How can God expect Christians to try their best to be perfect when we can't?

Question

and if Christ paid the punishment for our sins, why should we bother trying to be sinless? Do you have to confess every little sin to be forgiven, or is it auotomatically taken care of when you have faith that Christ died and rose from the dead?

I know God knows we aren't perfect and we can't achieve perfection, but the impression I get is that He still wants us to be. I would but thats sounds impossible.

Answer 1

Just kill everyone you want. Jesus will forgive you.
Are you out of your mind?

For RB: Hey man, he's God. He knows all your sins. Why do you need to confess?

Answer 2

God created us to love him and trust him. He knows that we cant be perfect, and everyone knows that you cant be perfect, no matter how hard you try. But just because we cant achieve perfection, God wont turn his back on you or disown you. THe whole Christian Faith in centered on us admitting our imperfection and accepting Gods love. When Christ died on the cross and rose again, he gave everyone a chance to start over, a clean slate, even though he knew that we could never be perfect. Thats the beauty of it God loved us so much that he would send his son to die for an imperfect people in order that through forgiveness they may be made more like God. Although you can never be perfect, forgiveness brings you closer to God. This whole answer sounds confusing, you should talk to a pastor or someone for a better explanation.

Answer 3

Christians are expected to try their best

We won't ever be sinless

Yes we need to confess sin, we need to come to Him with a clean heart, for Him to hear our prayer.

To think we can do anything we want and God will forgive us , is not what the bible teaches. God did not give us a "license to sin".

He made a way for our sins to be forgiven
for us to be sanctified (set apart from the world)
He gives us instructions on how to live - Starting with loving God and seeking His will in our lives - loving our neighbor as ourselves. Trust God and obey His Word.

If you interested I would suggest start studying the bible. If you need help getting started with that or have other questions along these lines feel free to contact me.

Answer 4

No no no silly,....God doesn't want us to be perfect, trust me it hurts when you are just rejected for trying. He just wants us to live as well, and as good, and as best as we can down here on Earth! Yea Jesus did die for our sins but No he doesn't expect us to be perfect, or even close to it! And YES we DO have to confess our sins to the Lord, and renounce the as well. That's a really GREAT deal,...... think about it,..... Jesus life for us to live in eternity with Jesus Christ. I am SO excited for the day He comes back to get me and all of the Christan's. Well I just hope that you will one Day become a Christan,....unless you are already. But I will pray for you!

God Bless you
Fly♥Freak!

Answer 5

God does not expect us to be perfect; he does expect us to ask for forgiveness when we've done something wrong though...

we should strive to be sinless because it pleases the Lord for us to be pure and set apart from the world.

Christ did not pay punishment for us to just have wild lives; he leaves serious instructions for us in the Bible...New Testament and Old.

I hope this answers your questions.

~MennoGirl2~

Answer 6

You don't necessarily have to confess your sins to a man like yourself, but confessing your sins to your father in heaven would take care of it!!
To answer your primary question, If you read the bible you would have notice that God doesn't expect you to try and be perfect. He already knows we cannot!! However, god expects us to allow the Holy Spirit to leads us to make wise choices - really, for our own good, because bad choices have bad consequences.
The forgiveness of sin is a gift, and for it to take effect you have to accept it. If you deliberately live a disorderly life you automatically rejecting the gift of grace.

Answer 7

when you come to Christ and you ask Him into your life you at the same time ask for forgivenss for all your sins, as for us being perfect and without sin we can't be perfect, we are humans and we will make mistakes, and yes when we do make mistakes we do ask God for forgivenss, every night I ask God to forgive me for any and all sins that I have done that day, if it was speaking out the worng way, to being selfish, or cussing, it is a sin against God and yes I have to ask for forgivenss..Jesus died for each of us for our sins but God knew that we wouldn't be able to be perfect..on 1John 2:1 it tells us not to sin, but if we do sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous..Yeah no one is prefect and God is very aware of it, and yeah we still have to confess out sins..Blessings

Answer 8

My goodness, to be perfect? My Bible says to invite Christ into your heart that his ways are gentle, and he'll instruct you on what is good, just as a real Father would to a child, out of love.
Years ago I saw a bumper sticker on a car that is soooo true, it said: I'm not perfect, just forgiven.

Answer 9

Their is a few that say that perfection is a cosmopolitan be conscious which could on no account be reached via somebody,yet this too is a cosmopolitan fact for perfection could be reached if my toddlers could in basic terms attempt to attain it. the ideal thank you to start in this highway is to coach the holy rosary for international peace and for all of Gods toddlers to desire the holy rosary. it truly is a blessing and a our father prayed in common terms for you. detect and detect the presents of apparitions that my father has despatched on your religious coaching,amusement and enrichment,for as in Gods Pieta Prayer e book,large are the heavenly treasures interior those presents. it truly is a loving hug from god for all of you.

Answer 10

In the early Christian Church, the Apostle Paul was confronted by those who thought grace would be a license and a shield for sin: "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." (Rom. 6:15-16.)

The false doctrine of salvation by grace without commitment or loyalty violates the terms of the gospel covenant by asking Jesus to do for me what I could very well do for myself--but don't want to. Anyone can pretend to be doing their best and pretend to be justified by faith in Christ and to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost, while in truth they remain obstinately committed to their sins.

Individuals who commit the moral and doctrinal error of refusing to do what they could very well do seek to be saved "in" their sins rather than "from" their sins. But that can never happen. There is a vast difference between viewing my sins as enemies from which I'm trying with difficulty to escape and viewing my sins as comfortable old friends I'm reluctant to leave behind.

There is a difference between being unable to conquer all my sins right now, in which case the covenant promises me hope, and being unwilling even to try, in which case I am left to face justice alone. The covenant offers grace and forgiveness through ongoing repentance both to those who try and succeed and to those who try but fail yet try again, However, there is no forgiveness for those who will not try, or who try once or twice without success and then give up.

For what I believe to be the most clear and concise article on the tough topic "Are we saved by grace or by works?" please click on the source link. This topic is very worthy of discussion. Thanks for submitting your question. I'm sure it will get a lot of people thinking deeply about Christianity and their view of it.