The question was posed to me, can a born again Christian have a perpetual sin in their life? The command in scripture is to basically quit sinning. None of us will be completely free of sin until we reach Heaven, but we continue to become more like Christ. This is called Sanctification. There are times and events where a believer has a sin that they don't let go of for whatever reason. Most of the time it's an emotional attachment to an activity, person, thing or an addiction. Does this sin cause us to lose our salvation? No, of course not, nothing can separate, us from the Father when we are His, not even our actions. There is a price however.
We are commanded in scripture to lay aside everything that hinders us. Hebrews 12 says we should run unhindered towards the prize. The hindrance on the believer is sin dragging them downward. Picture a runner with a prison ball chained to their leg. The runner runs while dragging this steel ball, slowing them down, causing their run to be disjointed, one leg free and the other hindered. This is the effect of sin on the believer, a life out of balance, slow and frustrating, full of soreness, pain, anxiety and suffering.
The solution of course is to cut the chain, but often that is easier said then done. Often the ball is not steel, it's gold, silver, diamond or pearl. We love the ball, we chained it there because we don't want to lose it. It can come with us across the finish line, but we can't bear to let it go. We cherish it, love it, even feel as if we need it and must have it. It's not easy to toss aside, we struggle to let it go. Only when we decide the prize and racing for the prize has more value than our hindering treasure chained to our leg can we be free. Winning comes from losing, freedom is in slavery, finding life is losing life. It's hard, it's painful, and most of us either have, are, or will experience it. The Christian caught by sin, let's all pray for freedom.
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