Do Christians Sin (1 John 1:8 vs. 1 John 3:9)?

Sinless Perfection

The issue of sinless perfection causes somewhat of a rift between evangelicals. Conservative fundamentalists argue that Christians are positionally sanctified since we’re indwelt with the Holy Spirit at salvation, but we won’t be experientially sanctified (made perfect) until we get to heaven. On the other hand, many charismatics believe that Christians can receive a “second blessing” whereby they receive the “filling” of the Spirit at some point following salvation at which they reach sinless perfection. (Conservatives also believe in repeated filling of the Spirit, but only as it applies to restoring temporal fellowship with God by confession of sin, as explained in 1 John 1:9.)

However, there is a concrete (yet subtle) answer to this question in the scriptures. Interestingly enough, this answer first appears in a form which seems to indicate that the scriptures are contradicting themselves.

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