Is walking without falling into sin possible in this life?

[Still Alive]

9 minutes ago, naominash said:

But if it's impossible not to sin, why would the New Testament say, "Be ye perfect..." (Matthew 5:34)

It's a goal. The context the rest of the bible surrounds it with gives us no choice but to see it that way. 

I see it like this. Think of God, my father, as an earthly father. He tells me that I'm his son and I'm in the will. He then teaches me what he would like me to become and sets those goals for me (e.g. be perfect). It doesn't mean I will become perfect of my own works. It is giving my my father's wishes and his instruction on what works will make him happiest as it applies to me and my relationship with him. 

i.e. it is not about salvation judgement. It is about the berean judgement.

 

So I want to strive to be perfect, but Paul telling believers to be perfect is not a proclamation that it is even possible through my own efforts. It's setting the bar nice and high, which is where one who wants to walk ever closer to God would want it.

[Still Alive]

3 minutes ago, naominash said:

You could be right.

In my own life I have noticed two stages.

When I believe that sin and Spirit are just there in equal measure and I'm powerless to stay in one or the other, than that's exactly what happens.

But being righteous is not a matter of personal effort. It is a matter of God's love transforming you so completely, that you desire to please God and sin loses it's hold.

If I belly gaze and smack myself on the wrist, saying "Bad Christian!" I often end up doing worse!

But we can trust God to make us Holy. It's Him who sanctifies us as we simply surrender to Him.

But you cannot walk in the Spirit and the flesh at the same time. You can choose one or the other. That's what I had to realize.

Yes. I've been a Christian now for 38 years. I'm now 64. I've noticed God simply removing temptations from my life as I get older. And what I mean by that is that the temptation is either much less than it used to be, or just gone. 

In the meantime, my goal is to continue to "work" towards perfection, but understand that "work" is not so much stoicly forcing myself not to do things I shouldn't. Rather, though that is part of it, the bigger part is to understand His perspective, regarding the situation, and as I acquire a form of His mind about the issue, it just changes.

An example is my driving. I'm an aggressive driver. I used to get really mad at unskilled drivers wasting my time. But as I mature in the Lord, I more and more see them through His eyes as people loved by Him, just as He loves me. They are doing the best they can and I need to cut them slack. Sometimes it can be almost comical as I start to bristle, and then remember that that driver is "just my little brother Joey, who hates driving and knows he can't do it very well." I then just give "Joey" a wide berth and relax. 

It helps a lot to see people not through your eyes, but Gods (or at least try to). This includes how you see yourself. 

It's also interesting that it is actually easier to do the right thing when you are doing it to please your father, rather than doing it because you are scared you are gonna get written out of the will. One is out of love and the other is out of fear. The latter is not of God. The former is.

[enoob57]

The issues is not rocket science... when in Adam we have all sinned and given the world to satan who has potential to fool the elect >(if God was willing)< but that is the purpose of election to secure us before sin ever became in Lucifer... So what remains is for us to recognize what is his, satan's, and to minimize the reliance upon those things and transferring that reliance upon the faith generated by The Scriptures... God tells us not to set our affections upon this world nor the things within it because of this very reason and He is not keeping any of it but all things will become new.... so the perfect understanding is we are here to understand why God said no in the beginning 'come let 'US' reason together saith The Lord~ for we see the travesty of sin AND the love of The Father would not want his children loving something that no longer has any worth in keeping... the garment next to the sin Jude 23!

[Neighbor]

2 hours ago, Gideon said:

And if we are talking about the old nature, you are spot on correct.  But we are told that we can bring every thought not the obedience of Christ. Why? Because as new creatures, we are told we have the mind of Christ. Our good fight of faith is to renew our minds. If we are double minded, we have no confidence in God to keep us from falling into sin. We cannot serve both God and evil. And if that bothers us because we find ourselves trapped in Romans 7 and no one is telling us HOW to become FREE INDEED, then it behooves us to fall on our faces and cry out to Him fro the answer as to how to walk in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

Your mentioning that you will take Jesus as a higher authority is commendable. But shall we not actually use the entire words God has given us? Did He tell us that our shields of faith would quench ALL the fiery arrows of the enemy? Did He not promise in every temptation that He would make a way of escape? Is He not the God who can cause us to will AND to do of His good pleasure? Are we not told to “purify your minds, ye double minded”? Have we not been delivered from the power of darkness? By faith, are we not to walk in total victory over the world, the flesh and the devil? How can we obey Him if actual obedience is impossible? 

Not knowing how to gain victory in one’s thought life is one thing. But resting content there when evil thoughts assail us and we accept them as ours and label  them in as “unavoidable” because we are still just sinners saved by grace is dangerous ground indeed. We WERE those thing. We ARE no longer. We are new creatures and can stare down the devil in every single temptation.

I pray we all hear. The grace we have been taught is incomplete. It can forgive but we have been taught it has no power to actually cleanse us of ALL unrighteousness. Real grace teaches us that “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we are to live soberly, righteously and justly in the present age.” That is what God has for each one of us, from the weakest to the strongest.... and in that order.

Our problem has been a heart hunger issue. Even if we now believe it is impossible,  the real question is... do we WANT to be free? If we do, in these last days,  God is going to move mountains to get to us and show us the HOW of holiness. All who truly love the light will be shown how to light their lamps.  

But if we are content with just forgiveness but have no real hunger to get freed from vile thoughts and unloving actions, we need to realize no change will ever come until we cry out for it. And if we dig in our heels and say forgiveness is enough, then that which we think we have will eventually be taken away from us and given to another. My prayer is that none here are found in that group on that day, when God examines the thoughts and intents of our hearts. 

Blessings,

    Gideon

Hi,

None the less, my thoughts are equal to my deeeds as far as my sins are counted. That  does not make me double minded, nor indecisive nor like a jelly fish upon the tides. It makes me aware, repentant, appreciative and not innocent again, but instead washed clean able to be seen as clean by God.

I have the ability and the responsibility to deal with the thoughts of my mind which are sin just as I have the ability and the responsibility to deal with my actions that are sinful. I am justified, I am redeemed I am saved , but I am not innocent. I am cleansed never to be accused succesfully by the evil one, nor his little anti-Christs. I praise God for His atonement made once  that is sufficient to cleanse me eternally in the sight of God the Father.

[Gideon]

4 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Hi,

None the less, my thoughts are equal to my deeeds as far as my sins are counted. That  does not make me double minded, nor indecisive nor like a jelly fish upon the tides. It makes me aware, repentant, appreciative and not innocent again, but instead washed clean able to be seen as clean by God.

I have the ability and the responsibility to deal with the thoughts of my mind which are sin just as I have the ability and the responsibility to deal with my actions that are sinful. I am justified, I am redeemed I am saved , but I am not innocent. I am cleansed never to be accused succesfully by the evil one, nor his little anti-Christs. I praise God for His atonement made once  that is sufficient to cleanse me eternally in the sight of God the Father.

If I am a willing participant when that thought comes into my head, then I agree. But if we have put on our new man, we indeed have the mind of Christ. Fleeting thoughts, temptations to sin, come at us like arrows. If they are sin, and originate from us, we are not new creatures at all. But if we disown the thoughts, hold up our shields of faith and see God quench that arrow to where it does not affect us, have we sinned? Not at all.

According to what you are espousing, we can never walk with clean consciences. Truly walking in the Spirit is impossible for our own thoughts condemn us. But in Hebrews we read clearly that once we are cleansed, we are to have no more consciousness of sins. 

Sadly, the end result of what you say is the best we can do is a Christianity that cannot set one free indeed at all. Jesus, in referring to that freedom made it clear that it is freedom from committing sins. So if a fleeting thought is in itself a sin, we are committing sin by having that thought and we never enter the rest.

As well, if you are correct, it is actually  impossible to bring every thought into captivity to thexLordship of Christ. Holiness is impossible, pureness of heart is a pipe dream and all Satan has to do is throw a bad thought at us and we are always in a state of repent, believe, repent, believe. That is not what God has promised us. 

Here is an important question. If we were presented with a way to walk above sin, would we even want it? I think many would rather it stay just like it is because we still have our free will intact so if we choose to sin a little bit, well hey, it is really no different from the thought so why not really do it? 

God is slowly opening our eyes to the truth. He tells us we can possess our vessels in sanctification and honor.   The real issue is not the mechanism as to how this can be accomplished. The real issue is.... do we really want true heart purity?

Blessings, 

      Gideon

[Gideon]

5 hours ago, enoob57 said:

The issues is not rocket science... when in Adam we have all sinned and given the world to satan who has potential to fool the elect >(if God was willing)< but that is the purpose of election to secure us before sin ever became in Lucifer... So what remains is for us to recognize what is his, satan's, and to minimize the reliance upon those things and transferring that reliance upon the faith generated by The Scriptures... God tells us not to set our affections upon this world nor the things within it because of this very reason and He is not keeping any of it but all things will become new.... so the perfect understanding is we are here to understand why God said no in the beginning 'come let 'US' reason together saith The Lord~ for we see the travesty of sin AND the love of The Father would not want his children loving something that no longer has any worth in keeping... the garment next to the sin Jude 23!

I agree that what God tells us to do is simple, and not rocket science. But for something so simple, what we have as a result  is badly amiss. The Church was birthed in love, joy and passion for souls, but now has eroded into 500+ denominations all thinking they have THE correct understanding. The world marveled at the early church saying “Behold how they love one another!”. But if we are honest, today, they marvel at our hypocrisy and religious shallowness. Whatever we think the answer is obviously is not working.

 Will Jesus start the church off in a blaze of glory and a purity so great  that caused Ananias and Saphira to lose their lives only to have to rescue us hanging on by our fingertips, with sins big and small ensnaring us, and the world pretty much where our real heart is?  No, brother. No.

We are  about to be awakened to the HOW of holiness and those who love the light will light their lamps as new creatures. Those content to remain just sinners saved by grace, but with no heart to ever actually get free of sin’s grip will find deception ever-increasing. May that not be any here.

Blessings,

.   Gideon

5 hours ago, enoob57 said:

The issues is not rocket science... when in Adam we have all sinned and given the world to satan who has potential to fool the elect >(if God was willing)< but that is the purpose of election to secure us before sin ever became in Lucifer... So what remains is for us to recognize what is his, satan's, and to minimize the reliance upon those things and transferring that reliance upon the faith generated by The Scriptures... God tells us not to set our affections upon this world nor the things within it because of this very reason and He is not keeping any of it but all things will become new.... so the perfect understanding is we are here to understand why God said no in the beginning 'come let 'US' reason together saith The Lord~ for we see the travesty of sin AND the love of The Father would not want his children loving something that no longer has any worth in keeping... the garment next to the sin Jude 23!

 

[4LdKHVCzRDj2]

7 hours ago, naominash said:

But we can trust God to make us Holy. It's Him who sanctifies us as we simply surrender to Him.

Yes, exactly. It is faith in Him who can do it.

Not to sit back and relax as some think... You have to put your faith in practice, as it is given to you.

"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for
    he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
        For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;" - James 1:6-7

 

When you willfully sin, you pray: "Father, forgive me and remove it this desire from me! So I cannot do it anymore. In Jesus' name. Amen!"

"For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
    ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart,
        but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." - Mark 11:23

 

That is why I say submission to God and complete surrender to the Spirit is very, very important.

"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." - John 14:14

 

Sin is bad, and we do not want it; we want the righteousness of Christ and to walk as He did: In faith, in love, in truth.

"He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." - 1 John 4:8

 

The Spirit of the risen Christ dwells in you, you can trust in Him... You can be set free from all willful sins and bad habits, if you believe.

"For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance;
    but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." - Matthew 13:12

 

God bless you in Jesus' name!

[Gideon]

What we often have failed to realize is that the strength of sin is the law. And we are under the authority of the law as long as we live, correct? So does this mean we have to physically die in order to ever walk holy before the Lord? No. But we do have to die, and praise God, that is why we died with Christ. The old US is dead.

Listen. We were not meant to spend our entire Christian walk trying to die to self. I say “trying to die to self” because most believe actually getting to that place is impossible. We gauge success as becoming 80% spiritual and 20% carnal. We think really spiritual people may perhaps get to 90%. But that is not what the Bible tells us. We are either servants to sin or servant to righteousness. A tree cannot bear both good and bad fruit. And Christ never tells us to grow less and less bad fruits and more and more good ones.

Our job is not to bear fruit at all. Our job is to make our tree good. The question is HOW? The answer is by the reckoning of faith, believing  that Christ has truly made us new creatures and that sin no longer is our master. We are told we are not in the flesh any longer but in the Spirit and that we owe the flesh NOTHING. Will we believe it? Those desperate to get free from sin’s grip will, and to their amazement, God will bring such a walk about. Glory to God!

Blessings, 

Gideon

 

[Gideon]

1 hour ago, Yowm said:

Is walking without falling into sin possible in this life?

I guess by redefining sin as was done in the OP, anything concerning sin is possible...actually it cheapens God's grace.

Would you mind clarifying what exactly is cheapening God’s grace? I want to make sure I am understanding you correctly. Thanks so much.

Gids

[Gideon]

1 hour ago, Yowm said:

I would say, when we downplay the hideousness of sin, it's destructive power etc., we lessen the need for deliverance from, as well as the cost it took for our redemption.

Is that your takeaway from the OP? Then I have failed miserably in getting my point across. Let me ask you a question if I may. If one willfully sins, is it possible to be freed totally from these in this life? Let’s say for the sake of discussion that the bad thoughts we have are indeed our thoughts, not originating with satan’s temptation. In any case, they would not be willful sins, would they? 

If those are the only sins we commit, I would say we do well, agreed? Ok, are there more in our lives. Do we do things we know are wrong and displeasing to God and battle against them, but with more failure than success? And going deeper, do we commit sins that we KNOw are wrong, but we like them, and yet despite that, we  proceed onward in committing them?  If so, we need to realize we are willfully sinning, and this is far different than bad thoughts we would rather not have, or even sins we want to stop but cannot.

If that last category is us,  we need to fall on our faces and beg God to set us free from committing them, for they reveal our heart intents.  Modern Christianity has taken a stance that no one can stop sinning, but if our definition lumps together Romans 7 sins where there is a great fight within us, along with willful sins that we choose to do, counting on God’s forgiveness afterward, our folly will soon be revealed. Great danger lies here.

In my eleven years of sharing the message God gave me to share, I have found a pattern where often, those who seem to have the biggest problem with the truth that God can and will keep us from falling into sin and cause us to walk in obedience use things like “thought sins” as proof that there is no freedom in this life, when in reality they want all sins lumped together, including willful ones.

Please understand, and I mean this with an honest heart, I am not aiming this at  you, for I truly do not know you. So let’s do this. Here is a more clear question. 

 Can God keep us from falling into WILLFUL sin? That is a good starting point. Also, do we believe that there remains no more sacrifice for sin to the willful sinner, for it puts God to an open shame? 

Brother, it is one thing to battle evil thoughts. I can get that. It is another to give in to sins that we battle against, like the ones mentioned in Romans 7. Finally, we need to realize there is a third category, willful sins, and Satan has convinced many that sin is impossible to get freed from, including willful sin, and has totally detached the extreme danger and deception rhat lies there.

The message of our new nature and our need to put it on by faith is that God can and will cause us to will AND to do of His good pleasure. But in order to put on our new natures, we must hate our old ones and long to be free of them. Those who do will find the rest that remains for the people of God. But those who have no desire for real freedom from giving into temptation will find at some point that they have made a huge mistake with eternal consequences. 

Blessings,

     Gideon

P.S. I worry that this last post will seem accusatory, and that is not my intent at all. I apologize in advance if it does. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Gideon