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There is no way we can become sinlessly perfect while we are still in this body of sin, but that does not give us an excuse to give up pursuing perfection (He.6:1). There is a level of perfection that is nearer to us which we must press on to. Let us differentiate between sinless perfection and the perfection we can aim for. Sinless perfection is something we can have only in eternity when God gives us a glorified body. Till then, even after we are born again, we carry around with us our 'flesh' (which was the apostle Paul's way of referring to the remnants of our old nature), from which sinful desires would tempt us (Ga.5:24). Since we have this store of lusts within us, and we are not always aware of the sinfulness of the thoughts that come to us, we may many times end up doing things that we later realise were wrong (Ro.7:19,20). We cannot be sinlessly perfect in this situation, but we can learn and become increasingly aware of how we are being deceived by our lusts, and stop falling for the same tricks again and again.

"For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members" (vv.22,23). The first part of this passage shows us what is possible for us, and the second part tells us our limitations because of the presence of sinful desires within our flesh. To joyfully concur with the law of God in our inner man is to wholeheartedly accept God's ways and desire to do everything in a way that pleases Him. This is our goal and intention. Perfection at this level is what is within our reach, where our heart is pure towards God (Mt.5:8). If we compromise here, by thinking that once in a while we have to give in to our desires or make other people happy, that will show us that we are not pressing on towards perfection.

One mistake some people make is to imagine that they have reached here, and now sin cannot trouble them any more. They use various verses to convince themselves mentally that they are entirely sanctified. But then the reality of sin will hit them sooner or later, and then they are tempted to hide behind verses, redefine sin as mistakes, claim grace, etc. That is where we must be honest and realistic.

We are not going to be sinlessly perfect here. Our intentions can be pure, and they must, but due to reasons such as ignorance or weakness, we will find ourselves doing things which we did not want or intend. We have to accept this reality, and then keep dealing with it honestly if we are to really press on to perfection (Php.3:12). We will keep finding in our life things we used to do earlier without knowing that they were displeasing to God, and now we can overcome those. As we work with the word of God and keep listening to the Holy Spirit, the area of our life that needs transformation becomes bigger in our eyes. We can now purify our hearts better.

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