Read: Galatians 5:16-25
I am not a Christian perfectionist because the Scriptures do not teach Christian perfectionism. Christian perfectionism is the belief that Christians can come to a point in their spiritual life where they no longer willfully sin. Some Christian perfectionists believe that point is the moment of their salvation while others believe that this sinless perfection comes along with the believer’s growth in spiritual maturity and sanctification.
The Scriptures are clear that though Christians have received a new redeemed nature in Christ that is capable of putting sin to death and resisting its temptations, they will never be sinless in this life. John is clear in 1 John 1:8, writing to believers, that “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Rather than coming to a point in our life of faith where we no longer sin, the Scriptures instead say that as we grow in our sanctification we’re actually going to be more sensitive and aware of just how sinful we are. That was certainly the apostle Paul’s experience as he records his struggle against his flesh in Romans 7:14-25.
Until we reach heaven or Christ returns, whichever comes first, we’re going to be battling our sin. Having made this necessary point, we also should recognize that perfection is the goal we are striving for. Our goal is Christlikeness.
Our desire should be to look identical to Christ. We want his perfect love for God and man to be our love for God and man. We want his perfect obedience, both in deed and desires, to be our obedience. And we should want that not just in heaven, but here on earth.
“Didn’t you just say that’s impossible, Justin?” Yes, but earthly impossibility doesn’t imply that we should give up trying. Sanctification is God’s will for us (1 Thess. 4:3-6), and we want to do God’s will. And so, while this is a hard task, we are given encouragements and promises throughout the New Testament to spur us on to righteous living.
One such encouragement is Galatians 5:16-25. Paul tells us firmly that if we walk by the Spirit (which is simply a way of speaking about living the Christian life), we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. In other words, if we are following the Spirit’s leading at all times throughout the day, with mind, body, and heart, then we will not give in to any temptation that our sinful flesh tries to pull us into. We will not sin. If we are being led by the Spirit we literally will not be sinning because the Spirit’s desires are opposed to the desires of the flesh. The Spirit is Holy God, so his desires would be contrary to sin, for God does not sin nor tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13).
The question, however, is how do we know when we’re walking by the Spirit and being led by him? Well, Paul gives us one important way we can know: Are our thoughts and actions outright sinful or not?
The works of the flesh are evident, and so if we find ourselves doing the work of the flesh we can know for a fact that we’re not being led by the Spirit in that moment. Likewise, we can know that we’re being led by the Spirit when we’re exhibiting Spirit-empowered character qualities, seen in the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.
Notice that Paul doesn’t give a list of actions that come with being led by the Spirit as he does to describe the works of the flesh. Rather, he lists character qualities. This is because Christian obedience is from the heart, not the letter.
For example, we could be providing for a widow in the church (a good deed; 1 Tim 5:3ff), and still be gratifying the desires of the flesh in that act: we could be doing it with selfish, prideful motivations rather than out of a pure love for God and her (Matt 6:1). Or, we could be sitting on the couch watching wholesome television with a heart filled with gratitude toward God and thus be glorifying him in the enjoyment of our downtime.
As we seek to be led by the Spirit, carefully following his guidance, we’re not just discerning our outward actions but also our inward motivations. In this task we need God’s Word to guide us and to instruct us on the right path. How can we judge whether an action is sinful or not? Only through His Word. And as we grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures we’re also going to eyes opened to sin in our life that we were blind to before, as what happened to Paul before us (Rom. 7:7). We should also be aware of activities that may stir up temptation, as Paul warns in Romans 13:14 when warns us to make “no provision for the flesh.” Finally, we need to remember to keep our eyes fixed on Christ, both in the example he laid before us to follow and in our union to him through faith, that we have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:24).
