Certainly not!
It is astounding that there are whole mega-churches in Singapore who preach this, and thousands of poorly-led followers who believe this. What hogwash it is to believe that we are “imperfect” but are “no longer able to sin”.
My reading this morning reminded me of how unbiblical such thinking is, and I felt compelled to put this down for the record.
On this earth, before Christ comes again, we will never get to a place of total sinlessness. 1 John 1:8 makes it clear that “8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
The sin nature still resides in us, and it strives against the Spirit of God. Galatians 5:17 says “17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
And so even the godliest Christians find themselves doing the things that they no longer want to do, as the apostle Paul testified to.
Romans 7:15-20 (English Standard Version)
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Galatians 2:11-13
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.[a] 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
My take is that the preaching that “Christians can no longer sin” is attractive to itching ears because it absolves people from all responsibility. “I can no longer sin, so I can do whatever I like, and it can’t be sinful right?” Well, WRONG.
As long as we are not in heaven yet, we are undergoing the process of sanctification, and there is a constant tussle between our sinful natures, the temptations of the evil one (the world, flesh and the devil) in this fallen state of creation. To say that we can “no longer sin” because we are justified by Christ is poor theology. Indeed we are justified by Christ and made right with God, and His Holy Spirit enables us to cling unto Him for help as we war against our flesh and our in-born inclination to sin, but when we stop fixing our eyes on Christ and ever try to rely on our own pride and strength, we wobble and fall.
So we have to be on guard, not complacent, thinking that we are now “above all sin”, watching our thoughts and attitudes, guarding them and taking them captive to Christ. It is false doctrine that the devil would love for us to believe that we have full liberty to indulge in every sin and yet not sin.
It is so clear and obvious that such doctrine is deceitful and deliberately engineered to trap believers into a false sense of security. It is certainly attractive to be liberated to pursue all the horrible, soul-snatching things that our human natures would have us fall in, but those who read the bible closely, pray watchfully, as well as reference proper faithful bibical teaching, will know to steer clear from such error.
Indeed, Christians can still sin (and to our shame, Lord knows so many of us have fallen). But there are many faithful Christians who daily reject sin, and draw upon the abundant grace of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit, to triumph against the lure of sin, choosing rather to walk in the straight and narrow, eschewing the subtle traps of greed and self-indulgence of all kinds that draw us further and further away from God.
May we gently counsel those who hold to such error, and journey them back towards the path that leads to true salvation.
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