“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
Hello! Are we in the same universe here? This is what he has done for me and others and I am most appreciative! I know him...thank God.
Well, the universe that I am in has Jesus Christ as Almighty God in the flesh. Just as was prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Also, in Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (literally God-with-us)
There are others as well. And knowing Jesus Christ - believing and trusting in him - as my Lord and Savior not only assures me of eternal life with him in heaven but the indwelling Holy Spirit (also God) who gives me the power to live for God and yearn for fellowship with Him. Though, even with the new nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit, I am not as perfect as God is. I still stumble, though as I have grown in my faith I have learned self-control and stumble less than I used to. Submission to God's will is an act of will. There is not a magic wand that gets waved over us where we go from being human to being a perfect human - that's not possible here and now. What has changed is two-fold. We have a "standing" with God where we are already seated in the heavenlies with Christ, we are made righteous in Christ through faith and we are children of God, joint-heirs with Christ. We also have a "state" where we go from day to day surrendered to God's will, having a new nature that desires after holiness and to please God because we love Him and are grateful for his mercy and grace. But, we still have our old nature, though we are not a slave to sin because of what Christ has done for us, we have an ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit, the old nature against the new nature (as I showed you from Romans and Galatians last night). We have an "advocate" - a defender - in Jesus who always makes intercession for us and we can always come to him and confess our sins knowing that he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse of from all unrighteousness. This is how our state, our fellowship, with God is restored.
The closer we grow and the more mature our faith becomes, the more we cease from seeing sin in our lives. A person who is born again (through faith in Christ) has a new spirit nature that recoils from the old way of life, the draw of sin and rebellion is broken and we have the ability through the Holy Spirit to resist the sins that used to so easily beset us. This is why Scripture talks about how to know someone's faith by their works. There will be an outward change if there has been a genuine spiritual change through faith. This sanctification is a growth process as our Heavenly Father is "conforming us to the image of Christ". We are already made righteous - as righteous as Christ - and justified by faith in Christ and we are being sanctified. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone - we don't earn it or merit it. I am extremely grateful for God's grace and I know that I do not deserve His grace or love. But, thank God, he does!