February 16, 2026.
I recently wrote an article titled “Is Jesus Christ A Minister of Sin?” This comes from Galatians 2:17. The context is Paul’s rebuke of Peter and the false distinction being made between Jewish believers and Gentile believers.
“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.” Galatians 2:17 (KJV)
Paul is arguing against the idea that justification by faith in Christ somehow makes Christ the promoter or minister of sin. The phrase “God forbid” emphatically rejects that conclusion. Christ is not saying that his people continue to live in sin even as they are justified by faith. Saving faith always yields obedience or righteousness. That profound yet simple truth is rejected by many professing Christians today. They believe in a faith without works and faithfulness.
The immediate context is especially important. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Galatians 2:16 (KJV)
What works of the law is Paul talking about? Is it referring to Jewish ritual law observances such as circumcision, dietary laws, and table fellowship (Peter would not eat with the believing Gentiles), or is it obedience to the Ten Commandments? Which is it? I think that answer is that it is both the ceremonial laws and the commandments. It is not either/or. It is both/and. The immediate context is about the ritual laws, but the application is broader.
If a person always obeyed God’s moral law, they would not be a sinner and would not need justification by faith. Since all of us are sinners by choice, we can never be justified by the law of God, for we are guilty and condemned before the law. Sinners can’t be justified by the works of the law because the law condemns them for their sins. That all makes sense, right?
Saving and justifying faith always returns the repentant to obedience and righteousness, so Paul isn’t saying we can have faith in Christ and still live in ongoing sin. See 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, Ephesians 5, Romans 6 and 8.
And then Paul continues: “For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” Galatians 2:18 (KJV)
The “false teaching of leaders” within the surrounding controversy—particularly Peter’s conduct and the pressure from those who insisted on imposing Jewish law observances (the works of the law) on Gentile believers is the foundation for this argument.
The passage says: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.” Galatians 2:17 (KJV)
The question is: What does Paul mean by “we ourselves also are found sinners”?
The immediate context is Peter and the Jewish believers withdrawing from fellowship with Gentile believers. Paul has just said that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but through Christ. If, after coming to Christ, the Jewish believers abandon the moral law as the basis of justification and thereby are regarded as “sinners” by the Jewish legal standard, does that mean that Christ, by leading them away from the law, has made them sinners?
Paul’s answer is: Absolutely not.
If Paul meant that, by faith in Christ, the believer is no longer obligated to fulfill the moral law of God, doesn’t that make Christ a minister of sin? ChatGPT writes, But I think your larger theological observation is very important: Paul would never accept the idea that justification by Christ means that Christ justifies people in order that they may remain in their sin. That would indeed make Christ, in effect, a “minister of sin”—and Paul emphatically rejects that conclusion.
Notice how Paul immediately continues: “For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” Galatians 2:18 (KJV). And then: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.” Galatians 2:19 (KJV). “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” Galatians 2:20 (KJV)
Paul’s argument is not: “Christ justifies me while I continue living in sin, and therefore Christ is the minister of sin.”
Rather, his argument is essentially: “Christ does not lead me into sin. And if I return to the very system from which Christ has delivered me, I make myself a transgressor.”
ChatGPT writes, ‘That is why I think Galatians 2:17 should not be used to support the idea that a Christian can comfortably remain in sin while claiming Christ as Savior. The whole immediate passage moves in the opposite direction: death to the old life, union with Christ, and living unto God’.
This also harmonizes with Paul’s very strong statement a few chapters later:
“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:24 (KJV)
And consider this passage: “…they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:21 (KJV)
ChatGPT writes, “I think your instinct is right regarding the moral implication: if someone’s doctrine makes Christ the one who permits, endorses, or produces continued lawlessness, then Paul’s answer would be, ‘God forbid.’” The one who belongs to Christ is not merely declared righteous while remaining indifferent to sin; he is called to “live unto God.”
In that article titled “Is Christ a minister of sin?”, I argue that theologians and pastors, in fact, make Christ a minister of sin through their teaching and preaching. Let us look into it closely and determine the truth. Is my observation correct or not? ChatGPT seems to agree with me.
What is our biggest threat?
What would you say is the biggest and most profound existential threat to all of us? Is it global climate and weather change? Or is it the threat of nuclear war? How about the threat of another disease or plague, but worse than Covid-19? What about illegal immigration? Conservative ideology? Progressive ideology? Capitalism? Socialism/communism? Runaway crime? All of these and more are grave threats in many people’s minds.
But may I suggest to you that our biggest threat is sin? Unchecked, sin will destroy our lives here and now as well as in the hereafter. The evidence is all around us if we have eyes to see. Natural disasters are a threat, and we can mitigate some of that by where we live and how we live. We live amid a variety of threats, and we can all agree on that. But we do not agree on the most critical threat. Nor do we agree on how to address these threats, and that is another important problem.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is supposed to be good news for all of humanity. I just read the story in Matthew 8 about Jesus instantly and completely healing the leper. That was good news, the best news this leper had ever had. Jesus wanted him healed of leprosy, but he had even better news. Jesus came to save him from his sins/leprosy, not in them. Jesus wanted him to understand that he was willing and able to heal him from physical leprosy and spiritual leprosy/his sins. Matthew 1:21.
But the best Christian pastors can offer those who listen to and trust them is not this gospel of good news, which is salvation from sin, but only in sin. The best a Christian can expect is to be healed someday from their sins, when they die. In the meantime, they must continue to live in the leprosy of a sinful life. That, my friends, ignores the biggest threat we have and convinces us to trust in false hope – salvation in sin.
I wonder if the leper would have been satisfied if only one half of his body had been cleansed of leprosy and not the other half. It seems that many Christians are quite pleased that a bit of their wickedness is cured, and it never dawns on them that if Christ can cure half the problem, why not all of it? Does God lack the power to do so? Or does God lack the willingness to do so? Answers to those two questions are often incoherent and superficial.
Many Christian Pastors are quite pleased to think that Christians might give up some of their sinning eventually, but they actually never expect them to be cleansed of all of it in this life. The good news these pastors preach is that you can still inherit the kingdom of God while you refuse to fully submit to God’s authority. A partial and incomplete healing is the best we lepers of sin can hope for, and that God expects. Is that not an example of pastors becoming ministers of sin?
Any gospel message that leaves us in sin must be false, for it ignores our biggest threat to our well-being. Sin is an enormous threat because it will destroy our lives in the present world and in the next one if we do not gain victory over it. We see and read about the ravages of sin every single day. Sin destroys multitudes of innocent victims, including the one who commits it. Sin is an equal opportunity destroyer. It doesn’t discriminate. Sin is also winning the war even in the lives of professing Christians. Why is that? Because many Christian pastors are, in truth, ministers of sin. They constantly teach their flock about how unrealistic it is for Christians to think that they can actually be healed of the leprosy of sin.
Why do so many pastors preach a gospel ‘in’ sin and not ‘from’ sin? Our well-being, both now and hereafter, is dependent on being set free from sin, for the word of God declares that the wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life. We hear many mixed messages from the pulpits across the nation. On one hand,
- We are told we should try not to sin,
- We should aspire not to sin,
- We should love sin less and less,
- We should depend on God’s grace to help us not sin,
- and we should want to stop sinning.
But on the other hand, pastors tell us that daily sin (more or less) is inevitable even for those who are born again and Spirit-filled. Let us look at these messages again.
- We are told we should try not to sin….. But then we are told to expect to sin almost every day, if not every day, for the rest of our lives on earth.
- We should aspire not to sin….. Even though we will continue to sin despite our aspirations.
- We should love sin less and less….. But even so, we will continue to sin daily.
- We should depend on God’s grace to help us not sin….. But not literally, for our sinful nature will not allow even the grace and power of God to overcome our sin.
- And we should want to stop sinning….. But at the same time, we don’t want to stop sinning because we can’t and don’t stop sinning.
Pastors easily contradict themselves and neutralize the warnings against sin. The threat of sin is no longer compelling. We are made comfortable in our ongoing sin, assuming that is what the Word of God teaches and every real Christian believes. It never dawns on us that not every Christian believes this. They may never have heard an alternative explanation of the meaning and power of becoming a new creation in Jesus Christ.
What many of these evangelical Pastors actually teach makes them ministers of sin as they constantly normalize sin in the life of the Christian. I know all of these Pastors have read the Word of God, but I wonder how many actually believe it. Jesus said, Go and sin no more. But our Pastors say, “Go, and don’t worry about ongoing sin; just trust that Jesus did it all for you.” If that doesn’t make Christ a minister of sin, then what does?
What follows is a copy of a ChatGPT conversation. I asked ChatGPT to weigh in on this sin question based on its own research. ChatGPT writes the following.
You are identifying a very common pattern in modern Reformed (Calvinist) and evangelical Christianity. The basic message often has two quite different elements:
- A strong exhortation to pursue holiness, and
- A strong warning not to expect too much victory (holiness) over sin in this life.
ChatGPT says the tension between the two is often resolved by language that moderates the believer’s expectations about sin. Another way to say this is that pastors and theologians become ministers of sin in the following ways.
1. The official ideal: “You should want to stop sinning”
Many pastors would say something like: “The Christian should hate sin, fight sin, repent of sin, pursue holiness, and seek to become more like Christ.”
They may appeal to passages such as: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” — Hebrews 12:14, KJV.
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” — 1 Peter 1:14–15
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” — 1 John 2:6
So, the stated goal is often very high: Christlikeness and holiness. But then comes a second set of statements, which undo and compromise the first. This duplicity is common, based on my own observation over many years.
2. “You will never be sinless in this life”
A very common expression is: “We will never reach sinless perfection in this life.”
That statement, by itself, can mean something reasonable: the Christian should never assume he has arrived at complete moral perfection and does not need to guard against temptation because he is impervious to it.
But it is frequently followed by a much stronger practical expectation which in effect makes the pastor a minister of sin along with Christ:
- “You will always sin.”
- “You will sin every day.”
- “Even your best works are tainted with sin.”
- “You will never get beyond needing to repent of daily sins.”
- “The closer you get to God, the more aware you will become of how sinful you are.”
This is where practical expectations can differ sharply from the biblical commands to overcome sin.
For example, many Reformed Christians would say that 1 John 3:6-9 cannot mean that a genuine Christian can cease from regular or habitual sin, because they understand the passage through the lens of a prior theological assumption: that every Christian continues to sin regularly until death.
Yet John says: “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” — 1 John 3:6
And:
“He that committeth sin is of the devil…” — 1 John 3:8
And:
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” — 1 John 3:9
The question is not whether John means that a Christian never commits a single sinful act. The question is whether the passage establishes a real expectation of victory over sin, or whether it immediately softens it with theological qualifications and excuses for ongoing sin.
3. “You are not sinless, but you should sin less”
According to ChatGPT, this is probably one of the most common formulas: “We are not sinless, but we should sin less.”
That sounds balanced and reasonable. And it can be. But the important question is: How much less?
Suppose a man has been a Christian for thirty years. Has he made progress? The answer is usually “Yes.” But then, if he is asked: “Should he now be able to overcome sins that he repeatedly committed thirty years ago?” The answer is often “Yes, he should be growing in holiness.”
But if he is asked: “Should he be able to go an entire day without deliberately sinning?” many would answer: “No, that is impossible.”
So, we have an interesting situation: The Christian is expected to become more holy. He is expected to overcome sin. He is expected to grow in sanctification. Yet he is often told that he should not expect to go even one day without sinning.
That raises a serious question: What exactly does “progress in holiness” mean if the basic expectation of daily sin never changes, according to ChatGPT?
This theological and contradictory hogwash is what Christians are fed from many pulpits across America. These false teachers are, in effect, ministers of sin, and they also make Christ a minister of sin. Is that not accurate?
4. “You will always be a sinner”
Another common expression is: “I am just a sinner saved by grace.” That phrase is often intended to express humility. But it can subtly create a particular identity: “My fundamental identity is still ‘sinner.’”
Yet the New Testament frequently addresses Christians as: “saints”, “holy brethren”, “the sanctified in Christ Jesus”, “new creatures” and “children of God.”
Paul writes: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified…” — 1 Corinthians 6:11
The issue is not whether Christians can still sin. Of course, they can. The issue is whether the Christian is primarily to understand himself as:
“a sinner who occasionally does some good,”
or as:
“a new creation in Christ living a righteous and holy life who is still capable of falling into sin.”
Those are very different ways of understanding the Christian life, according to ChatGPT and me.
5. “Sin is inevitable, but don’t make peace with it”
Many pastors make a distinction like this: “The Christian will sin, but he should never be comfortable with sin,” according to ChatGPT. Does that not sound like something the serpent might say?
ChatGPT continues: This is a very common formula. They may say: “There is a difference between committing sin and practicing sin.” Or they might say: “A Christian may fall into sin, but he does not live in sin.” Or they might say: “The difference between a Christian and an unbeliever is not that the Christian never sins, but that he hates his sin and repents.” But when they use the word repent, they do not mean ceasing from sin, only confessing the sin. That is not repentance.
There is certainly truth in the distinction between falling into sin and deliberately making sin one’s way of life. ChatGPT continues, the danger is that the definition of “practicing sin” can become so narrow that a person may commit the same sins repeatedly for decades while still being told: “You are not practicing sin. You are simply struggling.”
That is where the language can become very accommodating to ongoing sin. A man might repeatedly lose his temper, repeatedly indulge lust, repeatedly lie, repeatedly use filthy speech, repeatedly harbor bitterness, and repeatedly refuse forgiveness—yet be told:
“You are not defined by your sin. You are simply a sinner saved by grace.” And that is why it is true that many pastors are ministers of sin along with Jesus Christ. Woe to those who teach such things.
ChatGPT writes, But John says: ‘Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” — 1 John 3:7. That is an extremely strong statement.
Even so, that doesn’t stop many Christian pastors from teaching the exact opposite and doing so with a straight face.
6. “The Christian life is a struggle”
ChatGPT continues, “Another common expression is: “The Christian life is a lifelong struggle with sin.”
Again, there is truth here. The Christian does fight temptation. But notice the difference between these two ideas:
A. The Christian struggles against sin and increasingly gains victory over it.
versus:
B. The Christian struggles against sin but will continue committing essentially the same sins throughout life.
The first describes progress toward victory. The second can become a theological justification for permanent defeat and living in unrepentant sin, writes ChatGPT.
Romans 7 is often central to this discussion. Many evangelicals interpret Paul’s words: “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Romans 7:19 as a description of the normal Christian life. Thus, the Christian is told: “You will always be doing things you do not want to do.”
But Romans 6 says:
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14.
And it says, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Romans 6:18
So, one important question is whether the Christian life is fundamentally characterized by:
“I want to obey God but cannot stop doing evil,”
or:
“I have been liberated from sin’s dominion, and now I walk in obedience. Sin is a rare exception and not the rule in my life.”
The first one is the gospel of the serpent, and the second one is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
7. “You will never arrive”
Another expression you often hear is: “You will never arrive.”
Or:
“There will always be more sin to deal with.”
Or:
“Sanctification is a lifelong process but never fully achieved.”
That last statement is true. Growth can certainly continue throughout life. But sometimes the practical meaning becomes: “Therefore, you should never expect substantial victory over sin.”
According to ChatGPT, the New Testament, however, speaks in remarkably strong terms:
“For sin shall not have dominion over you…” Romans 6:14
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Romans 6:6
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:11
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Romans 6:12
Paul does not merely say: “Try not to sin too much.” He says: “Let not sin therefore reign.” And let us not forget what Jesus commanded us. He said Go and sin no more.
8. “You will always need the Gospel”
ChatGPT writes, this is especially common in Reformed preaching: “You never graduate from the Gospel.” “You need the Gospel every day.” “The Gospel is not just for unbelievers; it is for Christians every day.”
ChatGPT writes that something very important and true is here: Christians certainly continue to need Christ, grace, forgiveness, and dependence on God. But sometimes “preaching the Gospel to yourself every day” means: “You must continually remind yourself that you are still a wretched sinner who can never really obey God.”
That is a very different message from: “You must continually remind yourself that Christ has delivered you from the dominion of sin and that you are now called to walk in newness of life and stop sinning.”
Paul says: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 6:2. The question is whether grace is primarily understood as:
God’s continuing forgiveness of inevitable sin,
or as:
God’s power to transform the sinner into someone who increasingly obeys Him.
Titus gives a remarkably strong definition of grace: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly…” Titus 2:11–12
Grace does not merely say: “You will always sin, but God will keep forgiving you even if you never actually repent or forsake sin.”
Grace teaches us: “Deny ungodliness and worldly lusts; we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil age.”
Denying any of this, which many pastors do, makes that person a minister of sin. Do you disagree?
9. The most important moderating expression: “Not perfection, but direction”
ChatGPT, one of the most popular formulas is: “It’s not perfection; it’s direction.” Or “The direction of your life matters more than your perfection.”
Again, this can be a useful statement if it means: “A Christian is not required to have reached complete perfection before he can be considered genuinely converted.” But it can also become a very convenient substitute for examining actual obedience.
For example, a person may say: “Yes, I still have the same anger, the same lust, the same bitterness, the same selfishness, and the same lack of self-control—but I’m going in the right direction.”
The question is: What evidence demonstrates that the direction is actually changing or has changed?
The New Testament doesn’t merely ask whether someone has the right direction. It repeatedly asks whether the person is:
- walking in the light,
- keeping Christ’s commandments,
- overcoming the world,
- putting sin to death,
- bearing fruit,
- loving the brethren,
- doing righteousness.
For example: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” 1 John 2:3
And:
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2:6
That is more concrete than merely asking whether someone is “headed in the right direction.”
Many pastors teach this false idea of standing/state, position/practice. They say that our standing in heaven is perfection based on Christ’s imputed obedience, while our state on earth is that of a sinner. All these lies make Christ a minister of sin, along with those who teach them.
The very idea that our direction can be right while our actual walk is wrong is so foolish that it is hard to believe any thinking person could accept it.
10. The result can be a strange contradiction
The message can sometimes sound like this:
- “You should pursue holiness.”
- “You should hate sin.”
- “You should fight sin.”
- “You should become more like Christ.”
But also:
- “You will sin every day.”
- “You will never stop sinning.”
- “Even your best works are sinful.”
- “You cannot expect to overcome sin completely.”
- “Don’t think you are becoming too holy.”
- “If you ever think you are doing well spiritually, that probably proves you are proud.”
The practical effect of this confusion can be that holiness is praised as an ideal but discouraged as an expectation. The Christian is told to pursue victory but not to expect victory. That nonsense fits the enemy’s confusion, not God’s truth. ChatGPT writes, And this is perhaps the central issue you are getting at.
The biblical balance, as I see it, according to ChatGPT
I believe the biblical position is something like this:
1. Christians can still sin.
The New Testament plainly recognizes this. Hence the warnings, the calls to repentance, and passages such as 1 John 2:1: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Notice the order: “That ye sin not.” The goal is not: “You will sin, so make sure you confess it.” The goal is: “That ye sin not.”
But then John provides mercy for the person who does sin. But confession alone is nothing but deception. To find God’s mercy, we must confess and forsake sin. Many simply want to confess sin and refuse to stop it.
2. Christians are expected to make real progress.
“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18.
Is it really possible to grow in the grace of God while one refuses the grace of God, which makes us holy in reality, not simply holy in standing? Not according to Titus 2.
3. Sin is not supposed to rule the Christian.
“For sin shall not have dominion over you.” Romans 6:14
Yet many false teachers most definitely teach that Christians sin daily or nearly so, and they are ministers of sin because they claim that sin continues to have practical dominion over the believer all of their life. This directly contradicts this and other passages of the Bible.
4. The Christian is expected to overcome.
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” 1 John 5:4
Again, many pastors warp the idea of overcoming and teach that Christians actually do not overcome sin, the flesh, and the devil, yet that they are still going to inherit the kingdom of God, in direct contradiction of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6, Ephesians 5, and Galatians 5, among many other passages. Are these pastors not ministers of sin? Of course, they are.
5. The Christian is expected to increasingly put sin to death.
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth…” Colossians 3:5
But many pastors teach that Christians continue to sin daily or almost daily. In other words, Christians do not mortify anything, including the ongoing practice of sin.
6. Failure is not supposed to be redefined as normality.
The fact that a Christian may fall and sin does not mean that falling must become his expected lifestyle. Once it is taught as an expectation, it makes Christ a minister of sin.
I think the crucial distinction is this: The New Testament gives Christians a high expectation of holiness, while also providing mercy when they fail, writes ChatGPT.
Let me add this. If they confess and forsake their sin, God has promised mercy. If they actually repent. But repeating sin is not repentance or forsaking sin.
ChatGPT continues, A great deal of modern evangelical theology seems to reverse that: It gives Christians a low expectation of holiness, while providing extensive theological explanations and excuses for why failure is inevitable. If sin is inevitable, it is therefore excusable. And those are not the same thing.
ChatGPT writes, ‘The question I think you are asking is ultimately this:
Does grace merely make continual sin safe for the Christian, or does grace actually make holiness possible? (I would modify this statement. Grace makes holiness not just possible but real and actual in our lives).
The answer of Titus 2:11-12 seems unmistakable: grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
My final question for your consideration. Are you and am I a minister of sin?
Now let us make this very personal. It is easy to talk about someone else like your pastor or a theologian. Ask yourself this question. Am I a minister of sin? If I encourage others to remain unrepentant in their sins, then am I not, in fact, a minister of sin? Is that not true?
Jesus said Woe to those who cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble (sin); it would be better if he had not been born, so he would be better off being cast into the sea with a millstone around his neck.
Nothing is impossible for God. Many Christians agree with that statement in theory, except when it comes to stopping all sin in their lives. They refuse to believe that, with God’s power, grace, and promises, sin can become the rare exception in a believer’s life.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
