by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2026
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(Jun. 3, 2026) — Question: I am confused about whether a Christian can live without sinning. These statements seem to contradict each other.
Charles Spurgeon: I know that every time I commit sin I am guilty, and yet I am quite certain that I must sin—that my nature is such that I cannot help it. 1
Charles Stanley: We can live a life free of sin and bold in speech and action because we are empowered by the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus.2
Must I sin? Am I, as a Christian, able not to sin? Who is right?
Response: Let’s lay the groundwork by asking a different question: Is someone who is not a Christian able not to sin?
The short answer is no. The one who does not follow Christ inevitably sins.
Here’s why.
Jesus said, “If you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).
Hear the impact of this.
“You will die in your sins.”
Break this into two parts.
You will die.
This is indisputable. We all attend our own funeral.
The circumstances vary, but the cause of death is the same: sin.
Jesus said, “You will die in your sins.” The Apostle Paul put it this way:
Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).
So, Jesus is forthright: we die because of, and therefore in, our sins.
But this is not inevitable. Hear Him again.
“You will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am.”
Or, to say this positively, “You will not die in your sins if you believe I am.”
We are in a death trap. Jesus is explicit about how to escape.
The one who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life (John 5:24).
Jesus releases us from one inevitability—you will die in your sins—to another: believe, and you will live.
Hear Paul again.
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
If Christ is not risen … you are still in your sins! (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Put this positively: If Christ is risen, you are no longer in your sins!
Jesus frees us from the sin-and-death prison.
Without Him, you are trapped in the sin-and-die cycle.
Read the rest here.