!])

My thoughts, anyway.

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Sarah Moss
*Prayer Changes Things!*

Thank you, Sarah, for those encouraging words. I totally agree the only way we live without is to live without self, to live with an eye single for the glory of God and 100% submitted and surrendered to Jesus.

I asked several specific questions two posts back. Would anyone care to share?

Mike