Q4. A Defeatist Attitude toward Sin

[Irmela]

No we don't have to sin and neither are we compelled to sin. We are encouraged to withstand the evil. JAMES 4:7 RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU. With the Spirit living in us, we are able to do so. 

With the help of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we are able to have the victory over sin. As we are still living in our mortal bodies, we do sin at times but if we admit it and confess that sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:9.

The defeatist attitude can be because there are times when it just seems that one does not have victory over a specific sin and we seem to be tripped up by it over and over again. We do need to hand over the reigns completely for VICTORY 

[Krissi]

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here -- YES, we have to sin. No human is perfect, only Christ. Our sinful natures persist after salvation, though are tempered by sanctification. We get "better" as we age in Him, but not perfect. Sin is a fact of our lives. 

Our sins change. What was once blatant becomes subtle; what was once hard to control becomes mostly, but never completely, conquered. Our old nature slowly dies within us, but until it is completely gone, we will sin. The compulsion to sin has to do with our own nature.

Frankly, I find it amazing that people think they're capable of not sinning. Maybe I'm the only bad one here??

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No thought in our head is completely pure ... we can't even know what perfection would be like. It's inconceivable. I'm thinking of Luther who realized, after much struggle, that without grace, he'd never be able to confess all his sins, not just of the past but of the present. Thank God for His grace! Without His unmerited favor and willingness to save us in our daily lives -- not only the one-time salvation experience, but the continuing saving we need to be clean from sin in our redeemed lives -- we would surely give up.

Accepting the fact that we will continually battle sin is NOT a defeatist attitude. It's one that realistically looks at the fact of our sin nature, it's persistent pull at our minds. It's an attitude that wants to battle, not pretend that we've already won. It's a reminder that while we are here on earth, perfection will never be ours, that we have to wait until we die and are united with Christ in heaven before we understand what a sinless life is like.

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Note there isn't a third, perfected option. We are either a speck and a plank. We are all "specked," minimally.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.