Can a True Believer Commit Serious Sin?
1) Direct answer
Yes—in the sense that a true believer, still in this flesh, can fall into a serious wrong. No—in the sense that he cannot continue in it, excuse it, or be at peace with it. The life of God in him will drive him to repentance and restoration.
2) Scriptural explanation
- The Bible says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin… and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9; 5:18). That speaks of a nature that will not practice or live in sin.
- Yet it also says, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). So a believer may stumble, but he is not left there.
- David fell grievously, but cried out and was restored (Psalm 51). Peter denied the Lord, wept bitterly, and was restored (Luke 22:61-62; John 21).
- “Sin… because they believe not on Me” (John 16:9). Sin at its root is unbelief. The born-again heart believes the Word and cannot settle in unbelief.
- “Shall we continue in sin? God forbid… Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:1,14).
- A real son is chastened when he errs (Hebrews 12:6-8). God corrects His own.
- If we confess, He forgives and cleanses (1 John 1:9). The Spirit seals unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
3) Simple clarifying logic
Now notice, the new birth activates God’s seed in the soul. That inner life says Amen to every Word and cannot deny it. The outer man may stumble, but the inside man cannot live in rebellion. A sheep may fall in mud, but it will not wallow there; it cries to be washed. If a person can live in willful, ongoing sin without conviction or chastening, the Scripture says that is not sonship (Hebrews 12:8). But if he is God’s, conviction strikes, godly sorrow works repentance, and he is restored to walk in the light.
4) Reinforcing statement
So a true believer may fall, even seriously, but he will not remain in sin. The seed of God in him breaks the dominion of sin, brings confession, correction, and a clean walk with God.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Influence
64-0315 §32
...his guy taking this attitude, and doing the thing he did---what happened to him? The Lord struck him with leprosy right there in the building. And what's leprosy a type of? Sin. Unbelief. There's no other sin but unbelief. He that believeth not is condemned already. And sin is the only unbelief there is. I was preaching one time in a Methodist church, and I said, "Smoking cigarettes is not a sin. Committing adultery is not a sin. Taking the Lord's name is not sin." It was too much for one sister. She raised up and...
The sin of unbelief
58-0517E §3
...of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. I would like to take the text tonight, if the Lord willing, on the subject of "The Sin Of Unbelief." And there's really only one sin, and that is unbelief. Many times we think that sin is drinking and gambling, and committing adultery. But, that isn't sin; that's just the attributes of unbelief. A man does that and a woman because they do not believe the Lord Jesus. If they believed the Lord Jesus then they would not do those...
God hiding Himself in simplicity
63-0412E §37
We call sin committing adultery, telling a lie, smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco. That's not sin. That has nothing to do with sin. That's the attributes of unbelief. There's only one sin. That's unbelief. "He that believeth not is condemned already." When a man will deny that the Word of God... , that's the sin, right there. Jesus said when He was on earth, "Who can condemn me of sin? Who can show me that I didn't fulfill everything that was prophesied of me? When I come, I was supposed to do certain, certain th...
At Kadesh-Barnea
56-0527 §30
What I'm trying to get at is this: The greatest sin I find in the church today is unbelief. That's the only sin there is. There's no other sin but unbelief. How much of that is night out there? How much is dark? You couldn't say, "This much is dark," right from my hands. It's all dark. Now there is only one way to designate and to determine sin; that isn't by whether you drink or whether you smoke or whether you gamble. It's designated this way: because you are an unbeliever you do that. That's true. Because you ga...
The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast, part 2
61-0217 §69
"He that sins..." What is sin? Unbelief. I want somebody to tell me one definition of sin besides unbelief. "He that believeth not is condemned already." Right. He that... You don't even get to first... What if...? Committing adultery is not a sin. Smoking cigarettes and drinking's not a sin. That's the attributes of unbelief. If you was a believer, you wouldn't do that, see. That's right. That's exactly right. See, there it is, unbelief. What is it? If we disbelieve willfully... That's you out here tonight, Presby...