Go And Sin No More

“And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, for there is no sin in Him. So if we continue to live in Him, we won’t sin either.”
1 John 3:5-6

Wow! Think about that. John is telling us there that if we “live in Jesus we won’t sin.” Let that sink in for a few moments. Many eject from the idea of holiness by having what I call a Paul complex. The Apostle Paul declared that he was the “chief of all sinners.” As a result many today excuse the sin in their life by saying they are just like Paul. But, who are we following? Paul? Or Jesus?

A life of holiness is a life of “sinning no more.” When defining Christian perfection John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said it’s not that we are “without” sin. But we do “sin no more.” When we are in Christ, “we won’t sin.” When we find ourselves struggling with sin, or doing what we know is not pleasing to God, we ask forgiveness, and receive His grace to sin no more in that particular area of our life.

That’s precisely what Andrew Murray is getting at today in the daily journal – The Best of Andrew Murray on Prayer.

Jesus Said – “Go and sin no more…”

After her accusers dropped their stones and slithered away into the crowd, Jesus told the woman “caught in the act adultery” to “go and sin no more.” Did He mean that the woman would never sin again? Did he mean that every area of her life was totally clean and she would never sin again? While He did say she was forgiven, He was also emphasizing the fact that she should “go and sin” in that particular area of her life “no more.”

Michael Brown’s book Go and Sin No More is an amazing book which looks at the whole area of holiness. This is not a book to be read by the faint of heart. It falls into the category of what I call an “Owee” book. There are a lot of “ouch” moments in the book as we discover what it really means to live a holy life.

While this is no easy task, to live a holy life in the midst of an unholy world, we can take heart in knowing it is possible. As Andrew Murray writes…

“By faith as we claim these words – ‘If we continue to live in Him, we won’t sin either” – God the Almighty has pledged to make this promise a reality.”

Andrew Murray Prayer
Dear Father, the life I live in Your Son frees me from the power of sin. As I live in Him help me to claim and live the promise: “If we continue to live in Him, we won’t sin either.” In the perfect name of Jesus, Amen.

Find out more about this Devotional Journey Here

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus