Abeliever said:
Yes, we will be given a reward for obeying God, and everyone loves that. BUT we will also receive some sort of punishment for a failure to obey God. When I was younger I was just as guilty of this as the next Christian. All I heard from older Christians was don't fret over your sins. No one is perfect and all is forgiven because you accepted Jesus. This is true, up to a point. We must grow as Christians. We must constantly be working on ourselves to eliminate every sin we have. And quite frankly Jesus also said, "Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect". So Jesus expects us to always be striving towards this goal. If we refuse to try, it will never happen, and after we leave Earth we will get a harsh pay back for every sin we refused to try and quit doing.
And not sinning is how we prove we love God.
Problem is, Abeliever, that it isn't going to be done in the flesh. If a Christian says, "I don't sin", there's only one way I can actually believe him -- because there is only one way he can actually be telling the truth. That is through grace. I can believe someone if they say, "I don't sin, because grace has been given to me through faith." Now, the earthly evidence will call them a liar, because even with grace, all flesh sins.
Paul spoke often of an inward and an outward man. Even he said his outward man sinned! He also said it wasn't him that was doing it, but the sin that dwelt in him.
I am not glossing over Col 3:25, but rather looking at it in respect to the rest of the Bible, especially Paul's teachings. He actually was into a moral code, and preached morals in the flesh. However, he also was very direct in preaching that all flesh sins and that grace covers all sins of the flesh. John agrees with him when he says, "My little children, sin not, but if ye do sin, we have an advocate..."
What I'd like you to do is compare Col 3:25 to Romans 5:20 which notes that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. Now before you respond, realize we can go tit-for-tat on verses about grace covering sin vs. not sinning to achieve obedience. My friend, you are NOT going to bring up a verse I haven't read before. I doubt I will bring up one you haven't heard either.
So here is my conclusion. We can do one of two things: 1. We can try to eliminate sin entirely from our lives through our own efforts. In doing so, we will become more "moral" beings, please our community and become better people in the flesh. As a result, we may even prosper financially and get along better with not only the brethren, but the community as well. I like that idea! However, we will still be sinners and still fall short in God's eyes and (I hate to say it) go to hell and await the White Throne Judgment, and then be cast into the lake of fire. Or 2. We can simply rely on grace through faith. We must firgure out what faith is... But it'll save us.
I pick the second option. I don't try to sin (I'm so good at it, I don't have to!) but then again I don't try not to sin either. I don't give any place to it.... I don't pay it any attention. If I do (and I often do) it's only because I want to get along with others. It's not because I want to get closer to God. I can only do that spiritually. My flesh is under my inward man's subjection, which means I make it go to Church, give to the Church and help the brethren as much as I can.
But abstaining from sin.... I've moved beyond that. It's such a petty battle that yields little results and God isn't interested in those victories or defeats anyway.