Sin: Guest or a Tenant?

"No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him."
1 John 3:6 (ESV)

Can a person live with sin and live with Jesus at the same time?

John's answer in today’s verse is one of the strongest statements about a believer and sin anywhere in the Bible, and it isn't saying you'll never sin again if you stay close to Him. You still have moments where you struggle, where you let Him down, where you lose a round in the fight. John isn't talking about perfection. He's talking about residence.

Salvation and sin cannot continuously live in the same house. You might let sin in for a visit. You might even sit with it on the porch for a while. But you cannot live with it, permanently, comfortably, as a roommate, if Jesus actually lives in you.

This is why no adjective belongs in front of the word Christian when it describes ongoing sin—you’re not an “angry Christian” or a “lustful Christian.” You may be a Christian who wrestles with a particular temptation, but that doesn't make you a Christian defined by that temptation. The difference is whether sin is a guest you're fighting to evict or a tenant you've made peace with.

So what's been sitting on your porch longer than it should? It can be a habit you've stopped calling sin and started calling "just how I am." Or maybe the grudge you've let move into the spare room. Confess it, out loud, specifically, and ask Jesus to take back the house.

Sin may sit on the porch for a night. It was never invited to move in.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I've let some things sit on my porch far longer than I should have. Right now I'm naming them and asking You to take back every room in this house. Thank You for living in me. I declare You are the Lord of this house. In Jesus' Name, Amen.