The age old question for Christians on the topic of transformation is this: "If I'm already saved and in Christ, why do is still continue in sin?"
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus spoke to the crowd saying, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Many people misunderstand this scripture thinking that God wants us to be perfect Christians who never sin, never doubt God and always put their faith in Him. If we had to be just that then no one would ever meet Jesus' standard because we all sin and we all have experienced doubting God at some point.
What Jesus is saying here is not "okay, if you really are Christians, you should act and be perfect." Jesus here is giving the people foresight into something that we all now see today: The transforming of our spirits into perfectly redeemed creatures through the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We are made perfect not by our own works, but by the grace of God.
So does that mean that we're stuck being imperfect people who will never change? Well, it's true that we may most probably remain imperfect throughout this current lifetime, but it doesn't mean we will never change. God's amazing grace also trains us to say no to sin (Titus 2:11-12), and puts us through a steady and progressive process of sanctification. What that means is that many of the sins and struggles you have today will no longer remain struggles years down the road with Christ.
But the reality is this - that we will continue to struggle with sin even though we are dead to it. Paul says it best in Romans 7:19-20, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me."
Because we are still stuck in this fallen world destroyed by sin and still remain in these defiled bodies ruled by sin, we are now faced with a dilemma. We still live in a sinful world and still exist in sinful form, but that doesn't mean that we are not under the authority of Christ. We are and will forever be under the power of the Holy Spirit and of the resurrection of Jesus if we live in faith in Jesus Christ.
Sure we may still fall every now and then, but in Christ, we will continue to be sanctified and forgiven, only more eager and willing to say no to sin the next time around. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." In Jesus there is no regret, but only sanctification and justification, believing that the day will come when we will be completely glorified and free from the occurrence of sin in our life.
