Saints means "holy ones". The only reason we can be called that is because we are IN HIM who alone is HOLY, not because we never sin. Apparently you were never taught that, or you ignored it.
I would like to take you back to John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch
in Me that does not bear fruit He
takes away; and every
branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."
You cannot be a lukewarm Christian and bear no fruit.
James says that "we all stumble in many ways" - including YOU. That means you sin from time to time, just as I do, just as all saints do. It doesn't mean that we are no longer righteous in God's eyes - the blood of Jesus cleansed us from all sin when we were born again, and it continues to cleanse us as we confess any known sin - and it will continue to cleanse us until Jesus returns.
I'm glad you are born again and Jesus has taken away the desire to commit any of the last 6 commandments of the 10. Those are the sins unto death. And then the glorification process begins and may take a long time to mature the fruit of the Spirit that when immature causes us to commit sins NOT unto death. Those are the sins of 1 John 1:7. To be glorified: 2 Peter 1:5-11 shows that we can in this lifetime get to a place where we never stumble!
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound,
you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This is why, charismaticlady, that I would bet $1000 that you are not married
You're right. I was married twice. The first time to a Nashville recording artist and actor for five years. But he kept lying to me pathologically it seemed. It was during this marriage that while
on the road I met a pentecostal woman in 1971 and during a debate on cessationism, thankfully I lost! She saved my eternal life!
Then after 15 years of being divorced and still in the entertainment world I married a fellow employee at 20th Century Fox. He also was a pathological liar. But this was my fault. The whole week before the wedding I felt God saying "NO" and I questioned if it was really God. But it was, and seeing as he had no cause to divorce me to marry the wife of his best friend, I haven't dated. In 2001 he is still the last man I kissed. Now my relationship with God is on fire. He is my teacher, my provider, my everything! And He is not a man that He should LIE!
No Christian abides in Christ 24/7. We should and we want that, but that's not reality.
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."
Abiding in Jesus is the most important commandment a Christian must continuously do. Read long passages daily. Memorize the Word. Find and attend a good Bible teaching church. Pray. Praise Him every time the littlest thing happens that is good. Love for Jesus then overflows to others. Being on Christian forums helps us grow Christ-like fruit as bullies are always around to try and knock us down. Try not to react like the heathen would. I've been on Christian forums for about 15 years and I see a great change in myself. It is nothing of myself but is all Jesus doing the finishing touches on my life. Remember, Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. That is like Romans 1:17 from faith to faith! He first takes away the sin out of our nature. Heretics believe we will always have a sin nature, not recognizing the power of God in the gospel. I literally felt a dark heaviness lift out of my body in 1977 when after 30 years of attending church, I finally went to a Spirit-filled church and 6 months later saw a vision of my sin, heard God's voice and repented fully and was baptized in the Holy Spirit.