Towards Perfection
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgement. (Hebrews 6:1-2 NKJV)
Some people think that faith is superior to perfection and love but they are wrong. Without faith it is impossible to please God, however, love is the greatest and perfect love casts out all fear. The Bible did not say that perfect faith casts out all fear. This is because if you have all the faith in the world and you have no works, faith without works is dead. Without walking in the word of God, you will come under divine judgement and judgement is what brings fear.
There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment. 1 John 4:18
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Fear has to do with punishment. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you won’t have fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of love, power and sound mind. It is God who gives peace so it is not by power or might. If we draw close to God, He will draw close to us and when God is close to us, we will feel peace instead of fear.
When judgement, death and demons are close to us, we feel fear. The vital thing is for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and His fruits, then we will not live in fear. What some people call faith is actually fear. They keep confessing out of fear, yet refuse to go on to perfection or be filled with the Holy Spirit. They have not yet realised that it is only by the spirit of God, not by power or might or their own power.
There is simply no magic in Christianity. God wants Christian maturity and perfection and He wants us to learn to distinguish between good and evil and keep away from divine judgement.
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Revelation 3:2 ESV
So wake up, and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely. For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from your sins. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not even know the time when I will come. Revelation 3:2 -3 Good News Translation
The reason that the church is seeing less power today is because they are stuck in foundational teachings and have refused to give the sheep solid meat. I believe that some believers are hungry for very solid meat but are being starved and deprived of this precious golden food.
May we rise from dust, nakedness and powerlessness and embrace glory. That is surely our inheritance in Christ and He is waiting to decorate His beloved.
We are hereby advised in today’s Scripture at the top of this post, to rise from foundational teachings of repentance, faith, Judgement, resurrection and baptism towards mature teachings on perfection and perfect love. It is only when Christ finds your works complete in His sight that you will taste glory, constant peace, joy and the powers of the age to come. We must be sanctified by His Spirit including our runaway “unsanctified” tongues. That is when we will experience heaven on earth and visit heaven in the twinkle of eye.
Heaven will not seem very far away when His manifest presence – His glory dwells in us. May God grant us the grace to keep climbing the Holy Mountain and get to the top. May we constantly dwell at the top when we get there and not fall off again.
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They way I like to say it ( I think it wrote it down but can’t find it so might not be the best wording ).
Grace brings us into the kingdom.
Holiness brings the kingdom into us.
we have nothing to do with our salvation (other than just saying yes of course ).
We have everything to do with getting closer to God.
I’ve been saying that our relationship is one of Holiness. As we become more like God, He can use us more. Our works don’t save us, but our heart is what draws God closer, our actions just reveal what is in our heart.
Hope that made sense.
Thank you so much for the very enlightening response. Your comment makes so much sense and it is so well said. I really love this contribution because it throws so much light on the topic. “Our relationship is truly one of holiness and it is our heart that draws God close not our words.” Blessings and thanks once again for the lovely response.❤️
I have been having what I called (until just now) a crisis of faith; however, you’ve hit the nail on the head,! I am so thankful for your writing because I’ve been confessing the whole time how hungry I have been for a deeper understanding of the Lord’s inner meanings. I haven’t lost faith. I knew that God hadn’t left me. I’ve felt like I’ve left Him, but that’s not true either. I’ve been so hungry for so long that I haven’t known what to do.
I know I cannot achieve perfection, but I no longer have to fear that His Holy Spirit has left me either. You have made me so happy. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
God’s peace and understanding be with you.
Debby
Thank you so much for the thoughtful response. I am so glad you like the post. I am very touched by your response and I know that God is with you doing His work. He who started a good work in you will complete it. Grace and blessings to you always ❤️
Nice post
Thank you❤️
Laura – your quote from Hebrews should be the norm amongst the body of believers, but unfortunately it’s not. The norm is that when they’re born anew of the spirit (in the Spirit) instead of going on to maturity they mostly stay babies feeding on milk. In the natural, a baby is born, grows into infancy, toddler-hood, preschooler, pre-teen, adolescent, then hopefully adulthood – of course it doesn’t happen overnight. It seems in the realm of the spirit though, they don’t move forward much beyond babyhood or toddler hood. I have talked about this in previous posts, and I referred to Jeremiah 7 and 10. YHWH tells Jeremiah, that when He brought them out of Egypt/ captivity / bondage, he didn’t command their forefathers to offer burnt offerings or do certain rituals, etc, but rather he commanded them to walk in all the ways He commanded them (my note: to obey Him), so that it would be well with them, but they didn’t listen but walked in their own ways, and went backward not forward. IN chapter 10 He tells Jeremiah , “they are altogether foolish and stupid: and in a later verse tells why, “For the pastors have become stupid and they have not sought YAHWEH, therefore they shall not be blest and all their flock shall be scattered”. Father YHWH doesn’t mince His words. This situation is true today as well, most pastors / preachers graduate from some cemetery, oops, seminary, and are trained in the principles of sermon preparation, i.e. hermeneutics. By the way hermeneutics comes from “Hermes” the Greek version of “Thoth” their god of writing, instruction, knowledge. AT any rate, I’m not against learning, but it has to be in its proper place. It has to be submitted to Messiah Yeshua, that He can instruct by His Spirit (after all He said when “He the Spirit of truth is come, He shall lead you into all truth, so that you have no need any man should teach you”. Yes as I said there’s a place for every good thing in the Body of Messiah, thus the ministry gifts, apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers IF they’re under the guidance and anointing of the Spirit of Truth, can be used effectively as He wills. I wouldn’t hesitate to say, this is not the case today in most ministerial functions. There are topics that aren’t preached much anymore, like the efficacy of the blood of Yeshua, sanctification, eschatology. dying daily to the flesh and taking up one’s cross, exposing false prophets, doctrines of devils, the coming (already started) mass deception of the end of this age, etc. I don’t intend to be “mean” just stating facts I’ve observed since I as a prodigal came back to Yeshua, 46 years ago. I cannot help but contrast the messages of the 60s,and early 70s, with what I see and hear from the vast majority of ministers today. I would hope this is taken in the right spirit, that people would examine themselves as Paul wrote, to see if they be walking in the faith, once delivered to the saints by the apostles, and to submit themselves totally to seeking first the kingdom of God, the instruction of His Spirit, and be good Bereans, searching the scriptures daily to assess the validity of what they’re being taught and to have the Spirit perform His function of instructing them guiding them into all truth.
Wow, I just really love to read your posts and comments because they are so enlightening and educative, loaded with relevant information. Thank you so much for this contribution with deep insights. It is so rare nowadays to see believers and ministers with a firm grasp of the truth,. I really laughed when I got to the part of “graduated from cemetery, oops seminary.” Very refreshing and interesting comment that should be a post on its own. Thanks once again for the response and blessings❤️
you’re quite welcome Laura – I’m another who like that other Paul hasn’t “arrived” but is still seeking to run my race to cross that finish line of the high calling set before us.I added more related comments in the reblog.
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