The Bottom Line

There are, to my knowledge, three main issues that need to be discussed when considering sanctification:

1) What does God require of us as believers? What exactly qualifies as sin?

2) Does the Bible represent Christians as having the ability to do everything that God requires of them?

3) Have any Christians truly stopped sinning? Do we have any examples?

The Bible declares with all the authority of God that we are to stop sinning. But many who claim to teach the Bible say that this is impossible. They not only disobey the injunctions of scripture, they don't even think we should consider the possibility of abiding consistently in Christ! Jesus said, "Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect,". Hank Hanegraaff, on the other hand, says that you can't be perfect. In the Great Commission, Jesus told us to make disciples and teach them to obey all that he had commanded. Despite this, Hanegraaff seems compelled to teach the exact opposite of this. He instead teaches people that, they cannot obey all that Jesus has commanded.

The apostle Paul taught me that I'm dead to sin and should not live in it any longer. But Hanegraaff told me that "We are riddled with sin!", and that "As long as you are living and breathing, my friend, you will sin". Paul said that I should not, but Hank insisted that I must. To whom shall I listen?

Why

Whether we like it or not, all of us are in this war with the flesh (Gal 5). This I cannot deny. But the question that dogged me for years was, "How obedient can I, and should I, be?" This book is a result of my quest to find that answer. You are free to disagree with me and even oppose me outright. I have no idea what ideas you presently hold, but it is complete foolishness not to consider more than one side of an issue. Like the man who insists that there is no sky, yet refuses to look up, is the man who insists that he is right because he thinks he can't be wrong.

Your experience

First of all, I want to say that neither your experience nor mine has any weight in this debate. There are many possible reasons for your present lack of holiness, such as:

1) If you accept and believe the fallacy that you have to sin, it's no wonder that you do! Just remember, in so doing, you are accusing Almighty God of lying, since He plainly said:

"Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under Law but under Grace."

2) You are bound to sin when you refuse to believe God's Word, which clearly states that: "You have been set free from sin." What is this, then, but pure unbelief decorated and paraded as a gospel truth! I'm saying, read the Bible! I'm calling for reformation! I'm calling for revival!

Hank Hanegraaff

Hank Hanegraaff (President of the Christian research institute) holds the widely accepted view that the obedience God asks of us as believers is a wonderful ideal a great concept but impossible to follow. In fact he declares despite God's power and Grace, it is unreasonable to expect someone to live a whole day without sinning.

I believe what God requires is very reasonable and very possible to obey. It is my purpose to show that this is very clearly taught in the bible, and the opposing arguments are very shallow and easily shown to be false. Even beyond that I intend to demonstrate that Hanegraaff quotes scripture but in many cases teaches the exact opposite. Hank himself often tells people to compare his teachings to the scripture this is just what I have done and on this issue, the bible speaks for itself to any and all who will listen. Hanegraaff also advises people to judge teaching as apposed to judging peoples hearts. I will not judge his heart and have benefitted from his teaching in many regards, but believe this issue is important enough that the church should think through the issues involved. I have chosen Hank because he is very respected in the Evangelical world, therefore he is well able to represent the other side of the debate. I would consider that by showing even the best arguments given by him and others can be shown to be false, it will make the issues clear in your mind. You will even see that I even use principles he commonly expresses to contradict his own conclusions. It is the purpose of this writer to echo the word of God when it says stop sinning.