Is it possible not to sin daily?

Question:

What do you think about the statement that a preacher said from the pulpit that he does not sin every day and then said that the closer and the more we grow in Christ the less we sin?

Answer:

John warns that we should never think that we immune to the problem of sin. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (I John 1:8). Therefore, we must ever be vigilant against sin. "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12).

However, I know of no passage that claims that a person sins daily. Instead, the Christian is told to strive to remove sin from his life.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2).

"Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame" (I Corinthians 15:34).

The goal is not to sin. If we do stumble, we have a way out.

"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (I John 2:1).

But it would be false to conclude that such sins occur daily or are even necessarily frequently. The Christian is striving to become like Christ, who knew no sin. "But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head -- Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). We won't reach the perfection that Christ has, but we do strive to imitate him. Thus, in that growth, if we are successful, one would expect to find the occurrences of sin to become less frequent as the Christian gains skills in battling sin. "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

Think of it this way, did Jesus give the adulterous woman an impossible task when he told her, "go and sin no more" (John 8:11)?

Question:

I should have also asked if you as a preacher feel that it is arrogant or prideful to say “I don’t sin every day …” from the pulpit? Would you as a preacher make that kind of a statement?

Answer:

It is a biblically sound statement. You have no evidence that it is contrary to the Scriptures. To condemn a man for saying something that can be accurate and ought to be accurate is a sad commentary on your own heart. "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?" (James 4:11-12).

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