The following is my response to a comment on a friend’s blog:
My friend, we all sin, and only when we are glorified with Christ will we be perfect and sinless.
Your verses must align with the rest of Scripture! Let’s consider Paul, who suffered more for Christ than anyone who will read this blog, who took the gospel to the center of the most powerful empire of his day, who wrote 13 NT, and the list goes on.
What did Paul think of Himself? Surely Paul attained this perfection, or at least came close. You cite seven verses from his letters, so surely he believed that “everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” (Lk. 6:40, which I’ve just taken out of context).
Paul’s opinion of Himself, ca. A.D. 55 is stated clearly in an epistle written on his third missionary journey: “For I am least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (I Cor. 15:9) Ok, so Paul admits at this point he is least of apostles, but surely he can grow from there!
Ca. A.D. 55-56. Half a year later he writes, “I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.” (2 Cor. 12:11) Paul still considers himself least of the apostles. Not bad, though, considering their small number.
Four years later, ca. A.D. 60-62, during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, in a letter to the Ephesians he writes, “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,…” (Eph. 3:8) Less than the least of all the saints! Not only does he consider himself the least of apostles, now he considers himself less than the least of Christians!
Finally, shortly before his release from the Roman prison ca. A.D. 62-62, Paul writes to Timothy, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
There you have it. Close to the end of his life, he did not consider himself perfect, or even close. Rather, Paul, being mature in his faith, came to see more and more how sinful he really was, and came to realize how grievous his sin is to God.
What did that produce in Paul? Humility (2 Cor. 12:11), and a greater understanding of the unsearchable grace of God. As Christians our sin will not be done away with in this life. God is using it for His glory, magnifying His love and the worth of His Son, showing us how unbelieveably massive His grace is by steadily revealing the layers and layers of sin in our lives. This causes us to look forward with a greater joyful anticipation to glory, and to ever rely on Him! If we ever reached a point where we didn’t sin in this life, we would not need grace, and works would rule. See how this all points to the self, and working for our perfection? I tell you that every false truth always points to the pride of the human heart to save itself. If we can’t save ourselves, then we can work for our own perfection. That is exactly what Paul warned against in 2 Cor. 12:11.
Praise God that I need His grace! Praise Him in his power and love that pulls us out of sin and sets us on a path to righteousness, always learning more about Him and forever growing closer to Him!”
Perfection in this life is a false truth. I challenge you to search the Scriptures and see if anyone, save Jesus Christ, Son of God, (who is ever perfect, He did not attain it) ever attained perfection while walking this earth. We should all proclaim the gospel as Paul did in I Timothy 1:15.
This Pilgrim's Progress 