Some refer to it as Total Sanctification, which means that a believer can reach such a state of sanctification in this life here on earth that they never have a sinful thought or action. This is clearly false, especially when you read the book of James. James writes, "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2).
So, is James not saying here that a man can indeed be perfect? No, because only a few verses later, he comments, "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8).
James is stating as a fact that no man can tame even the tongue to the point of perfection, not to mention his whole body. People who claim sinless perfection are calling James a liar and are calling the Scripture a lie.
Certainly we should strive to tame the tongue. We should strive to live holy and extract sin from our lives. But it is unrealistic to expect perfection when the Bible itself plainly says such perfection is impossible.
That's the whole point of the gospel!
1 John 1:8 states simply, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Think about this
if someone says they have reached sinless perfection in this life then it could be argued that they do not have the truth which is a light that exposes to us how dark and sinful we really are in our flesh. That is a dangerous place to be.
And what of humility? How can a man or woman claim they are perfect, and make that claim with humility? In my estimation a humble person would never claim such a thing even if it were true.
1 John 1:8-10 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
If we claim we have no sin in our life
but the truth is that we do
then we can not confess that sin. Without confession there is no forgiveness. If we say we have not sinned we call Christ a liar.
Some think this is referring to before we are saved. No, who is this being written to? The church, believers.
NOW
positionally spiritually, in Christ, we are made perfect. That happens when God saves us. When our hearts are regenerated. We are made clean and forgiven and justification makes us positionally holy. We take on Christs righteousness spiritually. This is clearly taught in the Bible
but sinless perfection in our flesh is never taught in the Bible. People have to mangle and do violence to scripture in order to smash sinless perfection into it.
Krispy
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