A real Christian hates the sin he does and strains for the good he fails to do.

“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. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. (1 John 3:5-8)”

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:15,16)”

‘I can’t be a real Christian because I keep sinning. Like the verse says, “No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him”, so I can’t be a real Christian.’ – ever think like that? How can I know if I’m a real Christian when the Bible seems to have such unrealistic standards?

Maybe you think more like this: ‘Sure I sin, but its not a big deal. Everyone knows ‘to err is human, to forgive is divine.’ Human beings sin, God’s job is to forgive, so everything is cool.’ How do we make sense of all this?

Remember that religion aims at outward conformity. Religion says something like, ‘Be good and do the right thing, don’t be bad and do the wrong thing, because you will be punished or rewarded depending on what you do.’ Biblical Christianity is not aimed at outward conformity but inward ‘transformity’.

The Bible is about God’s love for us, the good He has done for us, and not about what we must do for Him. When we truly grasp God’s great love for us, and we take it in deeply, God’s love produces in us a resulting love for Him. This love for God then shapes all that we do. The result is that true Christians progressively stop sinning.

True Christians stop sinning because we just don’t love it anymore. We now have a new love: God. That’s why the person who still delights in sin, can’t be a true Christian. A true Christian still sins, but his delight is in something else. A Christian hates the sin she does, and delights in the good that she wishes she could do but sometimes fails to do.

The not-yet Christian hates the good he actually does but he still does it because ‘it’s the right thing to do’ or because he is afraid of the consequences. Doing good so that you can go to heaven is not true Christianity, its self-service.

The not-yet Christian also does good but he would rather sin. His nature and natural inclination is towards sin but sometimes he can’t do it because its illegal, or because he’ll get into trouble etc. He is like a dog on a chain who can’t get to the delicious treat in front of him.

The Christian still sins but hates it. Her heart pulls her towards God and she doesn’t want to do anything that jeopardises a close friendship with God. Even if there was no heaven and no Hell the true Christian stops sinning because sin offends his Father who he loves. The test of true Christianity is a deep and real love for the Father.