I have discovered in recent years that nothing... can get a rise out of professing ‘believers’ quicker... than to suggest they can be set free where they can actually go and ‘sin no more’.

“Nobody can do that!”, I’ve been told. “I don’t know anyone who lives like that except Jesus!”, I’ve been assured. “Are you saying you don’t sin?”...I’ve been asked.

“We will always sin on this side of heaven!”; “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”; “We are simply ‘saints’ who sin”. “Oh...now you are getting off into that dangerous doctrine of ‘sinless perfection’”. Yep...I’ve heard all of these voiced to me in the past 5 years.

And yet...every time I go back into God’s word (which is daily), I see just the opposite jumping off the pages. (1 Pet. 4:1-2; 1 John 3:6,9; 5:18; John 8:34-36; 5:14).

Let me ask you this: Why would Jesus have issued such seemingly unreasonable, unrealistic and impossible to do ‘commands’ ...to flawed humans...if He knew it was impossible to do? You know...things like “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect” or “Go and sin no more or else something worse may come upon you.” (Matt. 5:48;John 5:14; 8:11)

Has it ever occurred to you that we in the ‘church’ may have a ‘messaging problem’, where we continue to tell the world (and ourselves) that we ‘transformed believers’ will continue to sin because we can’t live a sinless life...and yet...love to remind everyone how we can ‘do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us’, from that often quoted verse found in Phil. 4:13.

So which is it? No, really...maybe it’s time to stop and give this some thought and then choose ‘which side’ you will align yourself with, because we are warned repeatedly of the outcome of those who fail to ‘do the will of God’ (Matt. 7:21-23; 1 John 2:3-6; Gal. 5:21; Rev. 21:7-8; 22:14-15)

I think it’s important that we circle back at times and revisit certain passages that are easy to set aside or dismiss, passages like what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 10:1-13. He points out how that first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt, having been set free by God...and yet how God was ‘not pleased with them as their bodies were scattered (died off) in the wilderness” (5). And if you’ve been taught to believe that you are the ‘apple of His eye’ and nothing you do can change the way God feels about you, you might go underline Romans 8:7-8, and Luke 6:46.

Paul goes on to list multiple examples of how the people continued to stumble and fall and sin and rebel...and then suffered the consequences of God’s wrath. Twice, we are told there in that passage in 1 Cor. 10...that ‘these things happened to them as examples and warnings to us...upon who them end of the ages has come’ (6,11).

When you read through Hebrews 3, we are warned to ‘beware...lest our hearts fall away from the living God as the deceitfulness of sin hardens us’ (12-13), while once again pointing to that first generation of people who ‘always went astray in their hearts’ (8-10) and ‘because of their unbelief and disobedience...were unable to enter the land’ that God had for them (17-19). So why do you think that passage spills straight into chapter 4 with the warning to “fear...lest any of you come short of entering’ (4:1).

Friends...are you aware of the final straw that angered God to the point where he basically ‘washed his hands’ of that first group of people, (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) and let them die off in the wilderness as they wandered for the next 40 years? You might want to spend some time today reviewing Numbers 13-14, as the story is laid out for us to read and learn from; and you should see some insightful truths there that apply to us all today.

God was ready to take these people into the promised land where He could bless them beyond their wildest imaginations and dreams. Let’s not forget...they had been living as slaves, groaning from their misery (Ex.1:13-14; 2:23-25; 3:7-8), and God in His mercy wanted to change that for them (John 8:34-36). And yes, there were some missteps and blunders and moments where they showed their true colors in those early days of their deliverance. “Babes in Christ’ tend to do that; which is why we are assured that ‘IF...we sin...we have an advocate with the Father’ (1 John 2:1)...but that is not the place we are to remain in, as Hebrews 6:1 reminds us.

So now the day has come when God wants to lead them across the Jordan river where they can go in to possess the land God has for them. And if you remember, it was decided to send in 12 spies to check out the land ahead of time as we read in Numbers 13. Those 12 men returned after 40 days with some of the fruit of the land along with the assurance that it was a land flowing with ‘milk and honey’ (13:28).

But then 10 of the 12 spies were also quick to mention these ‘giants’ that were on the land as well. This should not have come as a surprise to anyone since God had already made it clear they were there. They began to describe how strong and large and fortified they were and more numerous and then loudly proclaimed: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”(28-31). We then read how they ‘gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land’ (32), as they saw themselves as ‘grasshoppers’ in comparison to these ‘giants’ (33).

The next thing you know...this ‘lie of despair and defeat’ spreads through the camp and it affects the whole group... who seemingly do an ‘about face’, wishing they could have just died in Egypt or in the wilderness. Many were ready to turn back and return to their life of slavery’ (14:1-4). This is when both Joshua and Caleb stood up to refute this quickly spreading lie as they reminded the people what God had to say about the matter (14:6-9).

Do you know how the rest of those folks responded? Check out Numbers 14:10 where we are told the ‘congregation was ready to stone them with stones’. That’s a pretty harsh way to suggest that just maybe ‘God’s grace’...isn’t enough?

Like I said...nothing will get a rise quicker out of professing believers...than to suggest they too...can be free of sin and overcome all...the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).