Do Believers Sin?

Recently I was asked...

If we are no longer under law then does that mean that we don't sin anymore?

...to which I responded:

Folks have gone back and forth on questions as to whether or not believers sin, and I suppose there are verses that can support either view. But what are "views" (especially those that seem to pit one "Biblical truth" against another) other than positions people hold to in order to make their perceptions tie together? To those who see their life as being an improvement or a new (aka, resurrected) version of their old life I would not try to convince them that the "we" as they perceive themselves don't sin anymore. However, if "we" really have been made alive in Christ, if it really is "not I, but Christ who lives in me" then it's a whole different matter, isn't it? That's why you don't hear me making blanket statements like these in an attempt to simplify matters, for it actually confuses the matter by trying to bleed one realm into another.

Are we what we have been delivered from? If it was simply a matter of viewpoint or belief the question would be bogus, wouldn't it? But in Christ it is a matter of reality, for he actually accomplished something. He brought us INTO life, INTO himself, INTO God. He has become our very life, for our life is found in HIS resurrection from the dead, not OURS. His resurrection IS our resurrection. His life IS our life.

The question of "Do we sin anymore?" only makes sense in view of that former separation between us and God. That is where it is to be understood. And that is where Jesus and his sent ones put it in their discussions. It is MEANT to create a disharmony, a tension, a conflict when referring to the sins of those who are in Christ, for such a contrast demands that those who are caught up in sins are caught up in the elementary principles of the world ... despite the miraculous reality that has happened to and in them. There is a purpose in referring to the workings of the law (which are according the same fleshly principles that make this present world go around) and of the works of the flesh (which is according to those principles) in contrast to the real truth of the spirit of God within us. It is meant to draw us to the conclusion,

So then, with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:25

Stop being deceived; God is not to be ridiculed. A person harvests whatever he plants.For the person who plants in his flesh will harvest decay from the flesh, but the person who plants in the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit. Galatians 6:7-8 ISV

So, I ask again ... what person have we been made to be? Are we the new creation? Are we truly alive from the dead? As long as we see ourselves as functioning according to the principles of the world we will also perceive our options and choices according to what we were delivered from and we will find that Christ has no real effect in such a world. But then, how could he have any real effect in a world that is built upon lies and deception? He did not come to change the world built upon principles but to destroy it.

It was for freedom that Christ set you free! Galatians 5:1

Jim