No, It’s More Then Likely You Can

Another defect of santification I’ve read of is when people take certain verses out of the Bible and then draw a wrong conclusion from it.

The verses are of this kind:

John 5:14

14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

(KJV)

John 8:11

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

(KJV)

The incorrect conclusion that is often draw from these verses is: “God does not command human beings to do what is impossible for them to do. Therefore it is possible to sin no more, and we should set that as our goal.”

My first problem with that conclusion is that it is based on a false premise. It is based on the premise that God does not command human beings to do something which is impossible for them to do. The fact is that God may indeed make an impossible command of a human being if the command has implications regarding His own integrity. Notice this verse:

Matt 5:19

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

(KJV)

Christ’s own integrity is involved whenever He encounters someone who may sin again after leaving His presence. Even if Christ knows someone is going to sin again later (as He did with respect to Peter’s three denials), He is still obligated by His own integrity and holiness to command them to “go and sin no more.” He can not and will not say “Well, I know you’re going to sin again anyway, so I’m not going to bother telling you not to.” Christ’s own integrity and holiness requires Him to tell you to “go and sin no more,” whether you can do that or not. Christ is not some corrupt third ward judge “who knows how it goes” and gives a little wink every now and then. Christ is the holy and righteous Judge of all the earth, who will “do right.” (Gen 18:25)

The other problem I have with the faulty conclusion is that there are Christians who can drawn from it the conclusion that they can be sinless just because Christ has commanded it of them. This completely flies in the face of I Jn 1:8-10 which says:

I Jn 1:8-10

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

(KJV)

What typically happens after someone has committed him or herself to the idea of their own sinless perfection is that when they do sin, they start calling it something other than a sin. They’ll call it “a mere fault,” “a lapse,” “an indescretion” or something other than what it actually is. And the range of what they will call a sin will begin to contract and get smaller and smaller. And the consequence is that they will avoid confession of sin and begin to spiral downward into a cycle of deceit and self-deceit, while badly damaging themselves and those around them.

Don’t fall for the idea of sinless perfection.

Rom 8:23

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

(KJV)

It as long as you have a mortal body in this present evil age it just isn’t possible for you to be sinlessly perfect at all times.