12/04/2025

 

Samuel Clifford

 

Can Someone Live without Sin?

 

Some believe that after salvation, humans have the ability to not sin. The first verse that proves we Christians will sin after salvation and cannot abstain fully from sin is Romans 7:15 which states,

 

“For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” Romans 7:15 KJV

 

Paul here is stating that what he hates he still does and what he wants to do he doesn’t do. In other words, Paul is stating here that he still sins. Paul's sinful human nature influenced him to such an extent that he found himself volitionally doing (with approval) the very things that he despised intellectually. So let’s understand this. Those who claim they are sinless claim they are better than Paul. Infact, Paul states to imitate him like he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). So in actuality what they are really stating is that they are imitating Christ better than Paul himself. Now, they will state this is speaking of Paul’s life prior to salvation in Jesus Christ. However there are five problems with this: 

 

1. There is no reason to conclude that Paul was speaking of his former life and not his personal experience.

 

2. The change from past tense in 7:7-13 to present tense in 7:14-25 indicates that verses 14-25 describe Paul's post-conversion experience.

 

3. If Paul described his preChristian life here, he contradicted what he said of it in Philippians 3:6.

 

4. The last part of verse 25 implies that this conflict continues after one acknowledges that deliverance comes through Jesus Christ.

 

5. The conflict described in verses 13-25 is not the same one that Paul presented in Galatians 5:16-23 (which has to do with the unsaved). The opponent of the sinful human nature in Romans 7 is the whole Christian individual who wants to be obedient, but in Galatians 5 the opponent of the sinful human nature is the Holy Spirit. 

 

Another scripture that refutes the idea that we can live sinless is found in first John. John states, 

 

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8 KJV

 

Here John is warning against the self-deluding concept that when we are in true fellowship with God that we are sinless. Some try to say that this is for people that aren’t saved yet. However, John’s use of “we” in this statement shows that saved people is in view and shows someone saved can still have sin. 

 

Finally, I’d like to make it clear that I’m not stating we should go out and sin because we are saved, as this is a strawman often stated against OSAS believers. Instead, since God has given us His grace through our faith in Christ we should do good works for Him, but never with the intent or concept that it is what saves us.