Can Believers Be Sinless?

Some people believe that people will be able to live sinlessly here on earth as Christ did.

True believers are positionally righteous, but we still have to battle the flesh here on earth. 

Believers are no longer slaves to sin, but we are not practically without sin here on earth.

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 
Colossians 3:3 NASB

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5 ESV

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 

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.
Wretched man that I am!  Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Romans 7:21-25 NASB

Repentance & fruit will be evident as the Spirit works.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

1 John 1:8 -10 NASB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 NASB

Christians have been sanctified and are being sanctified and will desire to obey. 

Believers are told in Scripture to walk by the Spirit and not carry out the desires of the flesh. 

As Christians, we are to do good deeds (but they are not the means - in part or in whole - of making us right positionally with God). 

This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds.
These things are good and profitable for men.
Titus 3:8 NASB

There are those who claim to be saved but do not have a living faith.   

Their lives demonstrate that they do not truly believe.

 A living faith will have fruit (James 2:26).

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12-13 NASB

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 

The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:3-6 NASB

If there is no love for God at all (and I realize sometimes we as believers question our love for God due to seeing the remaining sin in our lives), & if there is no desire to submit to the Lord - then a person should examine themselves.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!  Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?
1 Corinthians 13:5 NASB

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Matthew 7:21 NASB

There are believers who stray, and they are disciplined to bring them back.

God will not lose any of His true sheep, but we may suffer.

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James 5:19-20 NASB

FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."
Hebrews 12:6 NASB

What we do to obey cannot make us right before God or keep us saved.  

Only what Christ did can justify us before God.   

We are saved by His grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

It is His blood that cleanses us from our sin...not our deeds.  

Jesus is the only one who was sinless on earth as God.  He was the only acceptable propitiation for sin.  

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB

To summarize:

There are no sinless believers.  We aren't justified by deeds in whole or in part.  Believers should be growing.  True faith will have some fruit.  If we disobey as believers, we will be disciplined.  

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
John 8:31 NASB

When Times Get Tough

When times get tough how do we respond?

We often seek to escape suffering, and try to find an easier way.
Whether dealing with recent court rulings, personal suffering, or a set back or discouragement in serving God,  people either pull back or they endure with patience.

It's normal to desire another way when facing suffering. 
Jesus on the Mount of Olives (garden of Gethsemane) said, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Found in Luke 22:42.)

The important thing for us is not to react with a sinful response by disobeying when God doesn't take away the trial.  Jesus didn't go to a plan B, even though He was rejected  by His enemies and abandoned by friends.
When we act in obedience and faith and perseverance, we are given grace and God is perfecting us (James 1:4).

Jesus gave us so many examples of obedience and how to endure suffering.
Though He was God, He humbled Himself and became a servant and obeyed to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-11).

So, what should be my motive for obedience?

Jesus had the motivation of joy set before Him. 
The Father exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every other name, so that at His Name all will bow and confess Jesus as Lord.
We also know that God has love for His sheep, and He laid down His life for those sheep (John 10:11).
I'm sure there are many motives for obeying God....joy, reverence, love for God which spreads to others, thankfulness, etc..
We endure for discipline as true children (Hebrews 12:7).
The joy set before us culminates in being with God, eternal pleasures, reward, and no more sin and suffering. 

Are we willing to sacrifice all to follow Christ?

If it means losing our source of income and freedom of speech (as the couple running the bakery in Oregon), if they come to take your children due to teaching them the truth about sin,  if our health suffers, and if our very lives are threatened and even taken....will we take the easy way out?
When others sin, do we pull back and give up or hide?
I think we need to be very careful before we in pride say that we would never run when the going gets tough, but what about the disciples who fled when Jesus was arrested?
Peter even swore He didn't know Jesus.  He was one of the most verbal and brave souls amongst them.  Would I be like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego (only a feminine version)? 
I know that my body reacts terribly to stress.
Then again Jesus' body reacted to a greater stress, and He is the example I want to follow.  I need to fix my eyes on Him (Hebrews 12:2-3). 

So, let's not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary (Galatians 6:9).

I need to love lost sinners, as the only good that is seen in me is really Christ's work and I have no righteousness of my own.

Murderers, homosexuals, gossips, fornicators, adulterers, thieves, liars,  etc. ....those behaviors are not found in the Kingdom of Heaven. 
We also know that such were some of us (Christians), but we were washed (cleansed) by the blood of Christ.  We weren't saved to continue in those sins, but we should see a change wrought in us.  God changes us, and we desire to obey Him.

So, we should have love and compassion though they mock us and prosecute us.

So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
Hebrews 13:13-14 NASB

Grace To You has a new Bible app!
This should be great for those who like to have access to some great teaching when they are out and about.