Page 140 - TH200 Abundant Life A4 Final

Abundant Life in the Son: A Study of Salvation

His followers to be like their Heavenly Father in showing love to friends
and enemies alike.

Notice the way Paul treated the idea of perfection (spiritual maturity)
in Philippians 3:12, 15. At one moment he said perfection was not
possible, and then in the next he claimed it. This is easily understandable
when we recognize that positionally he was perfect the moment he
accepted Christ, but in his daily, ongoing experience he was still striving
for perfection. Colossians 1:28; 4:12; and Hebrews 12:23 represent
perfection as a future goal to be reached in the end but not in this life.

Those who believe that man is capable of sinless perfection place too
much emphasis on a person’s ability to live perfectly. They also place too
little emphasis on God’s holiness and the seriousness of sin. They tend to
treat sin as if it were something outside of us. But the Bible teaches that
sin is primarily a result of the
human spirit. My conviction is that
we sin more by our ungodly
Perfection is thoughts and rebellious attitudes
complete because we than we do by committing
outward sins.
are in Him, but it is

incomplete because Perfection is complete because
we are in Him, but it is incomplete
we are still human. because we are still human. There
are but two kinds of perfection:
absolute and relative. What is
absolutely perfect cannot be improved upon; therefore, only God can
qualify for this type of perfection. But that which is relatively perfect
simply fulfills the purpose for which it was designed. This type of
perfection is possible for people.

Those Christian groups which assert that Christians can be absolutely
perfect in this life believe that sanctification is a decisive experience.
They believe that at some point following their conversion, Christians
receive perfection instantaneously by faith and an accompanying
confirmation by the witness of the Holy Spirit. They insist that in this
experience the old nature is instantly destroyed. This view is known
as perfectionism.

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