Why Do Christians Still Struggle with Sin After Being Saved?

Many people wonder why, after coming to Christ, they still sin. If salvation is a transformative experience, why do believers in Jesus continue to struggle with sin? The answer lies in the spiritual transformation that occurs when we accept Christ, and in the ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit.

The Transformation That Occurs When We Surrender to Jesus

When we surrender our lives to Jesus, several powerful changes take place in us. These changes help us live a life that is more aligned with God's will, but they don't eliminate our desire to sin entirely. Understanding these transformations helps explain why we sin less, though we still struggle.

1. We are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Upon salvation, believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit. This is not a mere symbolic act; it is a divine guarantee of our inheritance in Christ. As we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are equipped to live a life that pleases God. The Holy Spirit guides us, reminds us of God's truth, and teaches us to live according to His will.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV)13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

John 16:13 (ESV)13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives helps us sin less because we now have God's Spirit teaching, reminding, and guiding us daily.

2. Our hearts are transformed.

One of the most significant changes in the believer is a transformation of the heart. In Ezekiel, God promises to take away our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. This heart of flesh is tender and receptive to God’s will, unlike the hard, sinful heart that we once had.

Ezekiel 36:26 (ESV)26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

3. The veil is removed.

Before salvation, we were blind to the truth of the gospel. But when we come to Christ, our eyes are opened to His glory and truth. For unbelievers, the gospel remains veiled, but for the believer, sight is restored.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (ESV)3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

4. God’s laws are written on our hearts.

Under the New Covenant, God has promised to put His laws in our minds and write them on our hearts. This means that, as believers, we have an internal compass—a desire to obey God—given by the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 8:10 (ESV)10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The Ongoing Struggle Between Flesh and Spirit

Despite these transformative experiences, Christians still struggle with sin because we continue to live in a fallen, imperfect body. This body of flesh still has sinful desires that wage war against the spirit. This battle between the flesh and the spirit is part of the Christian experience.

1. The battle between flesh and spirit.

Jesus spoke of the tension between the willing spirit and the weak flesh when He told His disciples to watch and pray, as the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 (ESV)41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

The Apostle Paul describes this struggle more vividly in Romans, explaining how, even though he delights in God’s law, there is another law at work within him, pulling him toward sin.

Romans 7:19-25 (ESV)19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

2. Our glorification is yet to come.

When a person is born again, they receive the Holy Spirit, but full perfection will not come until we are given our glorified bodies in heaven. Until that time, the battle between the flesh and the spirit will continue.

2 Corinthians 5:2-5 (ESV)2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

1 Corinthians 15:53-54 (ESV)53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

Why Receive the Holy Spirit?

If we still struggle with sin after receiving the Holy Spirit, why is this transformation only partial? The Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is a guarantee of the future inheritance that awaits us. This transformation is not meant to make us perfect immediately but to ensure that we are sealed and belong to God.

1. The Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance.

The Holy Spirit is the down payment, or guarantee, of the inheritance that God has promised His people. It assures us that we are His and that our future is secure.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV)13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

2. The Holy Spirit marks us as belonging to God.

Those who belong to Jesus are marked by the Holy Spirit. This seal signifies that we are His, and even the angels can recognize those who belong to Christ.

Revelation 9:4 (ESV)4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

3. We are ambassadors for Christ.

The Holy Spirit is not only a seal of our salvation, but it also equips us to act as Christ's ambassadors on earth. We are entrusted with the message of reconciliation, spreading the gospel until Christ returns.

2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (ESV)19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Grace, Not Perfection

Even though salvation brings about a heart that desires to please God, we are not yet perfected, and we will continue to sin, albeit, less frequently. However, it is important to remember that we are not saved by our ability to abstain from sin, but by faith alone. Our faith in Jesus Christ is counted as righteousness, just as it was for Abraham.

Romans 6:1-2, 15 (ESV)1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ... 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Romans 4:3 (ESV)3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

In conclusion, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives helps us sin less, but the battle between the flesh and the spirit continues. We await the day when our glorified bodies will be free from sin, but until then, we can rely on the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Through the Spirit, we are empowered to live as ambassadors of Christ, spreading the good news of reconciliation to the world, despite being imperfect.