In that vague dreaming state of the early hours of one morning last week, I was given, I think, a revelation:
The Holy Spirit does not prevent you from sinning.
… to be honest, it seems pretty obvious, now that I say it.
But seriously! Look at some of the examples we have of people who are filled with the spirit of God but who quite clearly still sin: Saul, David, arguably Elisha… the Corinthian Church!
“You are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh?” — 1 Corinthians 3:3
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” — 1 Corinthians 3:16
I guess I had this simplistic idea in my head: Jesus had the Holy Spirit, Jesus didn’t sin, Jesus has given us that same Holy Spirit — so we are now empowered to not sin.
Now, this is still true! But the nuance is that, at least in my head, my emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit subconsciously made me think “I don’t need to worry so much about sinning because I’ve got the Holy Spirit and God will protect me and stop me from sinning.”
Now, I don’t know if I would’ve necessarily said that out loud, and obviously it’s a good thing to not worry (a commandment, in fact!). But the way I was thinking about it put the onus to not sin on the Holy Spirit — and not on me…
Stick with me.
Human Version 2.0
My point is not that we should keep sinning, or that we should worry about sinning.
My point is that we are actually now destined to become a Human version 2.0. That is, a new creation in Christ.
According to the New Testament, and the prophecies that preceded it, Jesus is the only begotten son. Jesus is the “Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32). He is the Messiah — the Anointed King. He is the firstborn from among the dead. The exalted son.
But what about us?
“So then, if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away — look, new things have come!” — 2 Corinthians 5:17
Read that again. If you are in union with Christ, you are a new creation.
To be human is to be made in the image of God: to glorify God, represent God, and live in trusting obedience to God. But that image has been distorted by sin.
Jesus, however, is the true Son. He is the faithful human. He is the one who perfectly images the Father. He was tempted, genuinely tempted, and yet remains without sin.
And now, in Christ, we are being remade into that image!
Not Forgiven and Forgotten
We are not merely forgiven and then left as we were. We are made new. We are adopted as sons and daughters of God. We are being conformed to the image of his Son:
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” — Romans 8:29
That means the Christian life is not simply “try harder to stop sinning.” But neither is it “relax, the Holy Spirit will stop me from sinning automatically.”
It is something deeper and better: we are given a new identity, a new nature, a new power, and a new pattern to follow.
God always acts in accordance with his own character and identity. Jesus, as the unique Son of God, likewise lived in perfect accordance with his identity: as God’s Son. Trusting the Father, obeying the Father, revealing the Father.
We, being found in Christ, are being transformed into Jesus’ likeness. So now we are called to act in accordance with our new identity: as adopted children of God. Trusting the Father, obeying the Father, revealing the Father.
The Spirit Empowers — He Doesn’t Possess
The Holy Spirit is absolutely central to this. The spirit gives life. He brings us near to the presence of God. He gives wisdom, counsel, understanding, knowledge, power, fear of the Lord, prophecy, gifts, and anointing. He is the down-payment of our inheritance and the testimony of our adoption.
But none of this means we are no longer capable of sinning. We are called saints, certainly. But the spirit does not possess us like puppets. He empowers us as children. He enables us to live according to our new identity in Christ. He gives us the power to say no to the flesh and yes to God.
But the decision remains real. The temptation remains real. The obedience remains real.
So What Does It Mean?
So having the Holy Spirit does not mean I can stop paying attention to sin. It means I am no longer enslaved to it. It means I can actually choose differently. I can take hold of what is now true of me in Christ.
This is why the New Testament so often tells believers to put sin to death, to walk by the Spirit, to put off the old self and put on the new.
Those commands only make sense because something has actually changed. We are not earning our way into God’s family; we are learning to live as those who already belong to it.
As Dallas Willard put it: “Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning.”
So yes, the Spirit enables us not to sin. But not by removing our agency. He enables us by making us alive to God, uniting us to Christ, and empowering us to live as children of the Father.
The question before us is still: will we trust God? Will we obey him? Will we act out of fear and desire, or out of faith in his character, goodness, justice, and faithfulness?
I pray that we may all learn to live as new creations, adopted children, and true images of God.
“For we must all appear and be exposed before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for the things done in the body, according to what he has made a practice of doing, whether good or evil.” — 2 Corinthians 5:10