DO NOT SIN! If You Sin...
1 John 2:1, My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
It is always God's will that we do not commit sin. The word "sin" is an archery term that means "miss the mark." Christians do not sin because of an unregenerate heart, but because of disobedience to God in allowing darkness to invade our light. This does not make it "less wrong" than sin committed by unsaved people.
The difference for believers is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our advocate. An advocate is "one who pleads another's cause." An advocate is like a lawyer. When we repent of any sin. Jesus pleads our cause before God which leads to cleansing and restoration.
Repentance is no casual act. Sin is serious business because it mocks our relationship with God and produces hypocrisy by bringing darkness into light. John wrote in 1 John 1:5-7:
"This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin."
Thank God for Jesus! Stay in the light!
