Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning (see First John 3:8, ESV).
Making a practice of sinning decreases our freedom, sometimes gradually, sometimes abruptly, depending on the severity of the sin. Persisting in sin in this way gives the Devil power over us, not typically in the form of full-fledged demonic possessions or anything that extreme, but rather by the natural consequences of sin such as addictions.
Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,
because the Devil has sinned from the beginning.
Pursuing sin is a path that leads ever deeper down into darkness. When we choose that path their may be an initial exhilaration of imagined freedom but the result is that we will be less free to act in righteousness and avoid sin, our sin will become ever more egregious, and this will deprive us of still more of our freedom. Obviously this is not what Jesus intends for us. He came so that we might know the truth and be free (see John 8:32). But it was not truth that could avail for us if it stopped at the level of knowing. The person who is righteous is not merely the one who knows that in which righteousness consists, but rather, he "who acts in righteousness is righteous". Fortunately the truth we have been given has the power to set us free. It is different from other truths because it is dynamic and powerful. It is a truth that tears down the lies behind which the Devil hides.
Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil.
The truth that sets us free leads us receive God's own seed, his divine life into our souls. The word of God opens us to receive the indwelling presence of God himself within us. It is a power that is stronger than any lies of the Evil One. It is an assurance of truth greater than anything we could know naturally, and it is the power to live that truth. The one speaking is himself the one who strengthens us to obey his words. This means that especially for those who have been begotten from above by God in baptism it is a contradiction to continue to live in sin.
For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? (see Second Corinthians 6:14).
This is why it is even more dangerous for a believer to return to a life where he obstinately persists in sin and makes a practice of it.
What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (see Second Peter 2:22).
Our baptism was a great gift to us, but we must live from the seed that it has placed in our souls. If we persist in sin we are at least in danger and at risk of surrendering the freedom which Jesus died to give us. We are called to act as true sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. If we pursue this call we will not risk coming to resemble instead the children of the Devil.
John was standing with two of his disciples,
and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God.”
Jesus himself is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. His sacrifice is sufficient so that even if we fall again and again he can cleanse us by the power of his blood. But we must never cease to desire his mercy and to move toward it by our own meager response to his grace. Sin makes us feel hopeless and tempts us to give up. And it is only if we do that it can have final victory over us.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
“What are you looking for?”
We are all works in progress. We don't know how to fully articulate what we want because our desires are scattered and not perfectly centered on God himself. But if we take the invitation of Jesus to come and see he will reveal us to ourselves, making clear the deepest desires of our hearts, and leading us, like a shepherd, to the place where those desires can finally be realized.
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