A Christian Does Not Live There

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God (1 John 3:8-9, ESV).

I have visited London several times, but I have never lived there. Normally, when I pass through London, it is only for a day or two. I am always on my way somewhere else when I stop in London.

Christians sin. That is a fact that we must not deny. John himself says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9, ESV).

Christians sin, but if a person who claims to be a Christian makes a habit of sin, continues to sin, lives in sin, that person has denied Christ and proven that their claim is false. Such a person has shown that, far from being a child of God, he is the offspring of Satan (1 John 3:4-10).

I have never lived in London, although I have passed through there. Christians will occasionally sin, but they do not live in sin. The blood of Jesus will cleanse us of our occasional sins (1 Jn 1:9), but if we give ourselves over to sin, if we quit fighting it, if we live in it, we show that we do not really belong to Christ.

Where are we living? What is the pattern of our lives? If the pattern is a pursuit of righteousness, although sin does creep in, that is to be expected. But if the pattern is of repeated wallowing in sin (2 Peter 2:20-22), our true genealogy is not of God but of the devil.