Hey, bro. I hope what I'm about to write in response to the above, is edifying, and perhaps can help you see some things in a different light. If the Spirit bears witness with your spirit, then praise the Lord!
I think the thing we must remember, first of all, is that sin is like a debt, or a weight, and IT MUST BE IMPUTED.
The same for righteousness (
2 Corinthians 5:21)!
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute sin, right (
Romans 4:7)?
So, here we are, in the New Covenant of grace. Christ has made atonement through His blood, and the Father is fully and completely propitiated. After all, God was in Christ, not imputing our trespasses against us.
What this means is, as long as we are walking in the Spirit, and not fulfilling the lusts of our flesh, we are considered righteous by God. What does this mean?
Righteous means to be considered totally, morally innocence. To be righteous is to be justified, and vice versa. The two, disparate English words both refer back to the same ONE word in Greek.
There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. We aren't covenanted to God the Father by a yo-yo string. Up, down, up, down, righteous, unrighteous, saved, not saved.
Once we have been rescued by the Savior, and our sins have been remitted by the blood of the Lamb, they are fully and eternally carried away (
Jeremiah 31:31-34,
Micah 7:18-20). But guess what? Jesus died not only for the sins you committed pre-conversion, but also those sins you committed post-conversion. If not, then
1 John 1:9 cannot be applied, as the blood of Jesus can't cleanse us of any sins committed after first being saved.
So, what does this mean? When Jesus called out "Father, forgive them...", this intercession wasn't just for you while you were a sinner, it was also for you after you became a saint!
So guess what? If righteousness has been imparted to you by your faith in Jesus, and His merit, you are innocent before the Lord, of any and all charges the Accuser might try to cast at your feet.
So, your faith makes you whole. If you are righteous (by faith) you are perfect. Nothing needs to be added to you (the real idea behind Biblical perfection; from the Greek word
teleos).
You can't be made more righteous. No extra justification can be given you. You aren't any more saved today than when you first believed.
The moment you came up out of the water, speaking in tongues, you were made perfect and complete. And blessed is the man to whom the LORD will not impute sins.
So, sinless perfection isn't about our actions alone, i.e. our attempts at not sinning. It's also about whether or not God has imputed sin to our account.
And if you are saved, and you are, then guess what? You are righteous before God, by your faith, and His grace, meaning no sins are being imputed to you, meaning you are already living a life of sinless perfection.
Is this a license then, to sin? God forbid. But what it is, is a license to realize you have been given mercy, and that grace is freely given. God isn't holding it back, waiting to see if you're going to fall or not.
He is a FATHER! My children always, always, always, have my unconditional love. They make many mistakes, they disobey, they act out, they fail, morally and otherwise, but none of that keeps them from my love, my affection, my grace, my forgiveness, or
my status as their Father.
Sanctification is less about doing all the right things so you can maintain holiness in your life. Rather, sanctification is more about learning how you were already made holy the day God saved you, and that you are completely free to walk in the Spirit without interference from your flesh, so long as you keep trusting on the Lord, and WHAT HE DID, instead of yourself, and what you can do to add merit to yourself.
Even things like confession and repentance, while important and necessary, don't save us, or keep us saved. Rather, they are merely the conduits by which we can continue to walk in grace and mercy.
If none of our works of righteousness caused God to save us when He first did, how in the world should we expect any works of righteousness which we now attempt to maintain keep us saved?
The power is in God, and the Gospel of His Son.
Imagine a scenario:
Tomorrow, you are less than completely honest at work about something. You fib a bit, portraying the situation in a different, but not altogether, accurate light.
Later, while at home, as you pray, you feel the sting of conviction. You confess to God and say "Lord, I told a lie today. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
While you may never hear God speak back to you in an audible way, you might very well imagine His response as being something like this:
"I know. I forgive you."
What am I trying to say? That while you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you. Being in Christ doesn't necessarily mean you won't ever sin. But being in Christ means sins are not imputed to you, so even if you do sin, you merely need to confess it to God, and in an instant, the debt and weight of that sin is gone forever.
The penalty was already paid.
Isaiah 53, right? Unless and until God removes the imputed state of righteousness He gave you when He saved you, you are, even now, living a sinless life of perfection.
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