A Pastor’s Question and My Honest Response
Pastor’s Question
What I am hearing you say is this. If I believe Christ died for my sins, then I did a one time mind change called repentance, and then I can continue to sin however I want, as much as I want, with peace, joy, no condemnation, and guilt free. Am I understanding you correctly?
By the way, I love how powerful your faith in grace is.
⸻
My Response
Thank you for engaging this conversation with such openness and sincerity. I genuinely appreciate the spirit of your question. What I am sharing is not meant to excuse sin or promote reckless living. It is meant to clarify what Scripture actually teaches about sin, repentance, and the power of grace.
Let me start with a foundational truth.
The Bible makes it clear that we do not sin merely because we choose to. We sin because we are born into a fallen nature. Since Adam’s fall, sin became part of the human condition.
Psalm 51:5 says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:12 says, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”
In other words, sin is not something we have to practice. It is something we inherit. Even the most devoted believer, pastor, or priest wrestles with it daily, not because they love sin, but because they live in a fallen world with a fallen body.
The apostle Paul himself said in Romans 7:19, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing.”
This shows us something important. Sin is not always a deliberate act of rebellion. Often, it is the ongoing human struggle that remains until the day we are fully redeemed.
Now let’s talk about repentance.
Many believers think repentance means repeatedly apologizing every time we sin in order to stay forgiven. But the New Testament word for repentance is the Greek word metanoia, which means to change one’s mind or to change one’s way of thinking.
Biblical repentance is not about begging God for forgiveness over and over. It is about turning from unbelief to belief. It is a shift from trusting ourselves to trusting Christ.
Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “Repent and believe the good news.”
Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Repentance and faith work together. Repentance is the change of mind. Faith is the act of trust. When a person believes in Jesus, their sins past, present, and future are forgiven.
Ephesians 1:7 says we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 10:10 through 14 makes it clear that Christ’s sacrifice was once and for all.
Romans 5:1 says we have been justified by faith and now have peace with God.
That forgiveness is not revoked every time a believer stumbles. Our righteousness is not maintained by flawless behavior. It is secured by faith in Christ.
This is where language matters.
The English Bible often flattens rich meanings found in the original Hebrew and Greek. For example, we use one English word for love, but Scripture uses several.
Agape refers to divine, unconditional love.
Phileo refers to brotherly or friendship love.
Eros refers to romantic or passionate love.
Storge refers to natural family affection.
Each word reveals something unique that English alone cannot fully capture.
The same is true with the word sin.
In Hebrew and Greek, there are over two dozen words translated as sin. A few examples include:
Chattah, meaning to miss the mark.
Pesha, meaning rebellion or transgression.
Avon, meaning iniquity or moral distortion.
Hamartia, meaning missing the mark.
Anomia, meaning lawlessness.
Because of this, sin functions in Scripture as both a noun and a verb.
Sin as a noun refers to our inherited condition from Adam. It is the realm or identity we lived in before Christ.
Sin as a verb refers to the actions we commit, such as lying, lusting, or envying.
This distinction matters.
When Jesus told the woman caught in adultery in John 8:11, “Go now and leave your life of sin,” He was not simply telling her to stop committing bad acts. He was telling her to leave a place. He was calling her out of an identity and into a new one.
In that moment, Jesus was addressing sin as a noun, not just a verb. He was saying, do not live here anymore. Come dwell in grace.
Paul, in Romans 7, speaks about the verb form of sin. He describes the daily struggle believers experience even when their hearts desire righteousness.
Here is an illustration I often use.
My mother is ethnically Korean, but she lives as a resident of America. Her residence changed, but her DNA did not. In the same way, when we receive Christ, our residence changes. We move from living under law to living under grace. But our human nature still wrestles with sin because we live in a fallen world.
This is the difference between life under law and life under grace.
The law reveals sin and produces guilt.
Grace reveals Jesus and produces freedom.
Romans 8:1 says there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:14 says sin shall no longer be our master because we are not under law, but under grace.
We do not live trying not to sin in order to earn God’s favor. We live from the confidence that we already have God’s favor because of Jesus.
Grace does not make people reckless. Grace makes people honest. Grace removes the mask. Grace gives people the courage to come into the light.
Let me share a story that illustrates this.
There was a man who struggled with alcoholism. He gave his life to Jesus and surrounded himself with five Christian brothers for accountability. For five years, he stayed sober. Everyone saw him as a success story.
Then his wife left him.
In his grief, he slipped and had a drink. The following Sunday, he was too ashamed to tell his brothers. Instead, he hid it. He ordered a Coke when they were around and drank again when they left.
He was not a hypocrite. He was human.
But guilt and fear drove him to fake holiness rather than live honestly in grace. Eventually, he stopped going to church altogether because he felt he could never meet the standard.
This is what happens when communities are built on law instead of grace. We do not produce holiness. We produce hidden shame.
Law says, you messed up, stay away.
Grace says, you messed up, come home.
That is why I am passionate about radical grace. I do not celebrate sin. I celebrate a Savior who refuses to let sin have the final word.
Grace is not permission to sin. Grace is the power that lifts us when we do.
Romans 5:20 says where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
Ephesians 2:8 and 9 reminds us that salvation is a gift, not a reward.
Yes, I am a sinner. But I cling to the cross.
I am not holy because I never fail. I am holy because Jesus made me righteous by His blood.
We do not try to sin. It is our human condition.
We do not try to be holy. It is our redeemed identity.
The difference is our residence. We have moved from guilt to grace, from condemnation to redemption.
So I do not come to God’s altar in shame. I come in gratitude. Because the cross is not a place of punishment. It is a place of victory.
I hope this clarifies what I am saying. Feel free to ask me anything else. I truly love talking about this. And one day, when my book on radical grace comes out, I hope it helps even more people finally rest in the freedom Jesus already purchased for them.
If you’ve got more questions like this or want to go deeper, email me anytime at info@funnychristy.com.
Remember you are my lovers, whether you love me or love to hate me you are still my lover!
Don’t forget Jesus loves you and so do I!