Sinless Perfection

There are some Christians who believe that they may be able to attain a state of existence known as sinless perfection. Basically, this is a state of such perfect righteousness that they are no longer bothered by the presence of sin in their lives. While this sounds very good for those of us who slog through our days fighting with temptations, the Bible very clearly tells us that such a state is not achievable on this side of heaven.
John states in 1 John 1:8-10, "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."
The problem is that every Christian is a recovering sinner, some are still practicing sinners and others commit sins that they are either unaware of or unwilling to recognize as sins. Now this raises the question, doesn't the Bible teach that sin is dead in the life of the Christian? The simple answer is 'No.' The Bible teaches that sin is powerless in the life of the Christian. Prior to salvation, sin is a slave master and we are its slaves. After salvation, the whip has been taken away from the slave master so he has no power over the freed slave, however, the slave master can still yell and rant at the freed slave. Think of sin as a toothless and clawless lion, he is still frightening when he roars, but he can do no real damage and we need not fear or obey him.
Sin is still present in the life of the Christian. It still tries to lead astray and cause us to fall into temptation, but we no longer have to obey that inclination to sin. We have been freed from the control of sin by the blood of Jesus. However, the apostle recognizes that Christians still succumb to sin, that is the reason for verse 9. The idea is that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, God is not only willing and able, but also justified and righteous in forgiving our sins as we recognize them for what they are and agree with God that they are sinful and despicable. The great thing about this is that, as we recognize the sins that we commit and confess them, God forgives the sins that we recognize and confess as well as all the unrighteousness that we have not recognized. We do not have to keep a record of all the sins we commit in the day to make sure we confess them all. The humility that we express by confessing the sins we know about is the impetus for God to forgive the sins of which we are unaware. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
So what if we refuse to recognize sin in our lives? John tells us that we are lying to ourselves if we deny the truth that the influence of sin is still present in our lives; while sin is in us, the understanding of truth is not. Also, John says that if we refuse to recognize the commission of sin in our lives, we call God a liar because we are unwilling to recognize sin for what it is; and while sin is in us, the truth of His word revealing our sin is not.
This boils down to pride and humility. Some Christians are too proud to recognize imperfection in their lives. Remember, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6) Applied in a similar way in 1 John, the concept is that God cannot forgive the sins of those who refuse to recognize them, while those who are humble enough to recognize them and confess them will receive God's grace in forgiveness. It's something to think about.