"He is Risen!" Churches everywhere will cry tomorrow morning and evening.
He is risen indeed.
Are we?
He died to our sins.
Did we?
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:1-4)
I read an interesting internet debate yesterday between a Catholic and a Protestant, one holding the view that Christians can live sinless lives and the other holding that as we are a fallen race, we can't help but stumble sometimes, and in those times Christ has grace for us.
It was an interesting read for me because I have wondered about that for a while, and though I don't have a definite view on it yet, I could debate either side with zeal because both have biblical and logical ground, which is why I am still confused.
Before I get into it, let me just explain that before I decided I didn't know, I thought I understood that people are incapable of living perfectly. What confuses me are places in scripture which seem to indicate that we can.
Romans 6 says, "How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" It's asked with an attitude of, "That's silly! Why would we?"
The counter argument would be that we can try not to sin, but we will fail, because we are sinful creatures. After all...
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23)
Yet then couldn't I say, the text is past tense? "for all HAVE sinned..."
In the very same passage it says,
“being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:24-26)
"The sins that were PREVIOUSLY committed, to demonstrate at the PRESENT time His righteousness, that He might be just and THE JUSTIFIER OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS."
What are your thoughts on the whole thing?
Jesus says,
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
Is He really giving us a command that's impossible for us to keep? I thought He just freed us from the burden of the law, because it was impossible for us to keep.
Doesn't the bible tell us that we are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us?" (Note: That verse is present tense.)
Does "dying to sin," really speak of something in the distant future, or can we rise above that grave now?
The more I look at it, the more I am starting to be persuaded to think that we can. After all, everyone agrees that Christ is powerful enough to triumph over sin, in fact we'd say He already did. Is He now bound by a waiting period before sin can stop separating us from Him, or does the simple fact that the Holy Spirit lives in us give us the clue that perhaps...we can be without it?
Another thing that makes me think this way is this. (It's not scripture, it's just logic.)
If we could live sinless during our life on earth, don't you think Satan would try to persuade us that we can't?
If we fully believe that we WILL sin (be it accidental or just in a moment of weakness) because of our fallen nature, don't you think we are more likely to? What if we fully believed that in EVERY situation,
"with the temptation will He make the way of escape,"? (1 Corinthians 10:13) Don't you think we would have more will-power to say no to sin?
It would be in Satan's best interest to tell us that we CANNOT rise above sin, that we must always rely on Christ's forgiveness.
I am not suggesting that we don't rely on His forgiveness at all, because obviously we
have sinned, and Christ has forgiven those sins, but going back to Romans 6, it seems to say that though we know we need grace and we are thankful for grace, we should not continue to do things that would cause us to need more of it.
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:15-16)
I brought up this discussion to my friend, and one thing he pointed out which I agree with, is that all things considered, it doesn't really matter which side of the argument is true. If you are truly a follower of Christ, you will be striving for perfection, whether or not you think you can attain it.
As I wanted to say when I read the internet debate about it, I don't think it is worth dividing the church over, because that would be another one of Satan's delights.
But if we are to have this conversation, the first time I encountered this view, I felt suddenly way more challenged to strive for holiness than I ever had before. If a goal is reachable, the race seems so much more worth running.
God showed me something a few years ago which I will share with you, it's found in this verse.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Having life more abundantly is about abiding in Christ. I have never felt more fulfilled in my life than when I knew I was doing exactly what He wanted, and spending time with Him. Living in Christ gives a whole new meaning to the word LIFE.
He showed me that the reason I will love heaven is not because there will be no more tears or death, not because streets of gold, but because I will have abundant life the way I was starting to understand it here, but there with NO restrictions, no veils. Nothing between me and God.
But this isn't something to be only had in heaven, we can have life more abundantly here on earth, and this, I believe, is God's will for us. If we were living completely free from sin, we would definitely be more able to abide in Christ, (or if we were abiding in Christ, we'd be more likely to live sinlessly) so it makes sense to me that God would make a way for us to live sinlessly so that we could concentrate on learning how to more completely abide in Him.
For the past year or so I believe God has been teaching me about the significance of names. My name "Keturah" means "Holy," or "Holy Crown." (I've heard both translations) My middle name is "Love."
Maybe the reason I am so interested in this is because God has been showing me that there is a reason He gave me that name, and He is calling me to a higher level of holiness than what I am now. How sinless is it possible to be on earth? Can I really try to be perfect as He is perfect?
Again, it's all just food for thought. I don't know what I think of it quite yet, (although I think you can tell what direction I'm leaning) and I don't think it's worth dividing the church over, but it's definitely something to consider.
At least to ask yourself the question, if you knew that you could live sinlessly, would anything about your life or your efforts change? If so, whether or not you believe you can, allow Christ to refine you further.
Happy Easter. :)
End Note: I am going to Mississippi! If you would like to find out more about it and consider supporting me, please check out my GoFundMe page
HERE. :) I'll be getting it fixed soon, but my donations are actually disabled right now, cause I have to get my withdrawal thing set up. So if you would like to donate something toward my trip, you can email me at dancingfor1king@gmail.com, and we can figure something out. My donations should be set up on the page soon.
