This is the same kind of exhortation as a warning to not let your heart be hardened by sins deceitfulness. It doesnt mean that finding our first love is eliminating sin.. or getting to a point where we are all confessed up on our sins... this isnt a moral persuasion in order for us to resist sin on our own... since a christian can fall into many sins and by appearance look like the world. And another christian can look like a true saint iin avoiding sin and yet not really looking to Christ as his only Savior. This warning is similar to an admonition to not allow sin to deceive and harden your heart. It does not mean that finding our first love is synonymous with eliminating sin, or that we will be free from sin once we reach a certain point. This is not a moral persuasion to encourage us to resist sin on our own, because even Christians can fall into sin and, from the outside, look no different from the rest of the world. Likewise, another Christian may appear to be a true saint by avoiding sin, but if they are not placing their faith in Christ alone, they are not truly living as a Christian should.I believe that it is easy for people to be self-righteous nowadays because of the false beliefs that are circulating about what a saint looks like when he or she is struggling with sin. Most people follow some form of religion, and many people tend to be influenced by the superficial appearance of religious fervor. I do not think that being passionately devoted to Christ necessarily means being a well-rounded Christian. In a sense, we are comparing and contrasting the different ways that we can view a zealous disciple, and the contrast between a religious self-righteous person.The examination of how Christ is the cause of our deliverance from sin and our declaration as righteous is not easy to measure in an absolute sense. This is why it is important to have the teaching as the centerpiece, to guide us. In His light, we see light. Light shines in many different ways, and this is why we can rely on it to show us the way.This is why Christ spoke in a language that was inflammatory in a sense and yet it was parabolic in a another sense. On the one hand, He hid it from the self righteous and on the other hand His teaching was like a light that only showed the way at whatever level His disciple was at. Paul states a doctrine and then He says that if any do not accept this teaching he is confident that God will reveal it to them.Thus, His true disciples are taught how impossible the standard is, so that in a sense we are motivated by a zeal that we do not fully comprehend. Sometimes we leave things in this life behind us because we do not fully comprehend how important it is to have the power that He gives, unless it is preceded by the desperation to find Him at all cost, not as a "heavy burden" but as a zeal that is stouthearted.A person who has committed sins can still declare the goodness of God, even in front of a king. We cannot do everything in this life, but we can learn from the examples of saints who have gone before us. These saints show us that it is possible to change our dispositions and apply the love of Christ to our lives, even when it is difficult.