Christian Perfection

Here's a written exchange I had with a fellow "theologian"--which I think is excellent. He wrote a brief talk about Christians attaining to perfection, and I wrote comments back (in blue caps).

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect. . . ." Philippians 3:12

It is a snare to imagine that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do; God's purpose is to make us one with Himself.

EXCELLENT, SIMPLE. WHATEVER HE WILLS, RIGHT?

The emphasis of holiness movements is apt to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you go off on this idea of personal holiness, the dead-set of your life will not be for God, but for what you call the manifestation of God in your life. "It can never be God's will that I should be sick."

I KNOW SOME “WORD OF FAITH” CHURCHES THAT ACTUALLY SAY THAT IT IS NOT GOD’S WILL FOR THEM TO BE SICK. THE BACKGROUND FOR THIS IS IN ISAIAH WHERE JESUS BORE OUR STRIPES, SO “WE DON’T HAVE TO.” I HAD A WORD-OF-FAITH PASTOR TELL ME THAT IF YOU SAY THE RIGHT THING OR HAD THE RIGHT FAITH THEN YOU WOULDN’T BE SICK OR ULTIMATELY DIE.

If it was God's will to bruise His own Son, why should He not bruise you? The thing that tells for God is not your relevant consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your real vital relation to Jesus Christ, and your abandonment to Him whether you are well or ill.

REFERENCE THE BOOK OF JOB

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection.

WE FORGET THAT HIS WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS, HIS THOUGHTS NOT OURS.

Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship to God which shows itself amid the irrelevancies of human life.

WHAT I AM DOING IS IN STARK CONTRAST TO WHAT I FEEL CALLED TO DO THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD. EVEN THE NORMALCY OF LIFE IS HEIGHTENED TO MISSION AND MINISTRY WHEN GOD IS IN IT, SUCH AS A MOTHER FEEDING CHILDREN NOW BECOMES “AS UNTO THE LORD” (COL.)

When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that strikes you is the irrelevancy of the things you have to do, and the next thing that strikes you is the fact that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives are apt to leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary, by human effort and devotion we can reach the standard God wants.

WHAT THINGS HAVE I DONE IN MY OWN POWER? NOW…WHAT COULD THOSE THINGS HAVE BECOME IF I HAD DONE IT IN THE POWER OF THE LORD? (SCORED A HIGHER SCORE ON DONKEY KONG????)

In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in perfect relation to God so that my life produces a longing after God in other lives, not admiration for myself.

OUCH!!

Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God is not after perfecting me to be a specimen in His show-room; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He likes.

Thanks Mr. Whaley.