It seems like the idea that we could be perfect is contrary to most "Christian" teachings today. I've always been taught that because I'm human I sin. That there's nothing I can really do to change the sin inside of me. I've always learned that being human means being sinful and that's the bottom line. And I suppose that can be biblical: "All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory" (Romans 3:23). But, there's just one problem with the idea that being human also means being sinful: Jesus.
It blows my mind to know that Jesus was fully human and he never sinned. How did he do that? If Jesus was human and he was perfect then I guess it means that I, being human, can be perfect too. This also blows my mind. But, as I read the New Testament more and more it seems like all of the letters written to the churches are saying one basic thing: "Stop sinning! Just stop it already!"
There's the famous Romans 6:1 - "Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not!..."These are just a few verses that I found out of, I'm sure, many, many more that you could find. So now that I'm done ranting, I'll open it up for discussion. What do you think: could we really be perfect?
There's also this ridiculous passage from 1 John 2 - "I am writing this to you so that you will not sin..."
What about all the times Jesus told people, "Go and sin no more." Did he really mean that?
In Galatians 5:24 - "Those who belong to Jesus the Messiah have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there."
Ephesians 4:22 - "...throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life..."
Romans 12:2 - "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think."
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Something else that sort of blows my mind in the subject of Jesus being human is the following that my mom told me about. Keep in mind what happened to Jesus while he was in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1).
"Remember when you are being tempted, do not say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else." (James 1:13)
What?!? In Matthew it says that Jesus was tempted. In James it says that God is never tempted. It seems to me that the only way Jesus could have been tempted would be if he was human.
You know, of course, Drew that I agree with you. But I think the best verse that brings this idea to light is in 1st John chapter 3 verses 4-10.
"4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7 DEAR CHILDREN, DON'T LET ANYONE DECEIVE YOU ABOUT THIS:
When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life[a] is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[b] does not belong to God."
So I totally agree with Drew. However, the bible makes it clear that it is HARD not to sin. Why else would christ have died for us if it were easy. Obviously it is so rare to not sin at all that only one person has managed it. JESUS CHRIST. So I also look too this verse in First John chapter 2 verses 1-2.
"1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world."
So even though John is commanding us to not sin, if we do we have an advocate that will plead our case before God.
Yeah man, obviously sinning is a hard thing not to do. I did it today. I'm not proud of it, but at the same time I'm not going to hide it.
Sometimes I get this idea that when I sin I need to do something to make up for it. Like go read a book in my bible, or write a song, or listen to Matt Chandler for hours at a time. Maybe doing that makes me feel better, but it takes no place in my being forgiven.
If we walk around with this weight of, "I can't sin. I can't do it. I just need to stop." Then we'll spend all of our time thinking about not sinning rather than spending time thinking about God. There's a few quotes I'd like to throw out there:
"Rick [my pastor] tells me, looking back, that he was too proud to receive free grace from God. He didn't know how to live within a system where nobody owes anybody anything. And the harder it was for Rick to pay God back, the more he wanted to hide. God was his loan shark, so to speak. Though he understood that God wanted nothing in return, his mind could not communicate this fact to his heart, so his life was something like torture." (Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz)
"Rick says that I will love God because he first loved me. I will obey God because I love God. But if I cannot accept God's love, I cannot love Him in return, and I cannot obey Him. Self-discipline will never make us feel righteous of clean; accepting God's love will. The ability to accept God's unconditional grace and ferocious love is all the fuel we need to obey Him in return." (Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz)
"God isn't just interested in the covering over of our sins; God wants to make us into the people we were originally created to be. It is not just the removal of what's being held against us; it is God pulling us into the people he originally had in mind when he made us. This restoration is why Jesus always orients his message around becoming the kind of people who are generous and loving and compassionate. The goal here isn't simply to not sin. Our purpose is to increase the [presence of the goodness of God] in this world, which is why approaches to the Christian faith that deal solely with not sinning always fail. They aim at the wrong thing. It is not about what you don't do. The point is becoming more and more the kind of people God had in mind when we were first created." (Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis)
"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the Good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew is Christ Jesus" (Paul, Ephesians 2:8-10)
And one more that I already quoted a bit from in the original post: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." (Paul, Romans 12:2)
So, to string these billions of quotes together I'll say this. Our perfection will not be reached by trying to be perfect. It will be reached because we love God and those who love God obey Him and follow His commandments. I guess it's just the way you approach it. It's not about how I have to struggle to stop sinning. It's about how something inside me changes. It's about how something inside me is new and different. It's that I no longer want to sin, I'd rather express my love for God.
And as for when I do sin: God's grace is free. No matter how much of the Bible I read, how many praise songs I write, or how many good lessons I listen to God will forgive me. His forgiveness is not something that I earn, it is something that I just have to accept. For free.
Ok, this is my first venture into the blogging 'realm' - so be patient.
I think this issue: no more sinning vs the grace of God is like a two-sided coin (this is the analogy I attempted last week). Bascially, when we look at the Grace side of the coin - we see mercy, forgiveness, and even a forgetting of our sin (see Hebrews 8 - 10). The other side shows that our attitude to sin in our life should be one of complete abhorrance...to the point that we truly refuse to sin.
FYI, although we don't have a day-by-day account; it appears that many characters in the Bible lived most of their lives without sinning (Joseph and Joshua to name two).
Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins.
I think God doesn't see us for our actions, but for our additude.
Example: In Matthew 5, Jesus says (Verses 21-23) that if you our angry with your brother, you have murdered him in your heart. Therefore, you don't have to physically kill somebody, if if you want to, it's as if you already did.
So, I think that if you truely want to stop sinning, you don't intentionally do it, you could be perfect, because your heart is in the right place.
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