Is it Possible to Live Free From Sin?

 

Simple answer?  YES!

 

I like what a Christian brother stated recently, We live in a day where good is called evil and evil is good.  We are told that those who live righteous are self-righteous while those who are unrighteous, sinning everyday in thought, word, and deed are in the true faith!  In other words, if you don't sin, you are a hypocrite, but if you do sin, you are good with God and are in the faith.  What utter foolishness to believe obeying God is impossible and morally wrong! 

 

We are actually living in a day when "Christians" attack holiness rather than attacking sin!  They say it's impossible to stop sinning when in Scriptures, from the beginning of the book to the end of the book, calls us to not sin and live a holy life unto God.  If you say you can live without sinning, you are called "self-righteous."  Really?  Is it a sin to do what God commands us to do?  Then there are questions like, "Don't you sin?"  Do you know the real meaning behind that question?  It's an excuse!  It's an excuse for their sinning.  Since they can't stop sinning, it means you can't stop sinning either!  They don't want you to stop.  They want to be our example of how to live rather than Christ being our example.  Then I have had where one person sarcastically ask me, "What is your secret to living sin free?  It's actually no secret, it's called LOVE.  It's a faith working by love.  Do you go out of the way to sin against someone you love?  They may see "sinless," but I see "obedience."

 

Let me ask you a question.  Can you sin if you are abiding in Christ?  How can you do both?  How can you be walking in the darkness and light at the same time? (1 John 1:5-7)  It's impossible!  Jesus expects us to remain in him so we don't sin.  Jesus will gives us the strength to live a righteous life (Rom. 6:3-11). If you are buried with him and live a new life, you are a new creature.  Jesus can keep us from falling.  If we sin, we are of the devil (1 John 3:8).  Sinning is a conscious decision, giving into temptation.  If we are in Christ, there is no room for sin.

 

If you are in Christ, you cannot sin.  "Whosoever is born of God doeth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9).  Now, does this mean that one is "forced" not to sin?  No.  We have a free will and if we sin, it's because we choose to sin, and when we sin, we are not abiding in Christ and we put ourself in danger.  But if you are abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit, you won't want to sin.  

 

Also know that temptation is not a sin.  People now a days, to excuse their sin, will say even temptation is a sin.  They may have had a bad thought, or maybe they got angry, so in their mind, they have sinned because they have been told it is such.  Really?  Is temptation a sin?  Is getting angry a sin?  No. It's what you do with it that matters. Even Jesus was tempted and got angry (Heb. 4:15). The enemy is capable of giving us thoughts everyday.  We may be tempted by our own lusts, but the devil has a job too.  His job is to tempt us and he's been doing it since the time of Adam and Eve.   If the devil is giving you destructive thoughts, compare them with the word of God.  If your thoughts, imaginations, and suggestions do not come under the category of simple obedience to God's word, then they are from the tempter himself.  The best thing to do is not to entertain those thoughts.  God's word tells us in James 4:7, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." The devil can initiate something in your heart and mind as he did with Eve.  His job is to try and destroy us spiritually.  We are commanded to resist him!  One of the ways of doing this is to pray.

 

There are a lot of professed Christians who proclaim they can't help but sin every day in thought, word, and deed.  To get by this, they have been taught, by preachers, that they are "covered," another way of saying, "Don't worry, God's got your back."  Any sin they commit, they are "covered" with the "righteouness of Jesus Christ" and therefore safe from any harm while they sink further and further into degradation. (See:Imputed Righteousness) I was taught this as well.  I knew all the pat answers that I have learned from these ungodly preachers.  How foolish to say, "When I get to heaven, God will not see my sins, He will only see the righteousness of Jesus Christ," as though God is blind! 

 

What does it say about sin in the Bible?

• Sin is what God is not pleased with (Psalm 5:4)
• Sin is what God will not dwell with (Psalm 5:4)
• Sin is what God hates (Psalm 5:5)
• Sin is what God will destroy (Psalm 5:6)
• Sin is what God abhors (Psalm 5:6)
• Sin is what God is angry about (Psalm 7:11)
• Sin is what God will not look upon (Habakkuk 1:12-13)
• Sin is what God will revenge (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)
• Sin is what God will punish (Hebrews 10:26-31)
• Sin is what God will separate from (Isaiah 59:1-2, Hebrews 7:22,26)
• Sin is a choice: knowing to do good, but choosing to do evil (James 4:17)
• Sin is choosing anything contradictory to God's word and Person (Romans 14:23, 10:17)
• Sin is choosing to break God's Law (1 John 3:4) 

As we can see, God is against sin.  This was just a tiny example.  There is no excuse for committing sin.

Sin is not:

• Something people are born with or into (James 4:17, Deuteronomy 1:39, Romans 14:23, 1 John 3:3, Psalm 51:5)  Note that David speaks about the sin of his mother and the fact that he was born into a world filled with sin where evil prevails. Notice that Acts 2:8 says that men were "born in a language". (They actually learned the language.)
• Sin is not a fallen nature that people inherit from Adam (Ezekiel 18:20, Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Kings 14:6)
• Sin is not something that people cannot stop doing (John 8:11, 5:14, 1 Corinthians 15:34, Daniel 4:27, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 11:24-25, James 1:12-16)
• Sin is not merely a mistake, a "slip up", or something that people "fall into" (James 4:17, 1:12-16)  See Sin: Missing the Mark?
• Sin is not something that people are ever supposed to commit (Romans 6:1,2,6,7,11)
• Sin is not something that God accepts (Psalm 7:11, 5:4-5, 11:5-6, Habakkuk 1:12-13, Lamentations 3:42)
• Sin is not something that a person can commit, even once, and still be a Biblically-defined Christian who is saved from sin (Hebrews 10:26-29, James 5:19-20, Ezekiel 18:24, 1 John 3:5-10)  Also note James 5:19-20.  If a Christian is a "sinner" and in "error," then how could a Christian convert a sinner back to the "truth" and save his soul from death?  Also, if a Christian is a sinner, how is it he/she is united with Christ?
• Sin is not part of human nature (Ezekiel 18:20, Genesis 1:26-27, 31, 2 Peter 1:3-4, 1 John 4:15-17)
• Sin is not, and never was, part of God's plan and intention for man (Genesis 1:26-28, 31, 2:16-17, 3:6-11, 22-24, 4:8-11, 6:5-7, Exodus 32;33, Revelation 20:15, Matthew 25:41)

Sin always has a consequence!

• By committing sin you choose to separate yourself from God and Christ (Isaiah 59:1-2; Hebrews 7:22,26)
• By committing sin you choose to cause God to blot you out of His Book (Exodus 32:33; Rev. 3:5).
• By committing sin you choose to leave God's Family (1 John 3:5-10)
• By committing sin you choose to join satan's family (1 John 3:8)
• By committing sin you choose to make God angry with you (Psalm 7:11)
• By committing sin you choose to make God hate you (Psalm 5:4-5, 11:5-6)
• By committing sin you choose to cause your former righteousness to be forgotten (Ezekiel 18:24)
• By committing sin you choose to die (Ezekiel 18:4)
• By committing sin you choose to face fearful judgment (Hebrews 9:27)
• By committing sin you choose to be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15)

In light of just this small piece of evidence, how can a Christian say he sins everyday in thought, word, AND deed? 
When you choose to sin, you submit to Satan and die!  One can not walk in the light and in the darkness at the same
time!

It would be wise to read 2 Peter 2.  Notice the third example of Sodom and Gomorrha. 

 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an
overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; (2 Peter 2:6)

The punishment of the wicked always becomes a warning to all others whether we call ourselves Christians or not.

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