God commanded: "Be Holy and your Father is Holy" -the standard of perfection.
We also know: "The unrighteous will not dwell in the assembly of the Lord"
We also know, from God: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments"
So honestly, I ask: How can we say we love God while demonstrating our hatred towards Him by sinning?
And we know that Jesus did promise to remove our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He also said: "If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed"
This is a tough topic, but a lot of good things have been written here. To be honest I tire of the excuses: "we sin because we are sinners", there is no excuse for sin, if there was it wouldn't be sin.
If you know that you are a sinner, then you know you are condemned to death and deserve nothing short of death. Yet if we die in Christ, we will also rise up with Him. He has promised His forgiveness.
When it comes down to it, I cannot say why I sin, other than a large part of me hates God. To make excuses for myself is dishonest, even if everyone sins it doesn't make sin excusable. I know that I do not deserve heaven by myself. Yet God loves me, and He Himself declared that in my inner most being I love Him, because He loves me. So, although I am wicked, I put my trust in Him. He has promised me victory over sin. I believe.
It shall be so.
But remember, following Christ is an action. Going to heaven is a journey. I don't know about anyone else here but I have a long long way to go. I'd give up but for the promise of Christ. He WILL remove my sin and I will keep fighting for as long as it takes.
"Victory is won, March forward!!"
IMHO,
Cheers