An answer to the sinless day

That is the best explanation I have heard. Thanks for putting it in better words than I could.

 

Your post is illogical and does not prove that one cannot be fully submitted to the hand of God for a 24 hour period of time.

 

Well said, dale-c.

 

On the contrary, his post is very well thought out and and in line with Scripture.

 

So what is the biblical maximum that one can go without sinning? Why is 24 hours any different than 24 minutes?

Disclaimer: I struggle to go 24 seconds without sinning so I'm not holding myself up as an example.

 

I don't think anyone can know. God's standard of sinlessness is surely a LOT higher than any of ours. Jesus hammered home that point by saying we don't actually have to commit murder to break the commandments. Just being angry with a brother is bad enough.

I also think that's why John put it the way he did in 1 John. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves..." I don't think there's a moment in any day when we can say with confidence that "in the last moment, I was without sin in thought or deed".

 

There is no standard of time. That is my point.

 

Sorry, it's not.

There's nothing in the passage that insists that believers are constantly involved in sin. Furthermore, if you actually move past that proof text into the rest of 1 John, it becomes obvious:

1 John 3:4-6 (NASB)

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

and

1 John 5:18

We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

You all need to stop interpreting scripture by your experience and instead understand that believers are supposed to experience significant and increasing victory over sin through transformation in Christ. The problem with most people in the Western World understanding this is that the church has ignored practical spiritual formation for many, many years and turned "salvation" into something that is merely for heaven that is received by affirming certain beliefs regarding the atonement and an acceptance of God's love for them. When you actually dig into the pages of the gospel and read what Jesus actually preached, you'll discover that Jesus calls people to follow Him (in a very active sense) and reorder their lives and priorities to enter into the fullness of his life.

Dallas Willard, as well as a number of others, has written extensively about the spiritual disciplines that give us practical insight on how to enter into holy living in the power of Christ.

 

Sorry, it is. If you say you have no sin......need I complete the verse?
You said "significant and increasing victory." That is not perfection.

 

In the same letter, John writes that "no one who is born of God sins." So what do you do with that? Is only the part of 1 John that you like inspired?

If we go with your interpretation of 1 John 1:9 and claim that everyone sins constantly, the we have very bad news when we come to 1 John 5:18 that clearly states, "no one who is born of God sins."

We are not talking about perfection in this discussion, we are talking about practical holiness (sinlessness) for a 24-hour period.

When I write "significant and increasing victory," I am describing a gradual move away from a lifestyle characterized by sin into a lifestyle characterized by holiness and the power of the Spirit where a believer can go for a significant amount of time without sinning (including a 24-hour-day). This does not happen overnight (or even over a few months), but takes significant effort at transformation and a wholehearted reliance on the grace of God to make your efforts successful.

 

For the most part, I agree. Its a matter of the mature Christian, to a point. To me, it is hard for me to imagine a 24 hour period with no angry thoughts, no selfish motives, only holy thoughts. And practical things, like the speed limits, the stop sign, etc., how about not using every moment at work actually working, and those are just a few examples. How about sins we are not even aware of at the time. You point to a difference between 24 hours of perfectin and sinlessness. How do you define the difference?

 

I agree. However, it seems to me that there is a danger of thinking of sin only in terms of committing certain acts and thinking certain thoughts. But Jesus Christ said in Luke 10.25:

"‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbour as yourself.’"​

Would any one of us dare to claim that we could do those things perfectly, even for one second, let alone 24 hours? I know I wouldn't.

We sin by leaving undone those things which we should do, just as much as by doing those things we shouldn't.

 

Being angry is not necessarily sin. It is 'being angry at your brother without a cause' that is sin.

Paul said, 'Be ye angry and sin not...' There are times when anger is not sin.

 

You're right, it is very hard to imagine when we think of it as merely the absence of sin. However, if we think of it in terms of a day filled with good selfless good works and a mental focus toward serving God and other people, it becomes easier (but by no means easy) to imagine.

Actually, I've made significant progress in this area, although I didn't make achieve gains through trying to obey the speed limits and such, but by nurturing the spiritual disciplines of rest and solitude. I actually didn't notice my success until much later, when someone else pointed it out to me.

 

Good point.

Not even for one second?

Really?

You can't love God and your neighbor with all you know yourself to be for one second?!

I believe I can for even longer than a second. And I'm convinced that most (if not all) who are reading this discussion can do it too. (I realize that this goes against what has normally been hammered into us since childhood in most churches.) Think about the times you have been in worship and have been singing God's praises from the very depths of your soul... Were you loving God with everything you know yourself to be?

That's a much harder prospect, but if we can do it for a few seconds, by God's grace, He can enable us to do it for minutes, hours, and even days at a time if we cooperate with Him.

I'm guessing you could. Why do you pray about it and ask God for the ability to do it?

Yes, but we are not called to do everything for everyone at all times... We are called to obey the leading of the Spirit. Remember Jesus didn't always heal everyone who had needs, sometimes He only worked with one (see John 5:2-15 for one example).

In churches today we tend to guilt people by laying responsibility for all of the needs of the world on individual Christians instead of seeing the world as a vast field were we minister together (and as individuals). And we condemn those faithful Christians who have labored well in their assigned portion of the field by claiming they are responsible for areas of the field that others have neglected.

Are you faithful according the the calling that God has placed on your life? If so, then you are doing very well.

 

As others have put it, your definition of sin is too narrow.

Why didn't God give the law, "Thou shalt not look at another woman with lust" instead of "Thou shalt not commit adultery"? If the former is essentially the same as the latter, wouldn't have been more useful to say the former? Better yet, "Don't even look at a woman with lust, let alone commit adultery."

I don't see 1 John as contradicting itself because I think there are various aspects of sin and willful sinning, anywhere from ignorance to licentiousness. Having sin because we are human and imperfect and sinning willfully and licentiously are very different things. Comments in [] mine.

No Christian continually, willfully and/or knowingly sins.

But to say we are sin-free is a lie.

 

No, not even for one second. I don't have what it takes to do it perfectly, in a way that would meet the absolutely perfect righteous requirements of God. I don't think anyone in the flesh can do it even for one second. I don't mean living in the flesh (indulging it), I mean existing in the flesh. Through the power of God we can live better than we ever could have when we were unsaved, but I can't say that I can love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength even for one second while in the flesh.

 

That's quite an assertion! How do you know what my definition of sin is?

Looking at a woman whom you find attractive is a different thing than looking on a woman in order to lust after her.

But I really don't get your point, and I suspect its because I don't have the view of sin that you think I have.

I actually don't see a contradiction either, but there would be if I were going along with the thinking of the original post.

Yes. Christians (who have been properly discipled) are not going to live lifestyles where they are bound up in sin.

That's right. And I don't think anyone has made that claim.