July 25, 2024
These are the words of Jesus to the man that He healed at the pool of Bethesda, who had been lame for 38 years. When the angel troubled the waters, others who were more mobile got into the waters before this man. Jesus healed this man on the sabbath. The Jewish religious leaders were greatly offended when the healed man walked with his bedding on the sabbath as Jesus told him to do.
“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 5:14, emphasis added.
This should remind us of the time when the Jews brought to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus said to them, he who is without sin, cast the first stone to kill her. They all walked away. Jesus told her that neither did He condemn her. He then told her, “Go and sin no more.” Did Jesus really expect this woman to stop sinning or to just stop committing adultery?
Occasionally I read the material from GotQuestions.org. Check out this article, “Why did Jesus tell people to ‘go and sin no more’ if sinlessness is impossible?”
The author of this site wants us to know that, like the women caught in adultery, the lame man was also a sinner, even though that is not stipulated in this passage. In another similar passage, Jesus healed a man, and the disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned?” Was it this man or his parents who were responsible? Jesus said neither was it his sin nor his parents’ sin that resulted in this man’s physical problem, but that the works of God might be manifest in him by being healed. Why does the author of this site do this? He wants everyone to believe absolute sinlessness, like in Jesus, is impossible for mankind because we are born with a sinful nature. Therefore, we are not talking about sinlessness or absolute perfection, which is impossible for any human being save Jesus Christ. I can agree with this up to a point. But I will not agree that sinlessness is impossible. If living without sin were actually impossible, then it could not be sinful to sin. It could not be sinful to do what your nature forces and causes you to do. There can be no guilt if that is indeed the case. And if this is true, then God is the author of sin.
Consider this, please. If living without sin is possible, that puts the entire responsibility on us for being so selfish and sinful. We have no excuse for our sinning, like being born unable to obey the law of God. (Refer to my book and the appendix on the sin nature and Original Sin. Also refer to my article titled Two Natures.) It is also important to understand that, although we are not preprogrammed to sin (which many Calvinists actually do believe), we do sin. And that sin is all the more odious and blameworthy because we have no excuse for it. We can’t blame our sin nature, God, or the devil for our sin.
The author wants us to understand that it was this man’s sins that caused him to fall ill. That may be true, but we are not told it is true. He just assumes it. The author then makes this statement, “If the man returned to his sinful behavior, he would have wasted the opportunity Jesus gave him to live whole and forgiven.” What does that mean? Was this only a missed opportunity? Is that it? So, when Jesus told him that he must “sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee”, He was warning the healed man that he might get even a worse physical problem or something along those lines. Is that really what Jesus meant? I do not believe it. Jesus was telling him that “the worst thing that comes unto him” would be an eternity in hell. Because the author believes in the doctrine of once saved, always saved, he doesn’t recognize this comment by Jesus as a severe warning.
The author of this website, regarding the woman caught in adultery, does a decent job explaining it. However, this is how he concludes his message. “It should be the goal of every Christian to “sin no more” although we recognize that, while we are in the flesh, we will still stumble (1 John 1:8). God’s desire for each of us is to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). We still sin, but sin is no longer a lifestyle choice (1 John 3:9-10). When we fall, we can come to God and ask forgiveness (1 John 1:9; 1 Peter 4:1-2). And if we are truly God’s children, He will correct us, disciplining us when we need it. (Hebrews 12:6-11). His work is to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28).”
It is important to note that the author of this site believes in eternal security (once saved always saved). Therefore, if believers die with unconfessed sin, they go to heaven, despite what he seems to indicate above. Like others of his belief, he would probably say that if a person lives in sin habitually, he or she was probably never born again to begin with. I agree with him; that might be the case. But it might also be the case where this Christian person has turned away from God and rejected Him and has begun to sin habitually without repentance. A saved person can be lost forever.
A couple of points are in order. First, because the gospel has been so diluted and compromised, the organized church is full of unsaved “Christians.” It should surprise no one that the unsaved live like the devil. Second, what does the author mean when he says, “We still sin, but sin is no longer a lifestyle choice (1 John 3:9-10)”? Let me quote that passage he references.
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him: and he can not sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” 1 John 3:9-10.
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin” is what John said. If the author of this website means that sin in the life of a believer is the exception rather than the rule, then I would agree with them. If, however, he means that believers sin habitually but it is not their lifestyle choice, I would say that he is being deceptive. Sinning habitually and sinning as a lifestyle choice are the same.
There are many other interpretations of these two passages. Most are built around two things that I and others do not believe is the truth: 1) a belief in the eternal security of the believer or once saved always saved, and, 2) that we are born with a sin nature as a result of Adam’s sin, that we will have with us until we die even when we are regenerated by the Holy Ghost. Not only has the “church” been filled with unsaved “Christians” because of the compromise from the pulpit about what the conditions of salvation are, but the church has also been filled with the unsaved because of the false teaching that once you are saved, you are always saved.
See also my two articles, “Can Christians live without sin? Part 1 and 2,” and my article titled, “If we say we have no sin.”
I am always amazed and disappointed when I read some of the theological responses to Jesus’ two statements. Their theological gymnastics are impressive but ultimately unsatisfying and dangerous. By the time they were done with their interpretations, Jesus told these two people, “Don’t sin so much in the future,” but most definitely Jesus did not mean what He said, which was, “Sin no more.” I wonder if Jesus is grateful to them for clarifying what He really meant to say. Where would Jesus be if He did not have scholars and theologians around to make sense out of what He said, for He couldn’t have really meant that we must stop all sinning.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is to understand what Jesus meant when He said, “Sin no more.” Unfortunately, what many “Christians” want to be told are smooth things. (See my article titled, Speak to us smooth things.) They want to be told that they are still going to heaven even if they do not repent of their sins.
If Jesus is who He claimed to be, God in the flesh and our Messiah, what do you think the one true God would tell sinners? Do you honestly think that the thrice-holy God of the universe, the great and only “I am that I am,” would say anything other than, “Sin no more?” Do you really think God might say, “Go and sin less?” How ridiculous to even consider such a disgusting thought. This is exactly what God would say to all sinners, “Go and sin no more.” It is not good enough to sin less. All sin (rebellion against God and His laws) must be put out of our lives and under the blood. What does it mean to sin less anyway? How much less is acceptable? If we only continue to break three of the ten commandments, is that okay? Please.
Think about the story again. This man was lame for 38 years, and Jesus healed him instantly and completely. He did not need a cane to walk. Most of us believe this is literally true. But because we have been brainwashed for so many years, few of us can believe Jesus can instantly heal us from the power of sin. Most Christians think it is impossible for Christ to heal us from the habitual practice of sinning. What unbelief Christians hold on to.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if believers could trust God not only for physical healing but also for spiritual healing? If Jesus can and did heal the lame, blind, and deaf, isn’t it reasonable to believe that He can heal us from the power of sin in our lives? Can’t Jesus make sinners into righteous people and saints? Isn’t that the gospel?
We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength according to the Word of God. Sin should be the exception, not the rule, in the life of a genuine believer in Jesus Christ. Is that not true? According to most evangelicals, it isn’t. For there is one thing that Jesus can’t do for us, and that is to get His children to stop their habitual sinning. Most evangelical Christians believe that we can’t ever be victorious over sin and our sin nature in this life. We can’t do all things through Christ, who gives us strength, according to the vast majority of Christians. What a sad testimony this is. How few Christians actually believe what God says.
