Also, can you name a sinful behavior Jesus winks at nowadays? We both agree polygamy isn't a sinful behavior Jesus winks at in cases involving properly prepared and baptized SDA church members, right?

I pointed out to you that EGW said that polygamy was not sanctioned by God even once. Why are you not understanding that this answers your question? If she's correct on this, then obviously polygamy is not something which God ordained.



Polygamy, like any sin, is considered differently if it is done in ignorance or not. Polygamy is never considered incest. Permitting polygamy does not mean the same thing as sanctioning it. Permitting it is what God did in the OT. Not sanctioning it was what He did in the OT and now as well.

He permitted it by winking at it. Sanctioning it would mean approving of it.

Is smoking or drinking a sin? If yes and you do it without feeling guilty then Id say that was a sin that God winks at today.

Can we become perfect, without sin, in this life? If you say, yes, then you have to believe that either you, or some folks among us, have actually become perfect. That would be quite a pronouncement indeed..."Hey, everybody, I have overcome every sin and am now perfect in the eyes of God!" Do any of you know, or ever have met, anyone who has actually become perfect? Do you live close enough to him/her to know that for certain? So, the next question is, What is perfection? Does that just mean the major Ten Commandments or the "little" personality faults and foibles like being sloppy, or exacting, or haughty, or stingey, etc. If you really want to know whether or not someone is perfect, would be a good idea to ask the wife or the co-worker at the job.

Your argument is flawed. Can a woman become president of the U.S.? I may believe the answer is yes, it's possible, but that doesn't mean I can point to someone who has done so.

But I am taking that a further step. All this about it being possible to become perfect is rather nonsensical in any practical way if indeed no one becomes it. Furthermore, many Adventists are saying that the remnant must become perfect to stand before God during the Time of Jacob's Trouble. So, my question precludes that some (at least 144000) will make it to literal perfection: not just a perfect relationship, but absolute perfection in acts and thoughts. I just have some trouble aligning that with what is seen in real life. I know I'm not perfect but I deeply, sincerely have a partnership with God in my character development.

Are you familiar with the following quote?



Now this quote is often interpreted as applying to individual perfection, but it need not be interpreted that way. It says that Christ is waiting for His character to be perfectly reproduced in His people (plural). This could mean that the body of Christ perfectly reflects His character. Given that God is love, I would understand this to mean to love as Jesus Christ loved.

Now that may seem to be possible, and, indeed, of ourselves it is, but is it not possible the body of Christ, with each part functioning as it is designed to (the eye being an eye, the hand a hand, etc.) could reflect His character?

I heard one pastor express the thought like this: if you take a broken mirror, and point it so that the sun's light is reflected into your eyes, you can't bear to look at the mirror, so bright is the reflection. So we, with hearts melted by His love, broken mirrors, as it were, can reflect His brightness.

Is it possible to make a Bose-Einstein Condensate? Yes. But I don't know anyone here who has done it.

The mere fact that you don't know one perfect person does not mean that there cannot be one perfect person. What actually happens is not dependent on what we do or don't know.


Being haughty is a "little" personality fault? One danger of excusing the little things is that big things get put in the little things box.

That would be true, IF no one becomes it.

But then, Jesus said, "Be ye perfect," and I don't think He wasted His time on nonsensical stuff.


That's a big bite you're talking about swallowing. How about something smaller?


If that can be truthfully said of you, then you're in good position to be considered perfect.

And again, the fact that you have not seen it in your real life does not make it an impossibility. I'm guessing you have never seen a hydrogen atom turn into a helium atom, yet it happens quite a few times.

Is God's "winking" dependent on my feelings? What if I had a seared conscience? (1 Timothy 4:2) What if I had indulged in ________ so much that I no longer feel guilty about it?

In Acts 17:30, God's "winking" is due to "times of ignorance." How the sinner feels at the moment has no bearing.