“Sin No More” #2096

12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5:12–14, NKJV)

This remarkable miracle of healing the lame man at the pool called Bethesda is a marvelous illustration of God’s merciful healing of our souls from sin (Jno. 5:1-9). What followed also illustrates our obligation once God saves us from our past sins. Just as Jesus told the man to “sin no more,” Christians cannot “continue in sin that grace may abound” (Jno. 5:14; Rom. 6:1-2). Just as the lame man’s healing should prompt him to live differently, our salvation from sin compels us to cease practicing sin. We have “died to sin,” being freed from the clutches of its slavery by the blood of Christ (Rom. 6:3-11). Saved in Christ, we are “servants of righteousness” (Rom. 6:17-18). Jesus warned the man that returning to sin would bring a worse outcome upon him. That is also true of Christians who sin (read 2 Pet. 2:20-22). The teaching that Christians cannot sin and be lost is false. Jesus healed the man, yet a far worse thing would occur if he practiced sin (Matt. 5:29-30). Even so, Christ has saved us. But if we turn back to sin, we will be lost. That outcome will be on us, not on Jesus (2 Cor. 5:10).