As Christians we still sin, to claim perfection or the ability to be perfect is a disgrace, heresy and undermines the gospel.
I took notes on a John MacArthur sermon a while back, allow me to share the key points with you with you.
First of all it is clear that when we are saved, we are set free from sin.
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Romans 6:11 -- '' So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.''
Romans 4:14 -- '' For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.''
Romans 6:17-18 -- ''But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.''
Romans 6:22 -- ''But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life''
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When taken in context (I will present you with the other verses below) Paul is talking about the fact that the power sin hold over us has broken, it no longer dominates out lives and hold dominion over us. Despite this, we still have a battle of the flesh to contend with.
See Below.
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Romans 7:24 -- ''Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?''
Romans 7:17 -- ''So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.''
Romans 7:18 -- ''For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.''
Romans 7:20 -- ''Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.''
Romans 7:14 -- ''For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.''
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So it is clear when all of this is taken in context we should not sin, and we don't want to sin, but we sometimes do, even though we wish we didn't.
With the above scripture in mind, anyone who claims to have attained this state of sinless perfection also claim to be more sanctified than the apostle Paul.
In addition to this, to claim to be sinless you also have two redefine holiness, and redefine sin as the following:
Holiness exists where there are still unconscious, un-willfull and unpremeditated sins. That is a downgraded version of holiness. You also have to redefine sin as willful, premeditated and conscious.
See? Big problem.
Now the issue here is that people are misunderstanding justification and sanctification.
Here are some similarities between justification & sanctification:
1. Both originate and stem from the free sovereign grace of God.
2. Both are parts of Christ's redemptive work of salvation.
3. Both are present in the same person. Any person who has been justified has already been sanctified. Anyone who has been sanctified has already been justified.
4. Both begin simultaneously, the moment of justification is the moment sanctification begins.
5. Both are necessary for glorification, those who have reached heaven have not only been justified, but have also been glorified.
There are also some differences between the two.
1. In justification the sinner is counted righteous because the righteousness of Christ is imputed on his behalf. In sanctification the sinner is actually made internally righteous, though to a limited degree through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit.
2. The righteousness of justification is not our own, it is Christ's given to us. The righteousness of sanctification is our own though mixed with our failing and imperfections it is wrought in us through the Holy Spirit.
3. Our own works play now part in justification, which is based only on faith. Our works, however, play an important part in sanctification for God commands us by the power of the Holy Spirit to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
4. Justification is an instantaneous and finished work, totally complete the moment the sinner truly believes, sanctification is an imperfect work lasting for the rest of our lives never completed until glorification
5. Justification does not increase, does not develop, and does not grow. The sinner is just as justified at the moment of conversion as he will be when he steps his first foot into heaven. Sanctification is a process that begins and progresses as believers grow in their spiritual walk throughout their Christian lives, ever increasing.
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Now it is plain to seem, that the fact of the matter is if someone claims to have reaches total sanctification in a state of sinlessness they are indeed very far away from total sanctification. The more sanctified we become, the we sin, but the harder it gets because we grow to hate and reject sin more.
So the sign of sanctification is not acknowledging your righteousness, but in fact acknowledging your sin more, and hating it more! That is why Paul himself a mature and highly sanctified Christian said in 1 Timothy 1:15 -- ''The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.''
James 3:3 -- ''For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.''
Galatians 5:17 -- ''For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.''
So in a nutshell it's a Spirit Vs Flesh problem.
WE ARE SINNERS. PERIOD. WE ARE NOT GOOD. WHICH IS WHY WE NEED JESUS!
Praise the Lord for my justification in Christ, and sanctification leading me to hate sin, and love the law of God.