Can a Christian Attain Perfection on Earth?

CAN A CHRISTIAN ATTAIN A PERFECT OR SINLESS LIFE ON EARTH?

By Ezekiel Kimosop

I received an article from a dear brother in Christ this morning which appears to suggest that believers can be totally free from sin and live in perfect purity on earth.

This teaching is obviously not consistent with the foundational truths of Scripture. We learn from the Bible that no believer is ever perfect or sinless and here is why....

It is true that we are justified by God in Christ through His shed blood and that the curse of the sin of Adam is no longer binding upon us who are in Christ (Romans 8:1-2).

However, the truth is that we are not free from the presence and influence of sin in this evil world and neither can we live perfect sinless lives in the flesh.

Only Christ and He alone, [not even His mother], lived a sinless life (2 Cor. 5:21).

1 John 1:8-10 is clear that if we claim to be without sin, we lie and the truth is not in us. What this Scripture implies is that to claim spiritual perfection is to materially misrepresent the truths of the word of God.

Sin is to be confessed continually whenever we come into the presence of God. We should never ever imagine that there is nothing to confess!

We therefore need to balance our theology in line with the revelation of God's word so that we do not misrepresent it's divine truths.

Yes we who love Jesus have been justified by God, and declared righteous in Christ but can we live a sinless life on earth and with our earthly nature with us? Of course not!

We are never free of sin in the sense of perfect purity but we have received the atonement by Christ's blood for our sin in Adam and this blood is continually available tocleanse us from sin whenever we plead the blood (cf. Jeremiah 17:9; Hebrews 4:11-16).

The only basis for pleading the blood of Jesus is for the cleansing of sin and restoring the human soul to God. It is not meant anything else beside that sacred purpose.

The blood of Jesus is not meant to cleanse motor vehicles, roads or houses or even sanctify food! It is too sacred for such sacrilege!

Romans 6:23 declares that ALL have sinned [by Adam] and FALL short [Greek tense: present continuous] of the glory of God.

We cannot therefore claim to be perfect or devoid of sinful predisposition even with our honest intentions while we dwell in this evil world. It does not matter how diligently we walk before God! We are fallible.

We however continually grow in moral sanctification as we walk with the Lord. We are daily conformed more and more to the image and likeness of Christ as we grow in obedience and in the knowledge of Christ.

The perfection of our moral sanctification will only be attained when we appear in the glorious presence of the Risen Christ (Romans 8:28-30).

We should therefore continually access the holy throne of God by faith through the high priesthood of Jesus Christ and find relief by His atoning power and obtain grace to bear.

In this way, we are constantly cleansed from sin and preserved by God for the day of Christ. 


Shalom



This article was borrowed from LISTENING AND DOING BIBLICAL FORUM where it first appeared on 26th May 2018. It was revised on 12th February 2020.




© Ezekiel Kimosop 2020