Then God must be a lier when He asks us:
"Be holy, for I AM holy"
We are holy because Christ is Holy and His righteousness stands in place of our filthiness and because His imputed righteousness is credited to us as our own. Read Romans.
"Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father who is in heaven."
We are perfect in the flawless, idealized sense as a result of Christ and His perfection in place of our own, His imputed righteousness credited as our own. Read Romans.
What juvenile, immature, primitive interpretation of these texts. I thought our church had left this sort of surface exegesis behind long ago.
1 John 3
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 Thess 5:3 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Same old proof texts taken out of context and interpreted in a completely foreign way from which they were intended. These passages imply absolutely nothing about sinless perfection before glorification. They merely stress the need for Christ and His perfect righteousness.
Because He has imparted His perfect, blameless life to us, we are considered so by virtue of His grace.
Just like Abraham was, just like Enoch was as well BTW.
Contrary to what you said, Paul under the inspiration penned that we should be blameless unto the coming of Jesus, NOT after his comes.
No, contrary to what you say, Christ's perfection stands as our own continually, right up until His return until glorification. We are considered blameless because we have accepted His righteousness as our own. As long as we have our sinful, fallen human nature, we will have need for Christ's imputed righteousness. That imputed righteousness is why sinful beings will be able to claim they are blameless before they have been changed in the twinkling of an eye.
If you are waiting after Jesus's return to be perfectly sinless, then you will NEVER be.
Complete nonsense and a damnable lie as well. This hateful rhetoric has ruled Adventism long enough.
I guarantee you sir, for every soul you discourage out of the church and for every individual's assurance of salvation you dare to destroy with this trash perfection theology, God will hold you accountable for the little ones in the faith you ruin.
If you are filthy when Jesus comes, you will be filthy still.
Rev 22
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Anyone found filthy when Christ returns will be found so because they have NOT accepted Christ as thier Savior and they have NOT made sure they were wearing the spotless white wedding garment of Christ's righteousness. PERIOD! HOW MUCH CLEARER CAN WE MAKE IT?
My goodness, it's like bashing my head against a brick wall sometimes! Why do I waste my time?
Roman Catholic process theology at its finest, and they don't even know they are advocating it! Unbelievable.[/quote]
_________________________________________________