Are we able to overcome or not?
We are not. 1 Corinthians 15 makes it clear we will not be incorruptible on this side of the grave. Even were we to maintain a behaviorally impeccable life we would remain corrupt
ible, and
that is part of the problem to be solved. I will suggest that one of the reasons some think sinlessness is possible is because they define sin only as a behavioral matter and not a dispositional one. They define sin solely by the Law and
1 John 3:4, when there are other verses in the Bible that define sin in other ways. The "strict behaviorist" prooftexts that verse and neglects all else that scripture states on the matter. Some (although I think it a minority) will even separate thoughts, believing a thought is not sinful until or unless it is acted upon. That's a mistake. One of the other reasons some believe sinlessness is an attainable condition on this side of the grave is because they are selective with their reading of scripture.
I will direct any sinless perfectionist in this thread to start by providing evidence of scripture declaring anyone sinless (beside Jesus) because the record of scripture is one of sinful people who never obtained sinless perfection. Even Paul and Peter are reported to have sinned
after their conversion to Christ.
Can God entirely eradicate sin from a person? Yes. Does He do so? Yes, but He finishes that task with our death and resurrection. It is only in resurrection that we are raised incorruptible and immortal (
1 Cor. 15:42). Those who attempt perfection by means of their own faculties make the problem worse, not better (
Isa. 64:6).
When the Bible says let "he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: ' does this mean we can stay full of iniquity[?]
I have always read that to be a rhetorical statement. If it is taken literally then it can be read to say God is permitting sin, openly giving people a license to do so. It also creates several contradictions with other scripture if taken literally because no one is righteous (at least a half-dozen verses state that fact). That verse has layers of context. For one, the statement is part of a prophecy, a statement found in the scroll of prophecy that had been sealed and was then being unsealed. Long ago it had been declared the filthy would/could be filthy and the righteous would/could be righteous. What is being read is something stated long prior to John's life. Then there is the context of faith. Faith is credited to a person as righteousness (see
Romans 4), so the verse is likely a reference to those of faith
(let those of faith still be of faith). It's not a behavioral sinless perfection of their own doing. Then there's the matter of holiness. The word "holy" simply means "separate." Scripturally speaking, it carries with it the connotation of being separated for sacred purpose but the more important feature of holiness is that it is God who makes someone holy. People do not make themselves holy. God separate an individual or group for His purpose(s) and declares the holy or separated. In that context the Revelation 22:11 verse is simply saying that those who God has separated for sacred purpose will remain separated by Him for sacred purpose.
The verse is NOT saying, "
Go ahead and continue to sin if you are already sinning."
If we keep sinning will Christ make us sinless at the end when we are changed 'in the twinkling of an eye'?
That depends because sin is not solely a function of behavior. A person who continually continues to sin, especially the same sin over and over and over again and again ad nauseam - especially with no sense of wrongdoing or repentance - is probably not save to begin with. There's no evidence of sanctification (being washed clean). The Christian life, the
healthy, functional Christian life is one characterized by grace, mercy, repentance, forgiveness, etc. The sinlessly perfect individual has no need for
any of that (and I cannot find an example of such a person in the Bible).
To
not keep sinning would mean every aspect of selfishness must be eradicated and the simple, shameful truth is that one of the effects of sin is that it makes us obtuse about ourselves. That is one of the reasons Christianity is a religion of relationship, one of the reasons God uses others to "sharpen" those He saves. In order to be sinlessly perfect we would have to be some minutely insightful that we could/would recognize every single, miniscule, example of self-loving idolatry and that will pose an instant paradox because the person who declares him/herself sinless perfect has just announced s/he is comparable to God (
Mt. 5:48) while in the still-corruptible state. To be sinlessly perfect is to be incorruptible, never able to sin again. Otherwise, the sinless state is temporary and that is not perfection.
There's also another aspect of sinless perfection that's often ignored: the fact that past sin has an ongoing effect and causes a mark to be visible by God. God knows whether a person has never sinned and whether a person sinned once long ago. Yes, God has said He will remember our sins no more (Ps. 103:12; Heb. 8:12), but to be known as a
redeemed saint is to necessarily also always carry the fact redemption was needed and it was provided by grace by God. We will stand among the angels as a people who were redeemed, who experienced a grace they do not and cannot know.
The simple fact is that every person changed is a sinner.
Is this verse referring only to our mortal bodies of flesh, or also our sinful lives?
Yes. In the resurrection both are everlastingly changed. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The perishable body is raised imperishable because the perishability is part of the problem to be solved. The corruptible body must be changed because the corruptibility is part of the problem to be solved. When Paul wrote about "
perishable" and "
mortal" he was not being redundant. The perishability has nothing to do with physical mortality. The Greek word used throughout the NT for "
perishable" (
phthora) means decay, rot, decomposing. We'll be raised to never rot in any way again. Praise God!
What does the Bible teach. Lets take a look...
I'm game but I have to say Post 2 is a very selective use of scripture that turns on itself because I do not read any mention of the facts 1) most of it is pre-Calvary and pre-Pentecost, 2) none of it would have to be written to sinless people, and 3) there's no report of anyone attaining any of it.
Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.
And perfect love casts out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been made perfect (
1 John. 4:18). It is odd, if not paradoxical or contradictory, to appeal to Hebrews 10:31 if asserting the possibility of sinless perfection on this side of the grave.
