Why do Christians fall into sin despite Biblical promises to the contrary?

Question

I'm referring to promises such as:

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)​

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:7-10 ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV)

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— (Philippians 3:8-9 ESV)

If God offers grace to Christians to overcome temptation and live a righteous life, then why do Christians still fall into sin?

What prevents Christians from living perfectly sinless lives?

Answer 1

Let's examine your scriptures one by one to determine whether we find a promise that Christians can't sin.

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)

That a temptation can always be overcome doesn't mean it is always overcome. People simply choose to sin, regardless of the fact that they could, with help from God, overcome. That is, after all, what condemns us. ​

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:7-10 ESV)

The point is to tell the audience they should stop sinning / start being righteous if they want to be children of God. Which means they weren't righteous (yet). If you are still sinning, you are not converted enough yet.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV)

Don't boast of your good works. Paul again and again emphasizes that the law can only condemn us, because we fall short. So God prepared good works that we should walk in them, but there is no promise here that we won't leave the way that Goid intends for us as we did before.

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— (Philippians 3:8-9 ESV)

Again, the law can only condemn because we fall short. So here we don't even talk about good works at all when Paul says "righteousness".

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To summarize, Paul says:

We fall short of the Law, inevitably. So we can only become righteous in the eyes of God through faith in Christ. But that doesn't mean we should/can just continue in our wicked ways. We need repentance and change our ways, otherwise we weren't really "children of God" to begin with (yet). And this is possible with faith and help from God.

Answer 2

The answer is in the first quotation: "he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability".

• Each true Christian will be tempted.
• God's holy spirit within that person will provide guidance and support to resist that temptation.
• The temptation will not be more than the person is able to resist.

But, a temptation is meaningful only if it is possible to give in to it. So people will weaken, doubt their faith, etc., and they will occasionally succumb to the temptation.

True Christians will recognize their transgression, repent (changing oneself), and ask for and receive forgiveness.

It is the purpose of each person to build a character that will no longer weaken, will no longer doubt, and will no longer give in to temptation.

Jesus, as a human being, was always able to resist temptation, using only the help of God's holy spirit, so we know that it is possible.