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.
I John 3:4-6
Since we know that sinless perfection is not what is being discussed (see I John 1:8 - 2:2) we can sidestep some paralyzing guilt when we do sin. Let me say this; no sincere Christian wants to sin or be controlled by sin. If sin bugs you, if your sin makes you uneasy that is because the Spirit of God is inside you, convicting you. Not condemning, convicting.
Maybe we can view conviction not just as a rebuke but a call to turn toward God, toward grace. Last summer my youngest son went to Boy Scout Summer camp and since it was his first year he participated in their Pathfinder program. One of the classes was on safely using knives. While the leader was going over something they call the blood circle (the distance you hold the knife out and someone could get injured/cut by it in any direction) a scout walked up grabbed a knife and said, "I got a knife like this! Can show you how to use it?" He was breaking just about every rule of safety and ignoring the leader asking him to stop and put the knife back. After getting the boy to set it down I took him aside and talked to him about being respectful and that if he would listen and properly handle a knife he could earn the badge.
The lesson is that the leader was not telling the scout to put down the knife because he wasn't concerned about him, rather, because he was concerned for all the scouts' safety the leader warned him and instructed him how and why to handle knives properly.
The Holy Spirit does not condemn us in regards to sin. The Holy Spirit convicts us and teaches us all truth. We will be tempted. We will sin. John teaches us to live in Christ, to abide or remain in Christ. Temptations, struggles and trials and can last a moment, a season or a lifetime. The Apostle Paul himself said he had a thorn in his flesh (II Corinthians 12:7-10) that just would not go away even though he earnestly served God and sought God about it. The deal was that he just kept seeking grace, that God says is sufficient. And that is what we are supposed to do. Keep seeking God. Keep seeking his grace.
Father, thank you for your Spirit, your conviction and your grace! Praise be to you in us today!
