Attaining the Unattainable

I John 3:4-6 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

These verses of Scripture can cause many of us to scratch our heads. Why, you ask? Because John also wrote early on that when we, the born again believers, sin, we can confess our sins and the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:8-9). So, which is it? Do we sin or do we not sin? In the flesh we do sin. However, before the Father we are completely justified, forgiven, and perfect, 24-7 and 365 days a year. How can this be? Well, because it's not about our righteousness, and it's never been about our righteousness. When we accepted the free gift of eternal life in Christ, we were declared "not guilty" by our Heavenly Father. He no longer sees us, but His Son. We have been washed clean by the Blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, who cannot sin, indwells us. So stop and think about this for a moment. Jesus, the perfect Son of God has washed us, and now His righteousness had been placed on us so that now it's no longer about our corrupted righteousness. The Holy Spirit, who is also God, lives within us. Our body is His temple. With that combination, we are now perfect before the Father, and nothing or no one can change that. When we stumble, we have One who is our Advocate, and speaks on our behalf. However, let me make something clear. This does not mean that we can just go ahead and live as we desire. A true child of God does not live a sinful lifestyle. We may stumble in sin, but that should be the exception and not the rule. The bottom line is that when we truly belong to God, in Christ, there is never a moment when, in His eyes, we are less than perfect. Praise be to our Savior and Lord who paid the ultimate price for us; a price we could never pay ourselves! As a result, we now have a status before our Heavenly Father that we could never obtain on our own. In Jesus, we have attained the unattainable.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).