Is it possible not to sin ? (All sins)

[DaDaBrothers]

Recently I woke to the Truth like it says in the Bible: "Awake to righteousness, and sin not[...]"
And I did very well for a month, I went from smoking every day to not smoking at all, and stopped other sins too. (Glory to God)
But as I kept studying the Word, I realized there is adultery at heart, and also murder at heart and I found these two simply impossible to obey, at least for me.
Sometimes it just slips out, I dont necessarily want to commit them, but, sometimes a girl my age more naked than covered, it happens, and when I see a dude with a mask, sometimes I start thinking to myself: " Wow, what a F# Id!" And it's only afterwards that I realize It is a sin and I should not be thinking this if im in Christ, right?
If Im walking in the Spirit, If im "Awake to righteousness[...] ", I should not be sinning, right ?
Or is it that I dont have Christ in me yet ? Maybe im not saved that's why I can sin.
I would say only Jesus Christ is sinless. We can only sin.. less.
So, my question Is it really possible to not sin at all? If not, How can I say im saved, or call myself a Christian if I commit sin everyday ?

 

[Clare73]

Recently I woke to the Truth like it says in the Bible: "Awake to righteousness, and sin not[...]"
And I did very well for a month, I went from smoking every day to not smoking at all, and stopped other sins too. (Glory to God)
But as I kept studying the Word, I realized there is adultery at heart, and also murder at heart and I found these two simply impossible to obey, at least for me.
Sometimes it just slips out, I dont necessarily want to commit them, but, sometimes a girl my age more naked than covered, it happens, and when I see a dude with a mask, sometimes I start thinking to myself: " Wow, what a F# Id!" And it's only afterwards that I realize It is a sin and I should not be thinking this if im in Christ, right?
If Im walking in the Spirit, If im "Awake to righteousness[...] ", I should not be sinning, right ?

Or is it that I dont have Christ in me yet ? Maybe im not saved that's why I can sin.
I would say only Jesus Christ is sinless. We can only sin.. less.
So, my question Is it really possible to not sin at all? If not, How can I say im saved, or call myself a Christian if I commit sin everyday ?

See 1 John 1:8-10.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @DaDaBrothers, first off, since I see that you are new around here, WELCOME TO CF

As for sinning as a true believer goes, unfortunately, I don't believe that we will ever be completely free from sin on this side of the grave (as long as the Lord tarries). We (as believers) have been given a new nature (e.g. a new heart, a new spirit, the Holy Spirit and the mind of Christ) which is why sin is something that we don't want to do anymore, why we grieve over it, and why it is painful for us now whenever we fall to temptation and do so. Our old nature is still hanging around in the shadows, always looking for an opportunity to rear its ugly head and get us to act against our new nature by sinning, which is why the Apostle Paul gave us commands like these to follow day by day (moment by moment),

Romans 12
1 I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Ephesians 4
22 In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
​

I think one of the biggest differences is seen in the fact that as believers, our focus is on God, and our desire is to please Him (with all that we do/say/think), instead of on ourselves and on what pleases us, like it used to be as non-Christians.

The good news is, God promised to sanctify us (make us more and more like Christ and therefore, less and less sinful) and see us safely through this life to be with Him in Glory .. e.g. Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 7:25. So, ongoing sinful behavior should no longer be that which "characterizes" our lives, like it did before we were in Christ. However, when we do sin, we have the Holy Spirit to let us know that we have, our Abba (loving heavenly Father) who stands ready to forgive us and cleanse us of our sin whenever we confess it and ask Him to .. e.g. 1 John 1:9,* and our Advocate, who speaks on our behalf before His Father.

*(take note when you read 1 John 1:9 (or 1 John 1:8-2:14) that the elder Apostle John not only includes believers at all levels of maturity in the church, but ~himself~ in the mix as well (as someone who still needs to ask to be forgiven/cleansed of his ongoing sins .. "If ~we~ confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive ~us our~ sins, and to cleanse ~us~ from all unrighteousness" .. 1 John 1:9)

Non-Christians lead sinful lives/lifestyles, because sin is fun (for the most part) or no one would sin

Again however, this should not be true of believers. Rather, Christians are saddened and horrified by the sin that we fall into at times such that we seek to repent and be forgiven of it immediately.

God bless you!

--David

 

[Jake Arsenal]

Recently I woke to the Truth like it says in the Bible: "Awake to righteousness, and sin not[...]"
And I did very well for a month, I went from smoking every day to not smoking at all, and stopped other sins too. (Glory to God)
But as I kept studying the Word, I realized there is adultery at heart, and also murder at heart and I found these two simply impossible to obey, at least for me.
Sometimes it just slips out, I dont necessarily want to commit them, but, sometimes a girl my age more naked than covered, it happens, and when I see a dude with a mask, sometimes I start thinking to myself: " Wow, what a F# Id!" And it's only afterwards that I realize It is a sin and I should not be thinking this if im in Christ, right?
If Im walking in the Spirit, If im "Awake to righteousness[...] ", I should not be sinning, right ?
Or is it that I dont have Christ in me yet ? Maybe im not saved that's why I can sin.
I would say only Jesus Christ is sinless. We can only sin.. less.
So, my question Is it really possible to not sin at all? If not, How can I say im saved, or call myself a Christian if I commit sin everyday ?

The Spirit makes us more sensitive to our sins as we grow in Christ. It is a continuous battle that is always increasing. The less obvious your sin, the more your hidden sin will be revealed to you. Trust God and don't give up.

 

[Lost4words]

Even the Saints sinned.

We are but flesh. Weak.

We are all sinners. Even the tiniest bad thought etc can be a sin.

We have God to turn to for forgiveness and strength etc.

 

[zoidar]

Recently I woke to the Truth like it says in the Bible: "Awake to righteousness, and sin not[...]"
And I did very well for a month, I went from smoking every day to not smoking at all, and stopped other sins too. (Glory to God)
But as I kept studying the Word, I realized there is adultery at heart, and also murder at heart and I found these two simply impossible to obey, at least for me.
Sometimes it just slips out, I dont necessarily want to commit them, but, sometimes a girl my age more naked than covered, it happens, and when I see a dude with a mask, sometimes I start thinking to myself: " Wow, what a F# Id!" And it's only afterwards that I realize It is a sin and I should not be thinking this if im in Christ, right?
If Im walking in the Spirit, If im "Awake to righteousness[...] ", I should not be sinning, right ?
Or is it that I dont have Christ in me yet ? Maybe im not saved that's why I can sin.
I would say only Jesus Christ is sinless. We can only sin.. less.
So, my question Is it really possible to not sin at all? If not, How can I say im saved, or call myself a Christian if I commit sin everyday ?

You are asking two different questions: Is it possible not to sin? And do you sin?

Yes, I do sin.

Is it possible not to sin? A life totally without sin after rebirth, is it possible? Theoretically I would say "yes". Practically? "No". It's a bit like if it is possible to never spill a drop of coffee. It's possible, yet everyone spills one time or another. Our focus is to live in perfect obedience, yet we do fail as humans, and we need forgiveness when we do fail.

Christ love!

 

[Dave G.]

See 1 John 1:8-10.

Actually read the whole chapter, it's short anyway. Enlightening.

 

[Silverback]

Recently I woke to the Truth like it says in the Bible: "Awake to righteousness, and sin not[...]"
And I did very well for a month, I went from smoking every day to not smoking at all, and stopped other sins too. (Glory to God)
But as I kept studying the Word, I realized there is adultery at heart, and also murder at heart and I found these two simply impossible to obey, at least for me.
Sometimes it just slips out, I dont necessarily want to commit them, but, sometimes a girl my age more naked than covered, it happens, and when I see a dude with a mask, sometimes I start thinking to myself: " Wow, what a F# Id!" And it's only afterwards that I realize It is a sin and I should not be thinking this if im in Christ, right?
If Im walking in the Spirit, If im "Awake to righteousness[...] ", I should not be sinning, right ?
Or is it that I dont have Christ in me yet ? Maybe im not saved that's why I can sin.
I would say only Jesus Christ is sinless. We can only sin.. less.
So, my question Is it really possible to not sin at all? If not, How can I say im saved, or call myself a Christian if I commit sin everyday ?

I don't think so, we all sin daily in our thoughts, words, desires, and deeds, and in the things we have done and left undone.

We have not loved God with our whole heart, or our neighbor as our self.

Our very nature is sinful

If it was possible for people not to sin, then there is no need for a savior, therefore Christ died for nothing.

 

[Dave G.]

The law proved it wasn't possible to not sin because 1 thought brings down the guilt of the entire law on you.But thats the law. Thus Christ, death burial resurrection. He is our righteousness. But do we sin ? Yes.

And by the way we confess .

 

[zoidar]

If it was possible for people not to sin, then there is no need for a savior, therefore Christ died for nothing.

Well, that is not entirely true. Everyone needs to be forgiven through the cross and be reborn to be a Christian. If we then as Christians can live a so holy life through the union with Christ that we never sin, doesn't mean we no longer need Jesus.

Still like I wrote, I don't think anyone can live totally sinless. If someone can, well great for him. Chances are he is deluding himself.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Recently I woke to the Truth like it says in the Bible: "Awake to righteousness, and sin not[...]"
And I did very well for a month, I went from smoking every day to not smoking at all, and stopped other sins too. (Glory to God)
But as I kept studying the Word, I realized there is adultery at heart, and also murder at heart and I found these two simply impossible to obey, at least for me.
Sometimes it just slips out, I dont necessarily want to commit them, but, sometimes a girl my age more naked than covered, it happens, and when I see a dude with a mask, sometimes I start thinking to myself: " Wow, what a F# Id!" And it's only afterwards that I realize It is a sin and I should not be thinking this if im in Christ, right?
If Im walking in the Spirit, If im "Awake to righteousness[...] ", I should not be sinning, right ?
Or is it that I dont have Christ in me yet ? Maybe im not saved that's why I can sin.
I would say only Jesus Christ is sinless. We can only sin.. less.
So, my question Is it really possible to not sin at all? If not, How can I say im saved, or call myself a Christian if I commit sin everyday ?

Although through the death of Christ on the Cross we have been set free from the guilt, power and punishment of sin, we still have to contend with the presence of sin. This is the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit which we have every day of our lives until we go to be with the Lord. But the Scripture says that at the judgment, which we all have to face, God will not hold our sins against us. But God has to hold our sins against someone because sin has to be punished, otherwise God is being unjust. That someone is Jesus. At the judgement, God will hold our sins against Jesus. What has happened is that there has been a big exchange. Our sin for His righteousness. Jesus has taken our sin upon Himself and given us His righteousness.

Therefore, we are still going to have our shortcomings and failures because of the presence of sin in our lives, but at the judgment, Jesus will own our sins, and we will be acquitted.

 

[.Jeremiah.]

See 1 John 1:8-10.

You posed different questions in the title and the poll.

Confused my old brain.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Wow I’m the only one who put no?

Where have all the christians gone?

I guess you missed what John said: that the person who says they have no sin deceives himself and is living a lie. The whole point of the Gospel is not about how good we can become to be acceptable to God, but what Jesus did for us on the Cross. When you get to the judgment all your sins will come to the fore when the secrets of men's hearts will be made manifest. But God will not hold your sins against you, because Jesus took them and nailed them to the Cross with Him, and gave your His righteousness as a free, unearned gift. If you think you have to earn righteousness by trying to remain sinless, you are dreaming, and your bubble will certainly burst at the judgement when you will discover all sorts of sin that were going on that you were unaware of. But because you believe on Jesus, you are most certainly saved whether you think you sin or not.

 

[.Jeremiah.]

And I did very well for a month, I went from smoking every day to not smoking at all, and stopped other sins too.

I’m curious why smoking would be a sin?

(I have never smoked)

So, just wondering.

 

[.Jeremiah.]

I guess you missed what John said: that the person who says they have no sin deceives himself and is living a lie. The whole point of the Gospel is not about how good we can become to be acceptable to God, but what Jesus did for us on the Cross. When you get to the judgment all your sins will come to the fore when the secrets of men's hearts will be made manifest. But God will not hold your sins against you, because Jesus took them and nailed them to the Cross with Him, and gave your His righteousness as a free, unearned gift. If you think you have to earn righteousness by trying to remain sinless, you are dreaming, and your bubble will certainly burst at the judgement when you will discover all sorts of sin that were going on that you were unaware of. But because you believe on Jesus, you are most certainly saved whether you think you sin or not.

You are very fast to respond and very fast to cast judgment.

I changed my vote and my post after realizing I misread the question.

 

[.Jeremiah.]

I guess you missed what John said: that the person who says they have no sin deceives himself and is living a lie. The whole point of the Gospel is not about how good we can become to be acceptable to God, but what Jesus did for us on the Cross. When you get to the judgment all your sins will come to the fore when the secrets of men's hearts will be made manifest. But God will not hold your sins against you, because Jesus took them and nailed them to the Cross with Him, and gave your His righteousness as a free, unearned gift. If you think you have to earn righteousness by trying to remain sinless, you are dreaming, and your bubble will certainly burst at the judgement when you will discover all sorts of sin that were going on that you were unaware of. But because you believe on Jesus, you are most certainly saved whether you think you sin or not.

Thanks for sharing all that.

By the way, I had never sinned when Jesus died, so there were no sins of mine to be “nailed to the cross”

And the Lord cannot give me his righteousness. He is divine. I am not.

“not holding my sins against me”, I can get behind. My sins are meaningless to the Lord, they are not even seen.

imo

 

[zoidar]

By the way, I had never sinned when Jesus died, so there were no sins of mine to be “nailed to the cross”

You mean because you weren't living back then? But sure, if you are a Christian, your sins are nailed to the cross.

 

[.Jeremiah.]

You mean because you weren't living back then? But sure, if you are a Christian, your sins are nailed to the cross.

Oh

All right

 

[St_Worm2]

...the Lord cannot give me his righteousness. He is divine. I am not.

Hello .Jeremiah., if God does not credit your account with the Lord Jesus' righteousness, by what means do you believe that your salvation can be merited? After all, we need to be BOTH perfectly innocent and perfectly righteous to stand before God in the age to come, but none of us are (either innocent or righteous).

On the flipside, if your sins are not credited to the Lord Jesus' account, on what basis can they possibly be forgiven (atoned for/satisfied). Here's what it means to be innocent and righteous, inherently (IOW, in and of yourself)/apart from Christ.

Innocent = never doing what is wrong/never sinning (from birth to death)
Righteous = never failing to do what is good/right, never failing to do God's will (from birth to death)
​

The good news is

2 Corinthians 5
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.​

God bless you!

--David

 

[.Jeremiah.]

Righteous = never failing to do what is good/right, never failing to do God's will (from birth to death)

I couldn’t find your definition in the dictionary.

But, anyway, I fail to do what is right quite often.
Maybe every hour, but probably numerous times a day.

Therefore, I’m not righteous, except for those times that I actually DO God’s will. The rest of the time, I’m just little ole pain in the butt me.

That doesn’t mean I don’t strive to be better.

I find many of those concepts quite alien to me.
Where do they come from?
(crediting accounts, atoning, satisfaction, merit)
So complex, when the Lord made it so easy.