Why Do Believers Still Sin?

Romans 7:14-25

Once we’re saved, it doesn’t take long to discover that we still sin. This can be confusing because 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away.” If that verse is true, why do we have the same old sin problem we had before following Christ?

In today’s passage, the apostle Paul describes this struggle in his own life and at one point says, “If I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:20). 

Although we truly have been made new in our spirit, we continue to live in a fallen world and have a disposition toward sin. What we must understand is that our redemption, which began at salvation, will not be completed until Jesus returns and transforms these sinful bodies to be glorious like His own. (Phil. 3:20-21). 

At our conversion, we were set free from the penalty of sin, through justification. Now, through sanctification, we are being progressively delivered from the power of sin. But only when we are glorified will we be free from the presence of sin forever.  

Bible in One Year: Exodus 34-35