IS IT POSSIBLE TO LIVE ABOVE SIN? (10 OF 20)
by Stan Coffey
Scripture: I JOHN 3:4-9
This content is part of a series.
Is It Possible to Live above Sin? (10 of 20)
BLESSED ASSURANCE
Dr. Stan Coffey
I John 3:4-9
Does the Bible teach sinless perfection? Does the Bible teach that a Christian can live completely above any sin, any failure in his life?
(Read I John 3:4-9)
When you first read these verses where it says that a child of God cannot commit sin and the child of God is righteous, it might be that you draw the conclusion that a Christian could never sin again, that it would be possible for a Christian to live completely above sin. But when you take that kind of position, you run into some tremendous difficulties.
First, you run into the difficulty of human experience. Because when you think about the most outstanding Christians who have ever lived, the men of the Bible, those that God had His hand upon, those who were great men of God, and you think about the fact that the Bible records that in their lives after they were children of God, it was impossible apparently for them to live above sin. Because they failed God, and they sinned against God. You think about a man like the apostle Paul, a tremendous preacher and soul-winner, a missionary. Yet in Philippians 3 he says, "Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect." He admits to us that he's not totally mature, that he's not completely perfect, that there is some imperfection in his life.
So it seems to be contradictory to human experience. When you look into your own life, I think you have to say yes, there is sin there; there is failure there; there are times when I don't live as I ought to live; there's times when I fail the Lord; there are times when I don't do what God wants me to do. I'm not living all the kind of life that God wants me to live. So if you believe that man could be sinlessly perfect on this earth, you run into the problem of human experience.
But then you also run into the problem of the contradiction with what the Bible teaches about the old nature ...
BLESSED ASSURANCE
Dr. Stan Coffey
I John 3:4-9
Does the Bible teach sinless perfection? Does the Bible teach that a Christian can live completely above any sin, any failure in his life?
(Read I John 3:4-9)
When you first read these verses where it says that a child of God cannot commit sin and the child of God is righteous, it might be that you draw the conclusion that a Christian could never sin again, that it would be possible for a Christian to live completely above sin. But when you take that kind of position, you run into some tremendous difficulties.
First, you run into the difficulty of human experience. Because when you think about the most outstanding Christians who have ever lived, the men of the Bible, those that God had His hand upon, those who were great men of God, and you think about the fact that the Bible records that in their lives after they were children of God, it was impossible apparently for them to live above sin. Because they failed God, and they sinned against God. You think about a man like the apostle Paul, a tremendous preacher and soul-winner, a missionary. Yet in Philippians 3 he says, "Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect." He admits to us that he's not totally mature, that he's not completely perfect, that there is some imperfection in his life.
So it seems to be contradictory to human experience. When you look into your own life, I think you have to say yes, there is sin there; there is failure there; there are times when I don't live as I ought to live; there's times when I fail the Lord; there are times when I don't do what God wants me to do. I'm not living all the kind of life that God wants me to live. So if you believe that man could be sinlessly perfect on this earth, you run into the problem of human experience.
But then you also run into the problem of the contradiction with what the Bible teaches about the old nature ...
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