Sin-Less or Sinless

If someone doesn’t believe in a doctrine like I do, I tend to have grace as I likely have believed one way and changed over the years, and after learning my lesson, the new outlook took so long to lodge in my heart, I don’t tend now to just jump down someone’s throat if they don’t agree. I only think I am right a lot of the time, because I have been wrong so often.

My belief has always been wanting the TRUTH more than wanting to stay right. It has caused me to get kicked out of churches, lose friends, and family, be misunderstood, etc, and often it’s caused me to be angry at myself because I am not living at the moment what I know is right.

I wrote this comment about people who believe in sinless perfection. I think there are ditches on both sides of any doctrine. The middle is often not the compromise, but where the truth is. The bible says if we walk in the light, essentially we won’t sin. If we walk in the flesh, we won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Does that mean we won’t sin? I don’t know, and I often ask about sins of omission. IF I don’t witness to every creature, is that not a sin of omission? If I don’t witness to every cashier, every telemarketer, if I let the answering machine pick up, etc, is there not some unbelief or selfishness or busyness or whatever at times?

Yet I have guys tell me they don’t sin for weeks or whatever. Maybe that is true, but I think the big challenge is to live holy, not get haughty, not look down at others when you think you’ve arrived – and if you are looking at your sanctification, it might mean you aren’t looking to JESUS anyway.

Yes, lusts of the flesh. I think that is different than sins of omission and inward sins.

I think sins of the flesh you can stop.

I don’t drink, smoke, look at porn, lust after half naked women, etc when I am walking in the spirit.

God took some of that away instantly 20 years ago. Some of the other stuff it’s months of victory or more and then a relapse perhaps, but my heart’s desire is not to go that way once I am back walking in the spirit.

What I think we will struggle with until we are out of here is indulgences in the flesh (instead of porn, we may over indulge in entertainment, or sweets, or gluttony, etc and we won’t usually stop the sins we aren’t bothered by or that our church culture permits, etc) BUT more often now our struggle is that of the elder brother.

The younger (Prodigal son) brother had bad ACTIONS. The elder brother had BAD ATTITUDES.

There were years when I was newly saved, when I wasn’t watching TV, movies, or following pro sports. I was always soul winning. I had sisters in the Lord but I wasn’t lusting after any of them and I could go to a lady’s house and have a bible study and didn’t entertain one inappropriate thought.

I read my bible 2-3 hours a day back then. I was street preaching, I was in church 4-5 times a week, I wouldn’t walk through Wal Mart without giving out 20 tracts. And yet, I was haughty, I looked down at those who weren’t like me, I thought I was something and thought I would be ushered into ministry. I would brow beat the people who are like where I am now for not going soulwinning.

I gave away $20,000 to missions in 2006 after I just quit my job and thought I was heading into evangelism and was “living by faith”. I was a volunteer in the prison ministry and then they found out I was an unemployed pharmacist and found me a job in the prison.

Then not as extreme as what Job went through – I started losing jobs for my faith after we gave away more money. And felt abandoned by the brethren, and got bitter, and felt like God was against me because I couldn’t “serve Him” like I used to as soon my wife had health issues and more – and it humbled me and I still haven’t recovered or got back to “where I was”: — but seeing how that revealed so much pride and self-sufficiency maybe was worth it.

BUT I think we are going to struggle with bad attitudes if we don’t struggle with bad actions. And I think those in the Bible – the closer they got to God, the more layers of self the Lord reveals. Paul considered himself the chief of sinners. Isaiah said, I am a man of unclean lips.

The idea is the closer we get to God the more we see our weakness and I think God shows us how quickly we might even deny Him.

33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

So I don’t believe or teach sinless perfection.

I do teach and have experienced sin-less progression, but it also involves a lot of God chiseling off a lot of things vs. me “being spiritual” and “busy in church.”