Is it possible to live your life only doing things that are honoring to God?

Answer

Every Christian desires to honor God. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all our actions, without exception, brought glory to Him? However, can a Christian achieve a sinless state? Is it realistic to anticipate that with time, we can spiritually progress to a point where we never falter? There might be two responses to this inquiry.

First and foremost, striving for holiness should be the aim of every child of God. God instructs us to “be holy as I am holy” “because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”, (1 Peter 1:16). Moreover, He empowers us to achieve this. Second Peter 1:3 affirms, “His divine power has granted us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Peter then proceeds in verses 5–7 to outline the stages of spiritual development that complement each other: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and agape love. He concludes with a remarkable pledge: “For if you do these things, you will never stumble” (verse 10). So, does this imply that perfection is attainable?

According to this passage, it is. Intentional sins can be conquered through continual surrender to God’s will. Nevertheless, Peter is not suggesting that every believer will consistently live in total triumph. He is merely asserting that if we possess these virtues abundantly, we will not succumb to sin’s snares. How many of us can honestly claim that we consistently exhibit agape love as God does? Do we possess all-encompassing knowledge in every circumstance? Our objective is to emulate Jesus (Romans 8:29;1 John 4:17). Nonetheless, we face two adversaries that oppose this objective: Satan and our own sinful nature (Romans 7:18-23;1 Peter 5:8).

When our lives are completely surrendered to the Holy Spirit, we can anticipate living above sins of the will, such as sexual immorality, stealing, and lying. These are sins we consciously choose, and God expects us to overcome them with His strength and power “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”, (Romans 8:37). Therefore, we can opt to do only those things that honor God.

On the contrary, we still reside within the constraints of our physical bodies. We are susceptible to conflicting passions and emotions, such as self-pity, anger, and fear. A single lustful or covetous thought tarnishes perfection and thus negates any notion that we can live above sin. This is why we are instructed to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”, (2 Corinthians 10:5). Frequently, the most significant battles with the flesh occur internally, unnoticed by others. Some sins are only acknowledged in hindsight. How often have we spoken and later realized, “I shouldn’t have said that”?

Hence, while it may be achievable to attain self-control and Spirit guidance that leads to only doing things that honor God, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”, (Jeremiah 17:9). Often, we do not comprehend our own motivations or recognize our own flaws until God reveals them to us. This is why God urges us to confess our sins and keep our hearts cleansed, never presuming.That we are sinless. First John 1:8-9 makes this clear: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The wise Christian does not assume he or she has attained sinless perfection. Doing so is pride, which is sin (James 4:6; Proverbs 16:5). We should examine ourselves continually to see if our ways please the Lord. We can pray with David, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). We can also pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). We also must guard against legalism, which makes us feel we must be perfect in order for God to approve of us.

Romans 7 records the apostle Paul’s impassioned struggle with his own flesh and is an encouragement to the rest of us. Ultimately, we can all say, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (verse 25). Psalm 103:13-14 comforts us as we recognize our inability to be all we were created to be: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” When we remember that Jesus alone is our righteousness before God, “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

According to (2 Corinthians 5:21), we have the freedom to joyfully serve God from a heart filled with love instead of fear.