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NASB | Matthew 7:24 ¶ "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 7:24 ¶ "So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock. [Luke 6:47-49] |
Subject: What is perfected for all time? |
Bible Note: Joe, Thanks for your well-thought out response. You may indeed be right. If I were to look at my experience and performance alone, I would have to conclude that I am not perfect because I still sin. If I were to look at the my condition alone, I would have to conclude that I am not yet glorified. And yet, if I were to look at my performance and experience, I wouldn't always conclude that I am justified, a new creation, born again, clothed with Christ, complete in Him, forgiven, holy, or even saved! So, to me, the question becomes, is my identity in Christ determined by what He did or by what I do (or what will happen to my body)? As you well know, there are many scriptures that speak of our sanctification in the past tense. There are also many that speak of it in the future tense. It is the same way with holiness. We are called holy. We are also told to be holy. I've found that most of the time, God's Word is quite clear and speaks for itself. If God says that I am already "perfected for all time", then I have a choice to believe it or to say that He doesn't mean what He says. If He says that I have already been glorified - Rom 8:30 - then I have the same choice. I must either look to my experience as the standard of truth or look to what He says. I may be naive, but I firmly believe that if God meant that our "perfection" was only future, He would have said so. Heb 10:14 would say, "For by one offering He WILL PERFECT WHEN WE DIE those whose are WILL THEN BE sanctified." I respectfully submit to you, brother, that this is NOT what it says. Nor does Heb 10:10 say, "By this will we WILL BE, WHEN WE DIE, SANCTIFIED through the DEATH OF YOUR BODY AT THAT TIME." I believe that these spiritual truths are NOT tied to the death of your body, but to the death and resurrection of HIS. It is our new birth in Christ that determines what we are, not our death. I'll close with this thought. I assume you believe that all men are born sinners, right? When are they made sinners? When they first sin? Is it their actions that make them sinners or is it their nature that makes them sin? I would contend that they sin BECAUSE they are ALREADY sinners. So when did you become everything that you are "in Adam"? When you are physically born. When do you become, in identity, everything that you are in Christ? Likewise, when you are born "again." Those who are in Adam do not become sinners when they die. Death does not determine identity. Birth does. Likewise, you do not become, in identity, holy, perfected, sanctified, righteous, when you die. The death of your body has NOTHING whatsoever to do with your spiritual condition OTHER THAN sealing it. Whatever spiritual condition you are in when you die - in Adam or in Christ - is what you will remain. As I said, Joe. You may be right. But I'm convinced that it is my new birth, not my eventual death, that determines who I am. It is Christ in me that imparts these wonderful characteristics that, as Peter says, allows me to here and now have everything I need for life and godliness. "We look at the things that are unseen for they are ETERNAL. The things that are seen are TEMPORAL." Where will you look for your identity, Joe? Will you look at the death of your body, a mere tent that houses the real you, for who you are in Christ? Or will you look back to the work of Christ and His resurrection for your spiritual identity. None of these things come from ourselves. They all come from our union with Him. He is the true Vine and source. We are merely the branches. As Paul writes in Rom 11:16 - "If the root (Christ) is holy, the branches ARE (not WILL BE) too." I will not call God a liar by insisting that He doesn't know what He said or that the writers of the NT had no concept of verb tenses. If He says it, that's good enough for my simple mind and faith. Thanks for the interaction. McGracer |