Do you believe it is possible to live a life without sin

[jiggyfly]

Nice post Fragrant Grace.
Here is a scripture to add to your post.

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26 (NLT)

KJV uses the word justified in verse 24, what does it mean?

To be proven blameless or to be found lawful, and this all happens because of God's grace through Christ's sacrificing His own life on the cross for everyone. Note that we are not found lawful by practicing the ten commandments or any other list of do's and don'ts no matter how righteous the list. But by simply believing and trusting in Jesus, God, the judge in this matter decides we are blameless and justified before Him.

 

[B-A-C]

In the Old Testament, there were commandments like "Don't commit adultery, and don't murder". Not only did Jesus repeat these in the New Testament, he added to them and made them harder.

Mat 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

No, we aren't saved by our works, but we should have some works to show for our salvation.

Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Mat 5:18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Mat 5:19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Now it doesn't say believers will lose their salvation here, but it does say they are still in effect.

In the OT, all we had to do was not Murder, in the NT, we can't even think bad thoughts about someone.

Mat 5:21 "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'
Mat 5:22 "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

In the OT, we were told not to commit adultery, in the NT, we are told don't even look at a woman with lust.
Mat 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';
Mat 5:28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

In the OT, it was OK to get a divorce for many reasons, in the NT there is only one reason we should divorce.
Mat 5:31 "It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE';
Mat 5:32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

In the OT, we were told to hate our enemies. In the NT we are told to pray for them.
Mat 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'
Mat 5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Being a Christians isn't easier in some ways, but harder. The rules got a little harder after Jesus came.

Now all of the verses posted here, EVERY single one of them says we are justified, no argument with that. But it says EVERYONE HAS SINNED.

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26 (NLT)

Yes we are justified, yes our sins are paid for. That is the point!!! Our sins HAD to be paid for. We HAD sin!!! Otherwise we wouldn't need to be justified.
We still sin sometimes, even after we are believers (Paul did, Peter did, The Corinthian in 1Cor 5 did, Annanias and Sapphira did, five of the seven Churches in Revelation did.

Yes the price of sin is paid, yes we have been ransomed, yes there is no more penalty for sin, no arguments against any of that. But there is still sin.
We can keep on sinning and say we have no sin...

1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Or we can admit that we still sin sometimes and we are still forgiven for it when we do.
WE aren't under the law in the sense that we have to still make sacrifices for our sins, we don't have to confess them to a priest, we don't have to be circumcised,
but the things that were sins in the OT, are still sins in the NT.

Mat 7:16 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Mat 7:17 "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Mat 7:18 "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Mat 7:19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 "So then, you will know them by their fruits.

 

[B-A-C]

Only a few interactions between Jesus and Gentiles are recorded in the Bible.

We have the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:26
The Samaritan woman (at the well) in John 4:7-9
The 10 leprous men, now we don't know how many of them were Jews, but we know at least one of them wasn't a Jew Luke 17:16
The Roman Centurion Matt 8:5-13

Jesus told a story (some say a parable) about a Gentile and two Jews in Luke 10:31-33

Interestingly enough, some of the Jews themselves accused Jesus of being a Samaritan. John 8:48

Paul says the Gentiles need to repent in order to come to Salvation.
Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life."

Acts 26:20 sbut kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

Not only that, but their actions and deeds show fruit, "appropriate to repentance".

Mat 3:8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
Mat 3:9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
Mat 3:10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Eph 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
The Ephesians were Gentiles, yet they are told that the Church was built on the foundation of the prophets, and that Jesus himself was the cornerstone of this foundation.

 

[David777]

Only a few interactions between Jesus and Gentiles are recorded in the Bible.

We have the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:26
The Samaritan woman (at the well) in John 4:7-9
The 10 leprous men, now we don't know how many of them were Jews, but we know at least one of them wasn't a Jew Luke 17:16
The Roman Centurion Matt 8:5-13

Hello B-A-C.

Good posts.

Methinks there may have been some other interactions
between Jesus and the Gentiles which did not appear in
your list?

 

[jiggyfly]

Hello B-A-C.

Good posts.

Methinks there may have been some other interactions
between Jesus and the Gentiles which did not appear in
your list?

Add me to the list. LOL

 

[bgsda]

Got a question? Back then there was Jews =Israel (Gods chosen) and Gentiles right. My question is as I read in Rom.9 that we(Christians) are now Spiritual Israel and those that do not believe in Christ are the Gentiles now?

 

[B-A-C]

Got a question? Back then there was Jews =Israel (Gods chosen) and Gentiles right. My question is as I read in Rom.9 that we(Christians) are now Spiritual Israel and those that do not believe in Christ are the Gentiles now?

Good point, we Gentiles do become Jews in a manner of speaking.

1 Cor 7:18 Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised.

Col 2:10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Col 2:11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

;
Methinks there may have been some other interactions
between Jesus and the Gentiles which did not appear in
your list?

No doubt you are correct, it was the best I could do on short notice, but it would be interesting to see a complete list.

 

[eldon]

yeah, i have to say yes it is possible live without sinning.

but it is only possible to live without sin that we are aware of i suppose.
and generally its only possible to be aware of sin that we've already done.

as i get to the bottom of myself, i find that my "sin nature" was augmented by spirit of
Lust
half heartedness
perversion
shame
and others that i thought were apart of me growing up, and i have yet to get them all kicked out.
now that i walk with God a bit, i can now remember how these spirits got in me, when they did, and their effect on my physical body and personality.
my sense of humor was corrupted for example (honestly i'm not sure i have one) and yes i mean that. (Jesus is telling me i do have a sense of humor) but
i haven't gotten to the bottom of where my natural God given sense of humor went, or how to get it back. (i've got bigger issues to deal with!)

regarding my story, when i was a child, imagine being shocked with a BBQ lighter inside your brain every time you sin.
and imagine you've been given a gift of reasoning, so you know, before you sin, what is going to happen, but you do it anyway to fit in with society.

as for my personal testimony, i can't share the other half of what led to this, but Jesus stopped me the other day by saying "[but] i have been calling you for xx [years]" xx being my age.
my age of accountability was effectively 0 years old, based on the literal words Jesus said me, it was 6 months old.

so i can say with a straight face, every sin i've ever committed in my life, i knew it before i did it.
its still impossible to stop sinning, but i get better at it.
it will probably take 10+ more years for me to get to where i was spiritually when i was born.

but as i get to the bottom of myself, i find myself rebuking spirits and etc that encourage me to sin.
so as i get older, every sin becomes a conscious choice, not something that just happens.


so to end with this:
ideally, i would get to the point where i was when i was born, but with more knowledge and reasoning.
the end result would be:
i am aware of my free will at all times
I question the origin of every thought that enters my mind
I ponder the result of acting on every thought before executing the action, according to my free will.
I test every voice that speaks to me.

 

[B-A-C]

This is a trick question.
Can we quit sinning? No.
Are we under the penalty of sin? No.

 

[christbased]

Do you believe that Jesus took away our sins?

Do we still sin, yes.

Is the penalty for our sins taken away forever, yes. (as far as the east is from the west)

All our sins forgiven, past, present (sins you are currently committing) and future. ALL of them are forgiven, but they ARE NOT forgiven till we accept that fact. It's like someone handing you a million dollars, you don't actually HAVE the million dollars till you accept the bills being given to you If you regect it, it's not received and you still do not have the million dollars. It's the same with forgiveness of sins. (does someone have some good scripture here we can draw on?)

When we take communion, we "Remember" that our sins are forgiven. But we have already received our forgiveness, but communion is an act of remembrance. When we do wrong, we grieve the holy spirit (feel bad), but then accept our forgiveness and walk forward in newness, and the strength of the Holy Spirit, to not sin again.

It's basic Christianity, but a lot of the more liberal churches, just "Don't Get it".

 

[jiggyfly]

Do we still sin, yes.

Is the penalty for our sins taken away forever, yes. (as far as the east is from the west)

All our sins forgiven, past, present (sins you are currently committing) and future. ALL of them are forgiven, but they ARE NOT forgiven till we accept that fact. It's like someone handing you a million dollars, you don't actually HAVE the million dollars till you accept the bills being given to you If you regect it, it's not received and you still do not have the million dollars. It's the same with forgiveness of sins. (does someone have some good scripture here we can draw on?)

When we take communion, we "Remember" that our sins are forgiven. But we have already received our forgiveness, but communion is an act of remembrance. When we do wrong, we grieve the holy spirit (feel bad), but then accept our forgiveness and walk forward in newness, and the strength of the Holy Spirit, to not sin again.

It's basic Christianity, but a lot of the more liberal churches, just "Don't Get it".

What do you think about Paul saying we are justified by Christ? What does that mean to you?

 

[jeffsi435]

No, I don't believe it is possible this side of heaven.

 

[spirit1st]

In our Spirit We Do live perfect sinless lives ! But in the flesh we do not !
but we try hard not to do anything that displeases our LORD! You understand none of us have 100% truth ! So some things we say , may not be 100% truth ! so we are lying , not because we do not want to tell truth ! But because we think it truth ! that because we are all growing in truth and the correct understanding !

But you know also , we might get mad all at once and say something we really are sorry about !
It a battle Daily for all of Us ! I pray GOD will bless all here who really love our LORd and truth 1 that they learn and grow mighty in Truth and his LOVE and POWER !in the mighty name of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ! Thank You LORD !

 

[s.i.e.]

this question emanates from sin

 

[Boanerges]

Jesus was God, but He walked as a man to show what could be done when we walk in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. We can walk free from sin but only as we walk in the Spirit. Even one step out of sync with Him reveals rotten flesh. So in my view the answer to the OP is yes, and no.

 

[N8VFlower]

Only if you are Jesus can you live a life with absolutely no sin. Man can do his best to not sin, but no matter how hard we try we are gonna fall sometime or another. If we could live a life without sin, then Jesus would not have had to come and die in our place, there would be no need for a Savior.

 

[spirit1st]

In HIS FLESH ! He was a real man , in His Spirit He was creator , a part of GOD almighty! That why He can be called the Son and yet the Father !
We too are different in our two parts ! Sinfull man , in the flesh and yet Sons of Gos in our Spirit !
Imperfect in our flesh , Yet perfect in our Spirit after being Born anew !

If we Think ? We live perfect lives ? Then we tend to LOOK DOWN on others as if they are less ? We need to be careful how we judge others ? So easy for us to be tricked , Then it displeases our LORD !

After all , He so LOVED the entire World , not just Us ! But we do not SIN !

We must not forget ? It what He done and is doing for Us ! He Keeps Us we do Not keep ourselves ! we CANNOT keep ourselves, Only He Can Keep us !
1Pe_1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 

[Boanerges]

My experience-= Only in spurts thus far. As we walk in the Spirit we walk sinless. One millimeter out of that and we walk in the flesh and every act is tainted.
It is only a moment by moment choice to walk in total dependence on, in the power of, and at the leading of the Holy Spirit that produces true holiness. This is the place where the believer reflects the nature of his God; the live of the Vine flowing in and through that branch producing fruit worthy of the King.

Gal_5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

 

[amadeus2]

My experience-= Only in spurts thus far. As we walk in the Spirit we walk sinless. One millimeter out of that and we walk in the flesh and every act is tainted.
It is only a moment by moment choice to walk in total dependence on, in the power of, and at the leading of the Holy Spirit that produces true holiness. This is the place where the believer reflects the nature of his God; the live of the Vine flowing in and through that branch producing fruit worthy of the King.

Gal_5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Even so... If we are walking along in the Spirit and a question comes to us, from another, which says, "Are you now completely without sin"? Even considering the question may cause the answer to be "no" even though a moment before it may would have been "yes". Is it impossible to be sinless? No, because it is God in us who is always willing to fight all of our battles and He never loses. The difficulty is that we all too frequently quench the Holy Spirit and move again along the ways of man, which remain in us... and when they are followed they always lead to sin. To become an overcomer as Jesus was an overcomer requires us, I believe, to ask for God's help to ask for His help every time we start to step out of the Spirit.

When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Matt 19:25-26

Before anyone else says it is impossible to be sinless while we are in the carnal flesh consider Jesus' words "for God all things are possible" and then read also the following verse:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" Col 1:27

Is Jesus a liar? Is Paul a liar? Is God in us doing a work or not? If He is in us then being sinless is possible or He is a liar. That we may not have arrived there yet doesn't make it an impossible goal. God is able to get rid of the ways of man in us, is He not? Praise His name!

 

[Boanerges]

Even so... If we are walking along in the Spirit and a question comes to us, from another, which says, "Are you now completely without sin"? Even considering the question may cause the answer to be "no" even though a moment before it may would have been "yes". Is it impossible to be sinless? No, because it is God in us who is always willing to fight all of our battles and He never loses. The difficulty is that we all too frequently quench the Holy Spirit and move again along the ways of man, which remain in us... and when they are followed they always lead to sin. To become an overcomer as Jesus was an overcomer requires us, I believe, to ask for God's help to ask for His help every time we start to step out of the Spirit.

Confessed sin is no longer on my account- He forgets and in His eyes, as I walk in Him, I am sinless. In the flesh, I am a rotting stench, there is no middle ground between these.
My born again inner man or spirit is sinless (Eph_4:24 ), but my mind needs to be renewed. It is when we walk in Christ (in the Spirit) that we commune with the Holy Ghost and He makes the Word of God come alive to us, we believe it and are renewed in our mind. As we are renwed in our mind, we think like He thinks and walk His walk. It was no accident that Jesus was crucified at Golgotha ( the place of the skull).
So as we walk in the Spirit, in His strength doing the Father's will, and thinking like Him we are quite sinless.
As we depend on our own strength, our our leading, walk our own way it is flesh and always opposed to the Spirit.
Is it possible to walk completely in the Spirit and never sin? Yes , Jesus did it to show it was possible.
Have I ever met anyone who has arrived at that point- not yet my friend.
I do believe the day is coming though, when this will be common.

As for now, have any of you walked your whole Christian life in the Spirit sinless before God and man?
If so, please tell me about it.