Is it possible to achieve a life without sin on earth?

To achieve a holy life in this life? David said "Thy word have I hide in my heart that I might not sin against thee". Today we have that word , the very word that is God (Jesus)John 1:1, in our hearts!

Paul said in Romans chapter 7 that he was in a wretched war with the flesh, but chapter 8 tells us his great victory through faith in Jesus Christ in the spirit! Verse 9, "But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you." Thats a big if, but not impossible! Paul in Titus 2:11-13 gives us instructions. "...teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world." Well how do we do that? Verse 13 By "Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ."

If we are conscience of Him and in expectation of Him, we will live accordingly.There is great reward for those that keep oil in their lamps (the spirit and the word). These will go to the marriage supper of the lamb, Matthew 25:1-13, especially verse 13,"Watch therefore..."

Again, if holy living is impossible, then why did Peter say in 1 Peter 1:15,16 "But as he which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be you holy; for I am holy."

Salvation. All scripture herein is KJV.

Romans 1;16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also the Greek.

John 3;16

For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Without salvation, mortal man returns to dust, and then the judgement.

The Old Man.

Psalm 51;5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Job 15;14 What is man,that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Jeremiah 17;9 The heart is deceitful above all things,and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Ephesians 4;22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Romans 8;7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

I Corinthians 2;14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Isaiah 64;6 But we are all an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The New Man

John 1; 12-13 But as many as received him,to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3;5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

I Peter 1;5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Matthew 18;3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Titus 3;5-6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

Romans 6;6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Ezekiel 11;19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

True conversion is the beginning of life without sin.

I John 3;9 Whosoever is born of God doth commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

I John 5;4,5 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

I John 5;18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

Matthew 19;26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

There will be a remnant of true believers at the end of time.

Revelation 22;11,12 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And behold, I come quickly; to give every man according as his work shall be.

Is it possible to achieve a completely holy life without any sin during our lifetime after salvation? Yes. Its all so possible to achieve a righteous life after salvation.

Titus 1;2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.

I don't know exactly what you mean by salvation. Until we are restored to perfection after Armageddon there is no way to be free from sin. It is a condition we see we obtained at the inception of the human race back in the garden of Eden. Adam and eve disobeyed god by eating the forbidden fruit and that is when sin entered the world. After that account they started having children after they where no longer perfect through sin.

Romans 5:12 explains this "12 That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned. 13 For sin was in the world before the Law, but sin is not charged against anyone when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death ruled as king from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the same way that Adam transgressed, who bears a resemblance to the one who was to come.

Jesus provided us with a means for forgiveness and salvation with his ransom sacrifice. It allows god to forgive us because we are imperfect and sinful. We will remain Imperfect until we are made perfect again. As for the timing on when that happens, well that's up to god to decide when all people have had the chance of serving him.

We were born in sin. But we can rely on God not to fall in it. No one is clean, but every time the devil suggests a thought we replace it immediately. We condemn it with what the Lord teach in the bible.

The devil may use anyone close to you. Some say you will not make it. "You are not clever, you are a failure. You will not get a job. You will not over come financial problems."

But immediately when someone says such condemning words, I receive strength from the lord who strengthens me. Every time they say this to me, I say, "I have done better other times; I can improve." Stay in the present. Learning from the past, planning ahead, you can face any challenge. Every time you feel upset you look for what is right, replacing it immediately. Because anything negative grows like a seed, you don't have to spend time praying in tongues over what somebody said. Calling people for prayer, you just replace a good thought.

There is disagreement on this. Many denominations believe that we always sin, some going so far as to say that even our best is still sin to God, even after salvation. Others, such as the Nazarenes, teach a doctrine called Entire Santification, which claims that by wholly submitting to the Holy Spirit, it is possible to reach a point at which we no longer sin. In spite of that teaching, I've never met someone who claims that they are no longer sinning.

Even Paul wrote of doing what he knew he shouldn't do, and not doing what he should. None of the Biblical characters are ever depicted as reaching a point of no longer sinning.

No, and here's why.

When I was young, I went to a Catholic grammar school. The teachers made it perfectly clear: Follow the Ten Commandments if you want to go to Heaven.

Now you may have noticed - The Decalogue, for the most part, is a list of things that you must not do if you want to go to Heaven. So as a child I wondered: If that's the case, and Heaven is what all Catholics strive for, why don't parents prevent their children from participating in society in order to absolutely ensure that they will honor this list of "don'ts" and virtually guarantee their passage to Heaven?

Of course, as I got older, I realized how absolutely absurd this idea was, but I actually think that my childhood "literalist" interpretation of the Ten Commandments might help to illustrate my point.

To live the life of a Christian is to live the life of Jesus. If you "Love thy neighbor as thyself", to your fullest capacity, every day of your life, then you've done just that. At the risk of sounding irreverent, you may think of the Ten Commandments as guidelines to help you decide how you can "Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself."

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting that you ignore the Sabbath, and disrespect your parents. I'm just acknowledging that living life at any time in any society will present problems and conflicts. Our imperfect human vessels may "sin" and violate the Ten Commandments from time to time. But at the end of the day, if you endeavor to "Love thy neighbor as thyself", you really can't go wrong.

Some say that we can not live a life without sin, as this is unattainable! Why not? "...:go and sin no more" John 8:11, This is what Jesus told a woman caught in sin. I think those that don't believe we can live without sin in our lives are getting sin and temptation mixed up! Temptation is like the birds flying around your head, sin is like allowing them to build a nest in your hair! How long did it take this woman to learn? Repent means to turn from sin. This is what she did!"... now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2. Salvation came to her that day. She was not about to go back into what she just got forgiven for. And Jesus would not have told her to do something that's imposable. She will be tempted, but Jesus did not tell her not to be tempted, He told her not to sin! James 1:14,15 "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." There is a progression. We are to "nip it in the bud". Thats what Jesus was saying and thats what we must and can do with the spirits help."But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Romans 8:9. Paul said in Galatians 5:16, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Are you any of his or none of his? Thats the only thing you need concern yourself with!

The Bible states that human are born sinful.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 51.5)

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. (Romans 3.10-12)

But John Wesley wrote a book named A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (short explanation of the book). The book is still debated to this day. I do not know any other christian or evangelical demonination that would argue in favor of perfection this side of heaven.

The Catholic might say, "yes" and point to the doctrines surrounding the Virgin Mary. But, this does not really answer the question as you asked, whether it is possible to achieve this life (Mary was exempt from original sin).

While the testimony of the Saints is unanimous in the fact that you can live in near-sinlessness state (where you are free from mortal sin) (Fire Within by Dubay goes into some detail about John of the Cross's and Teresa of Avila's thoughts on this), the fact that there is a requirement that the faithful go to confession during Lent suggests that the Church does not believe that it is possible to go a year without sin.

That is exactly what Jesus Christ did.

But I take your question to mean, can one of God’s created beings (humans) possibly live without sin on earth. The answer to that is no and the justification is really very simple.

A created being does not understand the mind of the Creator. The clay does not declare to the potter, it is not right for you to make such and such of me. The pile of clay can only allow the potter to make something of it. It cannot fashion itself into a plate or a pot.

Like the clay, we need to go to our Creator to learn, first, just what sin is(!), then to learn how God would like us to deal with it. And if we are still learning, then we cannot live a life without sin because we do not yet properly act or react with the appropriate love or other quality that is needed. Presently, God alone knows perfectly how to properly act and react with the appropriate love or other quality and so lives without sin.

Someday, we will have learned fully and live without sin, but not today.

Edit:

I apologize, I was not very careful. I answered only the title of this question. I have not fully answered the body.

The biblical doctrine you are asking about can be termed “total sanctification”.

Now the water is muddied a little by equating a “completely holy” life as that which is one without any acts of sin in it. I submit that a “completely holy” life must be much broader than simply not sinning. Where is worship? Where is praise? Where is a willingness to serve as our Lord would like?

As I write this, I am asking myself the question, is a sin free life my only goal? My answer is, I don’t think so because there is no fruit bearing in simply living a life free of sin. In John 10:10 Jesus says “I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” Life with God is meant to be so much more than simply not sinning. But I digress.

There are two seemingly valid but opposite views for total sanctification.

Matt 5:48 where Jesus tells his hearers, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”

Paul says saints will be equipped for building the body “until we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13).

Paul prays “May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:23)

And in Hebrews “the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ” (Heb 13:20-21)

The above view seems to indicate it is very possible to achieve total sanctification. But the opposite view seems to also be clearly endorsed.

1 John 1:8-10: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

Then what about Paul in Romans: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing (Rom 7:18-19).

So how is one to deal with a doctrine that seems to have two valid and totally opposite views? I think we should turn to the book of Job. God himself declared Job blameless and upright. I submit he must be an example of total sanctification. Job feared God and turned away from all evil. Clearly total sanctification - a life without sin.

But as we read the rest of the book, we find things broke down and Job sinned. In the end Job confessed and repented and God accepted and restored him. If he was restored, didn’t he return to when he feared God and turned away from all evil? Wasn’t he back to a life without sin?

So let me explain what I believe is a doctrinal position for total sanctification. To your question I say, yes, it is possible to live a life without sin in it. However, if this goes on for an extended period of time, you are stagnate and not growing in the grace of Jesus Christ.

If I choose not to be stagnate, then I will be asking the Holy Spirit to make known any inner sin I am hiding or sin I am somehow blinded to or to put me in some sort of situation where I will, like Job, be tested and fail so I might gain a more complete level of purity like Jesus Christ.

For: “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continue to sin has either seen him or known him.” (1 John 3:3-6)

I want to be found living a life where the Almighty God of Creation is active in cleansing me of all sin. I think if I am living a life without sin, either I have achieve this perfect cleansing (ha!) or I am not seeking all that God can make of me. I guess I am not really eager for my “total sanctification.”

The OP's question: Can a Christian live free from sin?

Many here say no. To them, my question is, "If you could live a life free from sin, would you?" If your answer is no, then there is no need to continue reading. If, however, you answer is yes, I will give you a few scriptures to read.

John 1:12: "...but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name."

What does it mean to be a son/child of God, and for what is the power that John said he will give us?

1 John 3:1: "What manner of love hath the father bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God."

John goes on to say,

3:6-7 and 9: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not, whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither know him. Little children let n o man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous. . . . Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin..."

This is what the power spoken of in St John 1:12 is for.

1John 4:4: "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world."

This is the power that he gives his children, power over sin in this life. Remember the mission of Christ Matthew 1:21

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus, and he shall save his people from their sins."

He came to save or deliver us from our sins. Also look at Titus 2:11,12:

"For the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

This is how the bible teaches we should live here in this life. Some believe that everyone is going to fall sometimes, but Christ didn’t teach that at all. Matthew 7:24- 27 says

“'Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.'”

Christ made it clear in his world that if we simply do what he says we will not fall. This was also taught by the apostles.

Jude 24: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present your faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”

Christ is not only our savior, but he is also our keeper; once he has saved us, Halleluiah!!! I didn’t intend to write this much, but I feel that it is necessary.

Finally, remember this, Christ has all power.

Matthew 28:18: “. . . All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Moreover, he said in John 1:12 that he would give us the power. Anyone who says that they cannot live free from sin is correct, because in your own strength you cannot. Jesus said it in Matthew 19:25-26

“When his disciples heard it they were exceedingly amazed, saying Who then can be saved?" (but I am so glad the story didn’t stop there) "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, 'With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.'”

Once people came in contact with Jesus and he forgave them of their sins and they were no longer condemned in his eyes he gave them a parting message in John 5:14 and 8:11,

“'. . .sin no more . . .,'" and John 8:11, “'Go and sin no more.”

I welcome you to email me directly and I will explain further how this is to be done. Once we stand before God our profession will not matter; all that will matter is if there is sin in our lives.

John 8:21: “. . . go my way, and ye shall seek me, and die in your sins: whither I go ye cannot come.”

Christ also had a message for those that profess to be Christians and still commit sin (work iniquity):

Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone that saith unto me 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?' And then will I profess unto them, 'I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'”