Where does God draw the line when it comes to Sin?

Question

So I've read 1 John alot and I understand that I cannot continue to sin if I want to be a child of God's.

1 John 1:6 (NIV)

6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

But then at the same time, if we accomplish the call to be holy and to be righteous and to be free of sin then we are not children of God.

1 John 1:8 (NIV)

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

I'm personally struggling with this very line in my own life. I don't hate people, because I know that I'm commanded to love. But when it comes to my own desires of the flesh I continually fail. I have no self control, I cannot even get out of bed when my alarm goes off lol.

Where does God draw this line? does He give us any more insight into the battle with sin through scripture? So I ask again, where does God draw the line when it comes to Sin?

Answer 1

Our life here on earth is a process. If we've accepted Christ as our Savior, then we're supposed to be striving for the life he lived. Think of it like an onion. Each time we learn something new about ourselves, another layer is pealed away. If you're continuously sinning in the same way, then perhaps you've not gotten to the root of why you sin in that particular way. Obviously, we know the end. God has already forgiven all our sins, but we still will give an account for all we did here on Earth. There will be days where we're "better" than others, but ultimately, I think God looks at the condition of our heart while we're doing the things we do. Whatever they may be.

Answer 2

You have to understand the context of the bible always states that man is sinful in nature. The scripture is stating that if you choose to walk around saying that you are without sin, then you are in fact lieing to yourself.

Every person struggles with some form of sin in their life. Whether it being judgemental of your siblings or neighbors, an addiction to an earthly object (i.e. pizza/mountain dew/video games =D), or lusting over someone whom you may or may not know.

He's just saying don't lie to yourself and saying you are without sin because no person is without sin.

Answer 3

Well, taking advntage of the God's mercy and forgivness is certainy not a right thing. In my opinion, unless we compeletly sway out of God's way, we should not worry to much about what kind of sins we do everyday; unless it is serious. We are humans, after all, we all make mistakes. Like Jesus said in the bible:

Matthew 26:41: 41 Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. The spirit wants to do what is right, but the body is weak."

In the end, it is not how we can avoid sinning, but it is how we can be more like Christ. We will always have transgressions, but we should be trying to make it better.