Continuing from the last teaching, "114. What Does it Mean to be Born of God," I want to address how sin got in you and why sin continues after you are saved. Many Christians believe that they are free from sin and belong to the Lord once saved. There is absolute truth in that belief, but the question becomes, why does sin still work in a follower of Jesus after they are saved? And if you're saved, then how does the devil still have access to you?
Question
What Keeps Sin Alive in You After You Are Saved?
Answer
You keep listening to and receiving the devil's words (his seed), and it keeps his desires alive in you. The devil is the father of lies, and when you join yourself in his words, you allow him to father his desires in you, which leads to the works of the devil, which is sin.
Listening to and receiving the words of the Devil keeps sin alive in you.
The apostle John makes two big statements in his writings that reveal where sin comes from. In John 8:44, Jesus, speaking to the Jews, said, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." (The KJV says, "the lust of your father, you will do.”) John adds to the words of Jesus in 1 John 3:8 by saying, "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning."
After reading these two sayings, it's clear that sin is the devil's work from the beginning. Jesus was manifested to destroy the works (sin) of the devil, but you must lend your will to the works of Jesus and apply it to your life.
When you are receiving the words of the devil, your will (or your lust) is to do what the devil desires and you will begin practicing sin because your thoughts are of the devil.
Explanation
Sin is lawlessness, which is the devil's desires manifested into works. He sows them in you so that he can become the father of those thoughts. He intends to give you enough words that he can replace God as your father. The more children (thoughts) of the devil you have in you, the more dominion he has over you. He accesses you through his words. This is why Jesus could say to the Pharisees that they were of their father the devil, which made them children of the wicked one, even though they were born of Abraham in the flesh. The devil was their father because they lived by his words; they were born of his words; he was their father.
You are born of the words you obey.
Sin is the desires and works of the devil. Sin is the consciousness of evil that produces evil works, first within and then without. Sin is the opposite of faith, so whatever is not of faith is sin. The principle is simple: it's not what you do; it's the mind in which you do it.
You won't be doing evil works by faith because you can't. By faith, you do the works of God, therefore eliminating sin. When you do evil works, it's because sin is present within you, and the devil is allowed to give you ideas that will oppose the truth of God, producing works of the flesh.
Sin is often taught as the evil actions that you do in the flesh against God and his commandments. But in this teaching, I would like you to look at sin in a way that causes you to look within yourself, into the heart and imagination, where the origin of sin begins in you. (This is where you genuinely serve God from.)
It's very easy to judge the works of the flesh as your sin, but let's think spiritually.
You might often think the struggle of sin is based upon your physical actions. While an element of sin works into manifestations of the flesh, it's clear that real sin and its origin can be found within the heart of every person.
When sin is exposed in you, it doesn't mean you're not saved; it just means that somewhere, a sower sowed some bad seed while you slept, and you were unaware of it. The idea is to have that sin revealed and learn to stop continuing in that sin. (The disciples of Jesus are good examples of being saved and following Jesus but still dealing with the sin within them.)
The mistake we make as followers of Jesus is to think we have no sin and ignore that we still love the world and are tempted by deceitful thoughts. Growing up means you learn how to overcome sin every day, and growing is how you become perfect before God. God made it so we could learn to love and trust Him as our true God and Savior.
To understand this idea, you must first remember that you are continually being saved. If you endure until the end, you will be saved, but until then, you will need to endure and overcome all enemies, including different types of sin.
With all said, the question becomes, whose words are you born of? Jesus or the devil?
What to do
Stop listening to the devil. Reject his lies and follow the truth of Jesus Christ. If the words of Jesus will save you, you can bet the words of satan will unsave you.
1 John 3:9-10 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. By this, it is evident who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Scriptural references
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; 24:13; John 8:39-47; 1 John 3:1-10;