I suppose all my life I have heard people say that we've got to have faith. I really didn't always understand what they were talking about. Why did I need to have faith? I had accepted all the doctrines. They were clear to me, why do I need to have faith in something I clearly see? The fact is that we don't have to have faith in what we see or understand. The thing that requires faith is what we don't see or understand. And for the average person the most difficult thing to believe is how in the world God is able this side of heaven to break-up pride, selfishness, lust, bitterness and criticism, and in their place make me a person who is unselfish, loving, kind and pure in an ongoing way.

The reason that so many fight against the concept of perfection is simply they don't believe that God can make us perfect in this life. In spite of the fact that the scripture promises in 1Peter 5:10-11 that the God of all grace shall Himself perfect us, We choose to say it can't be done. Our unbelief causes us to even resist the concept of being perfect and to actually resist what God is trying to do in our lives.

The greatest sin that we commit against our Almighty God is the sin of unbelief. To think that the God who created and maintains the galaxies, from the mightiest planet to the smallest insect...to our God in whose presence the angels continually cry Holy, Holy, Holy--that He is unable to perfect us is an insult to His sovereign majesty and power. Yes, we believe that Jesus gave sight to the blind--that He made the lame to walk and even raised the dead. But somehow, we can't believe, or worse still don't want to believe, that "He" will give us a new heart and break-up the sin in our lives that is driving us crazy! Those who will be lost, will be those who didn't believe or who refused to accept the greatest miracle of all--which is a new heart.

Speaking of the greatest miracle of all--I was talking with a fellow minister one time. He was remarking as to why we were not able to do the miracles of healing and raising the dead like Jesus and the disciples did. " Of course", he said, "I know that the greatest miracle of all is the new birth... but". I interrupted him and said, " Did you hear what you just said. You said that the new birth is the greatest miracle of all, but..." I am not sure brothers and sisters that in our heart of hearts we are convinced that the new heart that Jesus gives us is the greatest miracle of all, bar none.

We still are, somehow, convinced that physical healing is more urgent and impressive than spiritual healing. But let me tell you something that we rarely take into account and that is, that all the dead that Jesus raised died again, and that all the sick that He healed eventually got sick and died again. Yet the spiritual healing that He gave to Mary Magdalene, and Peter, and the woman at the well, and millions of others through the ages will last throughout eternity!

The greatest enemy that we have to the power of God working in our lives is unbelief. Remember it is Jesus who perfects us. We only must let it happen in our lives. There is no doubt that when we start talking about perfection in the Christian life, it usually ends up in a mental fist fight. One side dooming the other to hell, and the other side writing the person off as a wack-o. There is nothing wrong with the concept of perfection or being perfect in some things.

As I mentioned before, many crave a perfect figure, a perfect job, or to play a perfect game. The problem that we have with the matter of perfection in the Christian life is how shall we attain it. Many who set out to attain perfection in the Christian life give the concept a bad name because they set out to make themselves perfect. You can usually recognize a person who is trying to make themselves perfect. The person who is trying to make themselves perfect is usually driving themselves and everybody else crazy! They are often hard to get along with and difficult to live with. But, the person who is letting Christ work in their lives and bring them to perfection, is not washing down their pork with wine, but is a joy to be around. Scripture says, that when a man's ways please the Lord He make even His enemies to be at peace with him. By the way, sooner or later, those who believe in perfection, and who set out to be perfect themselves fail and often will end up worse them when they started out.

Back to the matter of faith - the issue is not does God call His people to be perfect or not. He does from Genesis to Revelation. The question is a simple matter of faith. Do we believe that He will or don't we? And then will we let Him do it for us, and in us? Scripture says, that in certain cases, Jesus did not heal many people because they did not believe. This is why for our part, faith is the bottom line when it comes to living the Christian life. The fundamental sin that we commit against God in this time of abundant grace and pardon is the sin of unbelief. People who will be lost, will not be lost because they were born with a tendency to sin. But because they refused to believe that God could restore them. They knew they were sinners, but opted for the status quo. The 12 spies condemned a generation to death when they said "it can't be done!"

God is not harassing us neither is He trying to intimidate us when He call us to a Perfect Holy Life. When He calls us to holy living He is offering as we would say to "Pull it Off" in our lives, if we will believe and let it happen. Genesis 17:1-3 - God admonishes us to walk before Him and be perfect. Those who do this, those who walk before God will in fact,--slowly but surely find themselves being changed little by little into the same likeness.

At this point some may be thinking, when you talk about perfect or perfection, what do you mean? Define "Perfection". "Before I accept the concept of " Perfection", I must understand all of the ramifications." Listen my friends, I am not sure any of us can understand all of the ramifications to the call to be perfect. Scripture says, that it doesn't not yet appear what we will be. But we know that when He does appear, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. Abraham believed God and went out not knowing whether he went. (Heb.11:8). In the Christian life it is fatal to try to understand before we obey. We must obey if we are ever to understand. In the Christian life it is those who obey God who understand. Those who withhold obedience until they understand, continue to be disobedient and will never understand. Eye has not seen, not ear heard, neither has entered into the hearts of men the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. And lades and gentlemen, that is not just talking about heaven! Won't we accept this, won't we believe this and get on board? Then we will say with Paul: I know in whom I have believed....and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have delivered unto Him against that day.

My little granddaughter has a little shirt that says, "My name is No-No". For many people being a Christian is a No-No. For many their Christian life has been simply a matter of allegiance to the church. Their lives and life styles reflected their perception of what the church expected of them. Many were simply victims of peer pressure. As young people conform to the expectations of their friends, so many of us were conforming to the expectations of society, which was in this case the church. Now I know that it seemed that what we were doing was because it was thought that it was from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. But for the many that wasn't truth. Their Christian lives and lifestyles were a result of church peer pressure. I say that because the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy haven't changed, what has changed, and is changing is the expectations that the church, as a society, has for its members. We are at the most critical point in recent spiritual history. The church society is, if you please, re-writing the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. The fact is, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy cannot be rewritten, they can only be interpreted and then a role given to them as to how they will impact life and lifestyles. It may be rank heresy to say this, but in many practical applications, in the lives of the majority, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are being down-played.

Never forget it, but the role in the life of the Word of God is always a conscious decision on the part of the church body in any particular generation. It may not seem so to some, but on the whole the mass media is doing more to shape attitudes and lifestyles of the lives of the majority of Christians in the 90's, than is the Word of God. It is no longer a matter of what does the Bible say, but what do you think, or how do you feel about it? Or, what does society think? Right and wrong is now practically a matter of coming to a consensus among ourselves...a kind of "morality by Gallup Poll". The right, or wrong of something is a matter of how do we feel about it. Or, do we think that it is right or wrong. No, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are not actually being re-written, but they are definitely being re-interpreted, and their impact on the life is played down by many people.

But then what shall we do? Is all lost? Though many will be, all will not be. To as many as received Him, that is the Word made Flesh, to them gave He power to become the sons and daughters of God. Those who have accepted Him, know that He has made plans to conform them to the image of His son. So therefore each of us now are --like it or not being brought to a kind of spiritual crisis or test, if you please.

It sounds ridiculous, but it was actually possible in times past to be an acceptable Christian of sorts without being born again, and have Jesus as Lord of one's life. One simply disciplined himself, and like being a member of any club, abided by the rules, and so was considered a member in good and regular standing, as we used to say. The average member was kept afloat by social pressure. First in the church, then by the morals and standards of the culture and the society, which reflected Judeo-Christian values, and lifestyle parameters. But...those days, my friends, are over. In society now, anything goes, and this has impacted the church's perspective on life and lifestyle. As a consequence, a person in the 90's who is not fully committed to Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, the person who does not recognize God's word in the past and present, as the ultimate authoritative guide for living, is simply, and sadly, not going to survive. By the way in many cases, marriage will be the first thing to take a hit.

But then, back to the matter of my name is No-No. Friend, I believe that when, and if, this is the condition a person is in, being a Christian is a "No-No". Then as Paul would say, they are living under the law. A friend of mine was asked, "How do you keep the Sabbath?" "I don't read the newspaper," was his reply. Before I say what I am about to say, I would like for us to realize that in the broader sense, when scripture refers to the law of God, it is more than the 10 commandments. My mother used to say, "my word is law." The 10 commandments are not the road to life eternal, Jesus is the road to eternal life. In a functional sense, the 10 commandments simply tell us when we get off the road. I believe this was one of the things the apostle Paul said, "by thy law (10) is the knowledge of sin. I didn't know that killing was wrong, until the law said, don't kill."

Being on the road to heaven is not a No-No, it is a Yes-Yes. It is about holy living that is evidence that Jesus our Savior, and through the Holy Spirit, is moving us along ever onward to doing the perfect will of God. By the way, when the angels of God report in every night, and tell what they have been doing all day, I can't imagine they would say, "I spent the day not lying, not stealing, and not hurting people."

To a large extent, in the "good old days" many of us were letting others do our thinking for us spiritually. We knew what we were not suppose to do, and to some extent what we were suppose to do, but we never knew why. Yes, it was easy to be a member in good and regular standing, but we didn't know, nor did the majority take the trouble to find out what were the principles, or the foundations on which our lives and lifestyles were based. Now we're confronted with the need to know the principles. Because, if not, we are liable to throw out the baby with the bath water, as they say.

The focus in those days was the Ten Commandments. But the Ten Commandments don't take you anywhere. They tell you when you are off the road. This is important and totally necessary. Wait now, lest you get confused. Let me explain. We need to know what we're not supposed to do, but an equally important issue is, what are we suppose to do? For the Christian, his road to holy living must, it seems to me, be influenced to a large extent by: Phil. 4:8--"Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Also 1 Cor. 10:31 "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." A Christian's life is to be driven by the sermon on the mount. 1 Cor. 13.

What I am saying, is that it seems to me, that perfection is not simply the absence of sin. But it seems to me, that inasmuch as we were created to glorify God, that perfection is a process in which we grow, more and more in attitude and practice into lives whose focus, and detail is to bring glory to His name. Maybe, I'm wrong, but could it be that we should not focus on simply what is moral, or immoral? After all, society has now largely assumed the role of deciding that. The issue that should be first and foremost is - - does my life have Jesus as its center? And is it the overwhelming purpose of my life to do His will?

Let me explain what I am trying to say. There is a difference, a great difference, in a focus which always asks what is wrong with this or that? On the face of it there may be nothing immoral about a particular thing. It may simply not be to the Glory of God and His will for our lives. It may even be lawful, but not expedient, if you know what I mean. People who use a moral yardstick for their lives, will often go off the road, because they will be living on a trial and error basis. They will soon come to believe that God's name is No-No, instead of enjoying doing His will, and thrilling to His call to make us Holy as He is Holy.

God calls us to be perfect. Being a perfect God how could He desire anything less than to have a perfect people? But He never forces Himself on us. He cannot do for us what we don't want or what we don't believe is possible. What God wills for us, we must will for ourselves. Yes, God calls His people to be perfect. But if we don't believe it's possible, it will be for us in fact, impossible. Remember Jesus didn't heal people who didn't believe. God is calling His people in every nation, in every culture, to be perfect, to be a holy people. Many have given up on the idea, or have had a bad experience with it, or don't believe it is possible. But, perfection is not going to go down the tubes, because in every nation, among people of all languages and cultures, there are springing up everywhere--people who are saying "yes, Lord, I believe." "Go ahead, work in me both to will and to do your good pleasure."

I don't know where you have been in the matter of being perfect. Personally, I am thrilled to know that I do not have to be a slave to a bad temper, or pride, or selfishness, or impurity. Personally, I am glad to know that our God is able to keep us from falling and will eventually present us faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy! I refuse to accept the abnormal as normal. Personally, I believe that He who made the blind to see, and the lame to walk, and the dead to live again, can give me a new heart, and do a perfect work in my life. I don't understand how it works. But, Lord, I believe!

Call

To be perfect --How do we sign up? Let me tell you. We sign up by faith. We get on board by saying-- Lord, we believe. Perhaps tonight - Some here will need to pray like the man who came to Jesus to have his son healed. He said, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. If this is a prayer that you need to pray, I hope that you will pray it tonight.