Is the Idea of Living A Sinless Life Rational?
Salvation is the starting block of our race into righteousness
We should not believe that living a sinless life is impossible, for it is the very purpose of salvation and redemption.1 Believers are called to a sinless lifestyle directly: "let us lay aside every sin, and sin which clings so closely."2 That means all sin, including unintentional, intentional, and habitual. Scripture recognizes, however, that perfection is a high goal, one we will struggle to attain: "For if we go on sinning directly after receiving the knowledge of the truth ..."3 we damage our relationship with the Lord to the point we lose his favor. We may be saved but our hearts are not one with his, and we most likely know it. How can you not know when something is wrong between you and the one you love? The believer's answer: to engage Grace through a broken and contrite heart by confessing, repenting, and seeking judgement and forgiveness.
When caught in repetitive sin patterns it is easy to rationalize our condition. Believers may ask if that isn't that what Grace is all about. The unbeliever trapped in habitual sin often says to themselves, "That is just the way I am, there is nothing I can do about it." Neither rationalization is true. The believer has access to forgiveness through confession and repentance (redemption) which restores our broken relationship with the Lord (grace), the unbeliever must first come to the cross in surrender by faith in Christ as their Savior (salvation).
Sometimes, the thought of facing God and his judgement is enough to steer us in the other direction. That should be a clear signal regarding the reality of the state our relationship with him. What we do not realize often enough is that God's judgement following our confession and repentance is a measure of his grace in our lives. A big measure. When we surrender our sin in brokenness and humility, confessing and repenting, we should also ask for immediate judgement. "Judge me now, Father!" Why? Because he wants to judge our sin immediately so that it can be removed and the relationship fully restored. Sin that has been judged and forgiven is no longer known to him.4 His early judgement is his grace in action. Don't run from God's judgement, run into it!
Believing in Christ as one's Lord and personal savior is the beginning of the race into righteousness. The good news? We leave the starting blocks with an unblemished record. Keeping it that way is the race Paul speaks about. When we stumble and fall, we have immediate access to God's judgement, forgiveness, and restoration precisely because we are no longer an unbeliever, a stranger to God, but one who has accepted the authority of the cleansing blood of Christ in our life and who is in relationship with God. We are one of his and he cares for us.
This process of confessing, repenting, and receiving judgement and forgiveness is important in our daily lives, whether we are confessing to a spouse, a friend, or even a stranger, and obviously when we confess to our Lord. It is a matter of a broken heart that longs for restoration of relationship.
To answer the question we started with, is the idea of living a sinless life rational? yes, it is! That is God's provision for us in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to redeem our sin. When we stumble, however, the cross still stands, waiting for us to return and exercise its power and healing.
Shalom
Heb 10:36-38
Heb 12:1
Heb 10:26
Psa 103:12; Isa 43:25; Rom 8:1; Heb 8:12, 10:17; 1 Jhn 1:19