A little boy, covered in mud, enters into his home where his mother is waiting for him. She notes his muddied appearance and quickly sets about to clean him up.

She removes his muddy clothes and gives him a thorough bath which washes away all traces of the mud. She then gives him clean clothes to wear.

All traces of his former muddy appearance have be eradicated.

As the little boy heads outside his mother reminds him of his cleanliness and encourages him to not get muddy again.

Shortly after the boy goes outside he sees his favorite mud-puddle. He is instantly reminded of the fun that he had when he was playing in the mud-puddle. He remembers jumping up and down in the water and sitting down in the middle of the puddle and splashing the water all over himself.

At the same time he remembers what his mother said before he left the house and his conscious tells him that he should obey his mother. He truly loves his mother and he wants to please her, but he also remembers how much fun he had when he played in the puddle.

So rages the war within the mind of the little boy.

As long as he stays away from the mud-puddle he remains "cleansed" and "mud-free".

(His previous experience in the mud-puddle has been "cleansed/blotted-out" and no longer exists. It has all been washed down the drain.)

This is how MY God deals with my past sins and how He encourages me to "maintain" the "cleansing/righteousness" that He has given to me when I was forgiven/atoned for my past sins.

As long as I maintain my relationship with God and allow His Holy Spirit to be the primary influence in my life and I continue to choose to resist the temptation to sin again.......I am righteous/cleansed/perfect.

One problem with the idea of being perfect is defining what is sin and what is not. While most SDA keep the sabbath, don't wear jewelry, don't commit adultery, or kill, or steal, they may not be including many evils such as stinginess, backbiting, gloom and depression, or anxiety, or greed, or ever eating any non-food such as potato chips or a cookie. You must be someone who never gets irritated, or gets in an argument with your spouse, or ever loses your patience, and is never defensive or showing symptoms of insecurity at any time. All neuroses, bad habits, and psychiatric problems would be on this list. You must always be punctual, always cheerful, forgiving, and obey all health rules. Then what about the sins of omission, such as failing to pass out literature in the neighborhood instead of resting on the Sabbath, or failing to give the church more than the required 10%, or failing to pay a bill because you didn't have enough money to go around, or letting yourself have any financial problem in the first place. All these "little" sins are just as bad as the big ten, according to the Bible. So, I just can't buy it, you people who insist that you yourself have arrived at that perfection. I can't buy it either that anyone else out there in the world is perfect, or ever will be, when you are perfectly honest about what perfection really means. I've been out in the world of work and business many years now and have yet to see even one perfect person, after i've known them a year or two. And you that proclaim the strongest how it's possible to be perfect...are you perfect? Maybe you think that just because you don't lust, smoke, or steal, or watch TV, you are perfect. But you may not even be aware of some ways and habits you have that annoy people to no end.

Whew! I am tempted to turn and run from this forum!

After studying many years the righteousness by faith 1888 message and the wonderful Bible texts it included I had to come to only one conclusion!

Perfection is NOT my forte nor am I any kind of expert on the subject! In fact, I probably wouldn't recognize it if it hit me in the head and even then would fear it!

However if God says I can be perfect I can accept that. Because it is only God who could do any perfection creating He will have to work it out in His own way! My priviledge as His child is to keep talkin' to Him, Keep Listening to Him and Keep staying close to His awesome love. I am pretty sure I can't "Work" my way to perfection but It might be possible to assimilate it by association! Now that I can live with!....God will take care of any perfecting that may be needed! In the meantime I intend to live with JOY!!!

Welcome, rianna, to Maritime SDA OnLine!

I agree rianna that our focus isn't to be on being perfect, but on having an actual relationship with Jesus Christ which will in itself result in obedience which will also in itself also result in good works.

If I get all wrapped up in whether or not I am being a good Christian, then, instead of being a joyful Christian, I will be a most miserable Christian.

This is my favorite perfection quote (it's taken from the commentary on Matt. 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly father is perfect)

quote:

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God has made provision that we may become like unto Him, and He will accomplish this for all who do not interpose a perverse will and thus frustrate His grace.

With untold love our God has loved us, and our love awakens toward Him as we comprehend something of the length and breadth and depth and height of this love that passeth knowledge. By the revelation of the attractive loveliness of Christ, by the knowledge of His love expressed to us while we were yet sinners, the stubborn heart is melted and subdued, and the sinner is transformed and becomes a child of heaven. God does not employ compulsory measures; love is the agent which He uses to expel sin from the heart. By it He changes pride into humility, and enmity and unbelief into love and faith. (MB 76, 77)

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Denborg, in regard to people who ask "have you ever seen anyone who is perfect"?: We don't ask this to excuse ourselves but to be real and honest in serious life. We are trying to make religion effective, not just pie-in-the-sky with words. We are asking, is it true that someone can become perfect? Or will we always need the cloak of Christ?

If someone says, "You can jump up on that cloud up there and ride it, if you just jump with all your might", the natural thing is to ask if anyone has ever done it. It is the mark of an insane person who insists he can do anything if he just pays attention to his own doing, such as fly like superman if he jumps off a high building. So, "Show me" is a realistic question to ask. You say we can become perfect in our lifespan, so show me, that I can believe I can save myself and won't need the Grace of Christ if only I live long enough,try hard enough, and become equal to Him.

All I have to say is not in any way to get out of trying hard to do right. It isn't because I have no self discipline or love for God and His Kingdom. It comes from honesty with human nature and my own nature. The grace of Jesus is there to cover us while we strive to make our characters right, as long as it takes.

Some of you don't seem to have so far to go, so much to do. If you had a rosary it would be full of beads to represent all the good deeds and attainments you've done. You don't need Jesus anymore to help you do right. You won't need Jesus to represent you in the last days, because you never do anything wrong anymore.

But I do feel that no matter how hard i try, I'm far from perfect, and I don't see any place in the Bible that says I will outgrow my need for Grace if I just keep on trucking as hard as I can go. When Paul says "I have finished the race, and have kept the faith" I think he meant that he did his best and kept his relationship with God even if he wasn't absolutely perfect even to his death.

It isn't that we CAN'T be perfect with perfect connection with Christ at every moment of life...It's that we DON'T maintain the perfect connection, with our weak, debased human nature. I think that's where the rub really is in this debate. Paul is the one who said "The good that I would, I do not:but the evil that I would not, that I do. Romans 7:19. This part of Romans explains so clearly the relation between sinning and need of Christ to cover and help the sinner all the way. Maybe we should all just go read Romans, instead of arguing endlessly here. In fact, I'm going to do just that!

It's God's job to perfect us. It's not something we accomplish by our effort, but something God does -- if we do not interpose a perverse will and thus frustrate His grace.

When the Bible says that the heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it, it is dishonest or at least not thought through to ask someone if they are perfect or if they know anyone who is perfect. God alone can read the heart. If one says yes, I am perfect, they deny the biblical statement warning of the frailty of human perception, thus denying God's Word, thus denying Christ. If they answer they know of no one who is perfect they are comparing themselves with others, and we are only to compare self with Christ. Again, God alone knows the hearts. An affirmative answer is a denial of God's word and of Him.

It is again asserted that some of us think we are close to perfection or perfect or that we don't need or won't need Christ. If these kinds of things are going to be said, I ask that they be backed up. Surely you must be able to name at least one person who has said these things or you woul not have mentioned it. Would you please describe a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who has done this and give their exact words? Or maybe it is someone here on the forum, who has said that they will eventually not need Christ or that have made the claim that they are perfect. Please identify this person. The posts I reviewed showed no such thing.

It would be a sad thing to give up on an idea because one doesn't like the word. Like the word "perfection." There is a biblical teaching on this and each of us will be kept accountable for how we deal with it. We may or may not like the word itself, but we will be accountable for it. For some, their rejection of the idea of perfection is just a form of idea idolatry. The New Testament charge is, "Keep yourself from idols." Limiting God is a form of self-idolatry. Let's not do that. Again, demanding evidence is faithlessness. The New tetsament urges us to walk by faith and not by sight. When you insist on evidence, you ask us to walk by sight and not by faith. These are bad recipes. To accuse the church of switcheroos and this kind of nonsense is also to evily surmise. There is sad fruit on the tree of unbelief. What are you reading or listening to that has led you to this belief system?

1John 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

1John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.