first, the one that doesn't pertain to me. people sin when they do not know that there is a God or when they don't know the real God. if they do not know who they sin against, there is no possible way that they can uphold the law that this one that they sin against has put into order, so they must, therefore, sin. they have no real hope or choice. with this sin, comes death. so, this is a call to evangelize, for in order for people to stop sinning, they must know what it is that they are doing wrong. once they hear the Word though, they then have a choice, which leads me to my next two points.
let us say that once the person has heard the Word, that they believe. great, awesome, wonderful. now that they have a new found love for God, they will seek to know more about Him and to grow in Him and to be like Him, which wound mean that they are not sinning. but wait, aren't there any Christians today who would profess these very things? yes, there are. then how is there still sin if they are living like Christ? well, i can only see one thing for that, and it would be that in the moment of sin, the Christian, somehow, forgets about the God that has saved him and that he now serves and in that moment, he indulges himself rather then living for his great God. a Christian who is living for Christ can only sin when he forgets that he is living for Christ, for if he were living for Christ and had that on his mind, he would not sin. while it is a great sin to even forget about our God, i fear that the last reason is far worst, and possible more prevalent in our culture. this reason however has two perspectives to it:
the first is perhaps the most common of any of them and that is that people hear the Word, and simple reject it complete. they live their lives in absolute rebellion to that of God's Word and in the end, they will be judged for this. this is incredibly sad to see though it is ever spreading to cover this earth in this belief, that people can choose the way to heaven that they want, however, the path is narrow to heaven, with many people falling away, thinking that they are going down the correct path when, in fact, they are going towards hell and the lake of fire and eternal punishment. while this scenario is terrible, the last one is much more grievous.
the last reason that man can sin is linking to the one before, but it is with a Christian rather then a nonbeliever. when temptation comes to a believer, and they then pause and think about this sin that has come to them, and scripture and prayer both come to mind, but it is not heart felt and instead of following what they know to be true in their heart, they follow what their body is telling them and they indulge in this temptation. this can only happen when a believer doesn't care that there is a God and that this God is watching them and what they are doing at this moment. this is a terrible grievous sin. it is like going up to Christ, while He is waiting to be nailed to the cross, and you taking the hammer and nail, and smiling to Him saying, "i'm doing this to you so that i may live how i like and not have to pay the price for it but to rather have you pay it for me." this is arrogant and shameful. we are not to sin so that grace may abound (Rom. 6:1-4) but we are to live like Christ did, a perfect life, so that we may show Him off in this world. we are not to indulge ourselves, but to indulge in Christ alone, for He is where our hope is found.
if you examine your life to see why you are sinning, i believe that all those times will boil down to one of these reasons. if they do, i pray that you will repent and pray to God to help you in that area so that you may live like Him. life is short, and then you die. live this life as if it is all that matters, not is if it doesn't. live for Christ, for He really is all that matters.
