My Choice- Doug Savarie

The other day, my friend and I had a conversation that revolved around the passage from the New Testament, 1 John 3:4-6. The passage says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” Basically, the question that we pondered was: if everyone is innately sinful, how can we call ourselves followers of Christ while continuing to sin? Basically, what I think it comes down to is our understanding of grace given to us through the cross, and how we respond to that grace. If I am a sinner, I am separated from God; however, by receiving the grace of God through Jesus Christ, I will repent, and in that action of honest, sincere repentance, I find forgiveness and unity with God. I think that this passage is kind of directed towards the difference between sinning and repenting, and sinning without any type of repentance. It is when sin is committed, and there is no remorse, desire for change, or acknowledgement of grace, that we come to the point where someone continues to sin and, therefore, has “neither seen Him or known Him.”