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From: murphy@mips.com (Mike Murphy)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: HUMAN VERSES SINLESS
Message-ID: <Nov.10.02.36.11.1989.11764@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 10 Nov 89 07:36:15 GMT
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Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu


In article <Oct.29.21.13.42.1989.3214@athos.rutgers.edu> ASPRINGMAN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (DAYSPRING) writes:
<To paraphrase, he complains that we praise Christians who admit to being
<sinful more than pious Christians who are without sin.  He suggests that
<it is possible to live a holy life (post-conversion) without sin, e.g.
>[some say] Humans are confined to sin until heaven.
>     To this I ask what the Resurection and the Cross were all about?  What
>does it mean that our old selves are crucified with Christ and that we are new
>creations and that we are washed in the blood of Jesus, white as snow.  Why
>can't we walk in holiness?  Who's to stop us if God is with us?

This is an interesting question.  I've met some Christians who believe
that you can live a perfectly holy life, but certainly the orthodox view is
that we will always be tainted by sin, even after accepting Christ into our
life.  Christ has conquered sin, and we partake of that through Christ but
we do not conquer sin ourselves (until we reach heaven).  Now we do improve 
and we can even become quite good at walking in the light, but we still 
"fall short of the glory of God".  And if we fall even a little bit short
we are still in sin and in need of God's grace.  If you have ever climbed
a mountain you know that the top keeps moving as you climb; you see the top
and think you can reach it, but when you get there you find out that there
is more mountain to climb; our pursuit of holiness is like that climb. 
There is much encouragement in the Bible to live a holy life, and we should 
always be striving to improve our walk with the Lord.  We should also honor 
and respect those who do live relatively holy lives.  But it can be 
dangerous to think that you have already reached a place of perfection.  
For then pride can enter and you may think that God accepts you because 
of your goodness rather than because of His grace.
See Romans 7:7-25 for a description of Paul's own struggle with sin.