Nonintentional Sin

 The opposite of intentional sin is forced sin. No one can say, “The devil made me do it!’ God forces no one to sin. We are free moral agents. But all sin is willing in that we voluntarily choose to do it by a free act of our volition. But the difference with believers is that they really don’t want to sin, though they do by weakness: “Now I do what I do not want, I am no longer doing it, but it is sin living in me,” (cf. Romans 7:19). “And I do what I do not want to do, and I agree with the law that it is good, … what a wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (cf. Romans 7:16,24). “If I do that which I would not….” (cf. Romans 7:16).

After salvation, a person has a new power over sin (“Sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace,” cf. Romans 6:14) and is not the slave of sin but is still a sinner (He’s a justified sinner according to Gal. 2:17—both sinner and saved). But God doesn’t hold our sins against us (cf. Psalm 32:1)! There is no condemnation for those in Christ (cf. Romans 8:1) and also God doesn’t deal with us as our sins deserve (cf. Psalm 103:10).

But we must not become antinomians (lawless libertines) and disregard God’s law of morality but we will fall short, for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” That is, you can experience God’s love, even taste of the Spirit of grace and of heavenly things and still not be saved! (cf. Heb. 6:4–5, 9). There are many so-called signs of salvation that don’t necessarily mean salvation or redemption has taken place (partakers of the Holy Ghost, tasted of the heavenly gift and of the word of God, etc. from Heb. 6:4–6).

But note that even King David prayed not to be led into “presumptuous sins” (cf. Psalm 19:13). We must not take advantage of the grace of God nor frustrate it (cf. Gal. 2:21). Note Psalm 119:133; Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you….” It is called the doctrine of perfectionism or entire sanctification that teaches one can reach a point of unintentional sin as a believer before entering glory in heaven, which I would label a false teaching though not a heresy, which is generally not accepted.