Whoever abides in Him does not sin. 1 John 3:6
Overcoming sin can sometimes become an enormous part of a christians life. Some people have to deal over and over again with certain sins and they can’t seem to overcome. A lot of people go about winning this battle in the wrong way. The attempt to fight against a certain sin or they continuously vow over and over never to do it again. These tactics don’t work.
In the above passage John tells us that whoever abides in Jesus does not sin. This is the answer to our sin problems. Spending time in the Word and time in prayer and communion with God is what empowers you to overcome sin. The reason this works is because when you are soaking up Jesus, you begin to lose the desire to commit sin. When the desire is gone then the rest is easy!
Another scripture that works well with this is John 14:15:
If you love me, you will keep my commandments (margin)
Jesus isn’t saying this to try to twist your arm into living straight. He is simply stating the fact that if we love him, keeping His commandments will come automatically. (you might need to read the scripture a few times to catch this)
Living the christian life is not hard!!! At least not when you are doing it correctly. However, when you are attempting to live the christian life by obeying a bunch of rules and laws then you are DOOMED! This is no way to live.
When you abide in Jesus the power of God to overcome sin is made available. You begin to take on the light burden that Jesus promised to those who follow Him.
Hal Chaffee 