Abide In Christ - Day 27 - That You May Not Sin

Abide In Christ by Andrew Murray

Day 27

That You May Not Sin

“In Him there is no sin...Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” (1 John 3:5,6)

The apostle had said, "You know that He was manifested to take away our sin," and had thus indicated that salvation from sin is the great object for which the Son was made to be a man. The connection shows clearly that the taking away of sin has reference not only to the atonement and freedom from guilt, but to deliverance from the power of sin, so that the believer no longer does it. It is Christ's personal holiness that constitutes His power to effect that purpose. He admits sinners into life union with Himself. The result is, that their life becomes like His. “In Him there is no sin...Whoever abides in Him does not sin." As long as he abides, and as far as he abides, the believer does not sin. Our holiness of life has its root in the personal holiness of Jesus. "If the root is holy, so also are the branches." (Rom. 11:16)

The question arises at once: How is this consistent with what the Bible teaches about the abiding corruption of our human nature, or with what John himself tells us of the utter falsehood of our saying that we have no sin. In 1 John 1:8, he writes, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” and in 1 John 1:10 he writes “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His truth is not in us.” It is just these passages which, if we look carefully at them, will teach us to understand our text rightly . Note the difference in the two statements, "If we say that we have no sin” (verse 8), and "If we say that we have not sinned” (verse 10). The two expressions cannot be equivalent; the second would then be an unmeaning repetition of the first. Having sin in verse 8 is not the same as doing sin in verse 10. Having sin is having a sinful nature. The holiest believer must each moment confess that he has sin within him — the flesh, namely, in which dwells no good thing. Sinning or doing sin is something very different: it is yielding to the indwelling sinful nature, and falling into actual transgression. And so we have two admissions that every true believer must make. The one is that he has still sin within him (verse 8); the second, that that sin has in former times broken out into sinful actions (verse 10). No believer can say either, "I have no sin in me," or, "I have in times past never sinned." If we say we have no sin at present, or that we have not sinned in the past, we deceive ourselves. But though we have sin in the present, this does not mean that we are doing sin in the present, too. The confession of actual sinning refers to the past. It may (as appears from 1 John 2:2) be in the present also, but is expected not to be. And so we see how the deepest confession of sin in the past (for example, of Paul's confession of having been a persecutor of the church), and the deepest consciousness of still having a vile and corrupt nature in the present, may consist with humble but joyful praise to Him who keeps from stumbling.

But how is it possible that a believer, having sin in him — sin of such intense vitality, and such terrible power as we know the flesh to have — that a believer having sin should yet not be doing sin? The answer is: "In Him there is no sin...Whoever abides in Him does not sin." When the abiding in Christ becomes close and unbroken, so that the soul lives from moment to moment in the perfect union with the Lord its keeper, He does indeed keep down the power of the old nature, so that it does not regain dominion over the soul. We have seen that there are degrees to abiding. With most Christians the abiding is so feeble and intermittent, that sin continually obtains the ascendancy, and brings the soul into subjection. The Divine promise given to faith is: "Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:14). But with the promise is the command: "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Romans 6:12). The believer who claims the promise in full faith has the power to obey the command, and sin is kept from asserting its supremacy. Ignorance of the promise, or unbelief, or unwatchfulness, opens the door for sin to reign. And so the life of many believers is a course of continual stumbling and sinning. But when the believer seeks full admission into, and a permanent abode in Jesus, the Sinless One, then the life of Christ keeps from actual transgression. "In Him there is no sin...Whoever abides in Him does not sin." Jesus does indeed save him from his sin — not by the removal of his sinful nature, but by keeping him from yielding to it.

I have read of a young lion whom nothing could awe or keep down but the eye of his keeper. With the keeper you could come near him and he would crouch, his savage nature all unchanged, and thirsting for blood — trembling at the keeper's feet. You might put your foot on his neck, as long as the keeper was with you. To approach him without the keeper would be instant death. And so it is that the believer can have sin and yet not do sin. The evil nature, the flesh, is unchanged in its enmity against God, but the abiding presence of Jesus keeps it down. In faith the believer entrusts himself to the keeping, to the indwelling, of the Son of God. He abides in Him, and counts on Jesus to abide in Him too. The union and fellowship is the secret of a holy life: “In Him there is no sin...Whoever abides in Him does not sin.”

And now another question arises: “If we admit that the complete abiding in the Sinless One will keep from sinning, is such abiding possible?” May we hope to be able to so abide in Christ, say, even for one day, that we may be kept from actual transgressions? The question has only to be stated fairly and then considered — it will suggest its own answer. When Christ commanded us to abide in Him, and promised us such rich fruit-bearing to the glory of the Father, and such mighty power in our intercessions, can He have meant anything but the healthy, vigorous, complete union of the branch with the vine? When He promised that as we abide in Him He would abide in us, could He mean anything but that His dwelling in us would be a reality of Divine power and love? Is not this way of saving from sin just that which will glorify Him? It is keeping us daily humble and helpless in the consciousness of the evil nature, watchful and active in the knowledge of its terrible power, dependent and trustful in the remembrance that only His presence can keep the lion down. O let us believe that when Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you," He did indeed mean that, while we were not to be freed from the world and its tribulation, from the sinful nature and its temptations, we were at least to have this blessing fully secured to us — grace to abide wholly, only, ever in our Lord. The abiding in Jesus makes it possible to keep from actual sinning; and Jesus Himself makes it possible to abide in Him.

Beloved Christian! I do not wonder if the promise of the text appears almost too high. Do not, I pray, let your attention be diverted by the question as to whether it would be possible to be kept from sin for your whole life, or for so many years. Faith always has only to deal with the present moment. Ask this: “Can Jesus at the present moment, as I abide in Him, keep me from those actual transgressions which have been the stain and the weariness of my daily life?” You can only say, “Surely He can.” Take Him then at this present moment and say, "Jesus keeps me now, Jesus saves me now." Yield yourself to Him in the earnest and believing prayer to be kept abiding, by His own abiding in you and go into the next moment, and the succeeding hours, with this trust continually renewed.

As often as the opportunity occurs in the moments between your occupations, renew your faith in an act of devotion. “Jesus keeps me now. Jesus saves me now.” Let failure and sin, instead of discouraging you, only urge you still more to seek your safety in abiding in the Sinless One. Abiding is a grace in which you can grow wonderfully, if you will only make at once the complete surrender, and then persevere with ever larger expectations. Regard it as His work to keep you abiding in Him, and His work to keep you from sinning. It is indeed your work to abide in Him, but it is that only because it is His work as Vine to bear and hold the branch. Gaze upon His holy human nature as that which He prepared for you to be partaker of with Himself. and you will see that there is something even higher and better than being kept from sin. That is only the restraining from evil. There is the positive and larger blessing of being made now a vessel purified and cleansed, of being filled with His fullness, and made the channel of showing forth His power, His blessing and His glory.

Note.

Is Daily Sinning An Inevitable Necessity?

"Why is it that, when we possess a Saviour whose love and power are infinite, we are so often filled with fear and despondency? We are wearied and faint in our minds, because we do not look steadfastly unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who is set down at the right hand of God,—unto Him whose omnipotence embraces both heaven and earth, who is strong and mighty in His feeble saints.

"While we remember our weakness, we forget His all-sufficient power. While we acknowledge that apart from Christ we can do nothing, we do not rise to the height or depth of Christian humility: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. While we trust in the power of the death of Jesus to cancel the guilt of sin, we do not exercise a reliant and appropriating faith in the omnipotence of the living Saviour to deliver us from the bondage and power of sin in our daily life. We forget that Christ worketh in us mightily, and that, one with Him, we possess strength sufficient to overcome every temptation. We are apt either to forget our nothingness, and imagine that in our daily path we can live without sin, that the duties and trials of our every-day life can be performed and borne in our own strength; or we do not avail ourselves of the omnipotence of Jesus, who is able to subdue all things to Himself, and to keep us from the daily infirmities and falls which we are apt to imagine an inevitable necessity. If we really depended in all things and at all times on Christ, we would in all things and at all times gain the victory, through Him whose power is infinite, and who is appointed by the Father to be the Captain of our salvation. Then all our deeds would be wrought, not merely before, but in God. We would then do all things to the glory of the Father, in the all-powerful name of Jesus, who is our sanctification. Remember that unto Him all power is given in heaven and on earth, and live by the constant exercise of faith in His power. Let us most fully believe that we have and are nothing, that with man it is impossible, that in ourselves we have no life which can bring forth fruit; but that Christ is all,—that abiding in Him, and His word dwelling in us, we can bring forth fruit to the glory of the Father."—From Christ and the Church. Sermons by Adolph Saphir, p. 60.