The Kingdom of God Part 4 Perfection
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I sat under the white camp meeting tent at Northern New England Conference when the speaker said, “If you are perfect raise your hand!” So naturally I started raising my hand. My wife stopped me saying, “You know what he means?” I did, but I also knew I was perfect.
The Washington SDA Church is the perfect church. You cannot ask for a better church. But its perfection lies in the fact that we have no members. But if it did, I know the secret for it to be the perfect church.
What is the secret of perfection for these last days? I would tell you that “Reminiscences of Pioneer Days” is a good starting place to experience righteousness by faith which is Christian perfection. We have posted it under Washington History on our website.
I believe that perfection cannot be attained unless one believe the Bible means what it says. This is important because we read texts all the time that are amazing statements and would change our lives. But we do not believe God means what He says. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Anyone who knows me is well aware of my dark sense of humor and my many imperfections. But this text tells me that the path to perfections is not an absence of bad, but confession. It says that if I confess my sins, Christ can do all sorts of good things. If I confess my sins Christ is faithful in forgiving. If I confess my sins Christ is just in forgiving. You can meditate on this thought for a long time.
If I confess my sins, Christ is just in forgiving them. How utterly awesome is it that Christ is just, righteous, correct, absolutely empowered, in forgiving my sins. I confess, no penance; no grand deeds to earn His favor, no payment of any kind on my part. I confess, and Christ is faithful and just in forgiving me. But it does not stop there.
It says if I confess my sins, Christ is faithful and just to forgive me, and Christ cleanses me from all unrighteousness. If I am cleansed from all unrighteousness, then I am perfect. The only form of perfection available to us. Any other method, at least the ones that I have heard of, are lies. It is through confession and believing God means what he says, that we are perfect.
Get this, the perfect saint, is a confessing saint. And the perfect church is a confessing church. If the Washington Church had members, it would be perfect, not in its avoiding sins, but in confessing those sins. It is so simple, yet it requires that you not only confess your sins, but you believe God means what He says; even if you do not “feel” forgiven.i
We are not following the gods of the Greeks and Romans. Those capricious gods who were created in the image of man. We follow a God who sent His Son Jesus to earth because He loved us. And amazingly, He alone can make us perfect.
When the next person at camp meeting asks if anyone out there is perfect, perhaps you will now consider raising your hand.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.” That is perfect man…. The only perfection we have that works.
i See Reminiscences of Pioneer Days.