Sinless perfection for the Christian
I keep running across “Christian blogs” that talk about “losing your salvation” over a “single sin”. Shortly after becoming a new believer in the Lord I met a man who claimed that he hadn’t sinned in months. He held to the idea that it was possible for a Christian to be perfectly free from sin and in a state of “Sinless perfection”. Later he came to see that his belief in sinless perfection was wrong and that he had been deceived in believing it.
On another occasion I was singing at a church. After I’d finished singing I was approached by a boy who was in torment over his struggle with pornography. He described how he’d repent, throw out his magazines, but at times being tempted, he would later return to retrieve them. His church taught that if he sinned he would lose his salvation and end up in hell. He was very afraid that he would not have another chance to get to heaven because he had “lost his salvation” and thought Jesus would possibly walk away from him and not give him another chance to be born again, again. Many times people who are taught “sinless perfection” believe that if a person sins they lose their salvation and therefore need to be “born again” over and over each time they fall. (If these people are honest, as this boy was, they have to admit that they struggle with sin just like everyone else.) How do you get to heaven then if one sin is all it takes to lose your salvation? Their solution is to believe they can be born again more than once… something the bible never teaches.
I’ve found that those who believe in sinless perfection (and many times those who believe they can lose their salvation) are often failing in 3 main points:
- A denial that the Christian life involves a very intense struggle with sin.
The bible clearly teaches that as Christians we are engaged in a struggle with sin.
“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:4)
Anyone who tries to spiritualize this struggle away as if it doesn’t exist is only fooling themselves. The Christian life is an ongoing battle with the world, the flesh, and spiritual forces that seek to drive us into sin. To think that we will never fall, get wounded, succumb to temptation and sin, is the worst sort of lie and deception. It’s even worse when we teach others this lie because it brings people into a fantasy world where they will be doomed to always fall short of the “sinless perfection” we demand of them. We should seek to live for Christ, but when we fall we should understand we have an advocate in Him- He is on our side!
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1)
Jesus is not against us, He is for us- and to teach that we lose our salvation as we struggle with sin is the worst sort of lie.
- The failure to see just how bad we really are.
The Word of God says we’re utterly sinful.
As it is written:
”There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
Those who believe in sinless perfection need to see themselves as God sees them. In and of ourselves we are utterly sinful and without hope. Now that is the gospel truth. The trouble is many people have never yet seen themselves that way. They wouldn’t be boasting of being sinless if they had! Your idea of what is “sinless”, and God’s idea of it, are two completely different things. If you ever truly saw yourself in the light of God’s holiness you’d shrink away like a worm and never claim to be “sinless” again! You have no idea how bad you really are until you see yourself compared to God’s own sinless perfection. Repent of your boasting and pride- you are far from perfect and not even close to being sinless.
- The failure to see how good God is, and how complete the sacrifice of Jesus is.
Jesus gave His life for us “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). He did everything that needed to be done to wipe away your sin forever.
“…by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:14)
The goodness and love of God was clearly displayed to all when Jesus hung on the cross for us unworthy sinners- It doesn’t get any better than that! God in His perfect holiness paid the price to bring wretched sinners like you and me back into relationship with Him. He didn’t have to do that, but He did! Do you see how good God is? We had no way out of hell, no way back to Him, and He came and rescued us even though we are the guilty ones, even though we are the dirty ones, even though we deserve nothing good from Him- He gave us every good thing in Jesus!
Not only is God good to us in bringing us back to Himself, but the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was enough to satisfy His justice and righteousness. The blood of Jesus never fails to satisfy God. I could shout at the glory of it! What you and I could never do, Jesus did… and did for us. Put away your filthy rags of “righteousness” and your vain attempts at “holiness”- Jesus alone has satisfied God. Do you want to be holy before God? Come under the blood of Christ, hide yourself in Him, and quit boasting of your own works- He alone is your righteousness.
“It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)
Not only is Jesus enough, not only does His sacrifice satisfy God- His sacrifice never loses it’s power! The blood of Christ is effectual forever for all those who come to God through Him. His sacrifice is not something that needs to be repeated over and over again, neither does it require that we add something to it.
“Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not His own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Hebrews 9:25-26)
We often make much of what we do, but who will make much of what Christ has done?
The gospel is not what you can do for God, it is what God has done for you through Jesus Christ. How dare we boast in ourselves as if we hold salvation in our hands! Jesus has shed His blood, and the Word of God tells us THAT IS ENOUGH. It is finished! Christ has won the victory. Don’t you dare try to say that you play a part in what Christ alone has accomplished!
Christ- my righteousness
There is sinless perfection for the Christian- He is called “Jesus”. Hidden in Him I am perfect, He alone is my righteousness- there is no other.
“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21)
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
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