I read a curious question off of my I-Google opening page. A question that I don't really understand. It is very simple, can a person still be forgiven when he has been involved in a real terrible sin? The answer is yes, but the question that really needs to be answered is simply; is there such a thing as a sin more serious than another? I know we acquate murder and rape as terrible sin, but are they any worse than lying, cheating, or gossip? In reality, the answer is no. God calls sin; sin, and doesn't put sin in any kind of levels or categories.
I think that one reason we are so confused about the subject of sin is because we erroneously believe that no one is perfect; therefore we sin all the time, and we have no choice. I think that it is interesting that John in his first Epistle states this:
"If we say We have fellowship with him! and in darkness are walking we are dealing falsely, and not doing the truth; whereas if in the light we are walking, as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son is cleansing us from all sin. If we say Sin have we none! we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we are confessing our sins faithful is he had righteous that he should forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:6-9)."
Here John seems to imply that we are to walk continually in forgiveness of others, and asking God continually for forgiveness of our own sin. How easy it is to get rapped up in ourselves, our ministry, and our church without understand this very simply but vital concept. Evidently, according to John; we can be sinless if we continually walk in forgiveness. Is this possible? John continues to say:
"My dear children! these things am I writing unto you in order that ye may not be committing sin. And if anyone should commit sin an Advocate have we with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; and he is a propitiation concerning our sin, ---and not concerning our own only but also concerning those of the whole world (I John 2:1-2).
I was in a church a couple of years ago, and I heard the pastor preaching on how nobodies perfect; and that David sinned because he wasn't perfect, and Solomon sinned because he wasn't perfect; and immediately I started thinking, that's not scripturally based. King David sinned, not because he had to; but because he wanted to. The same holds true with Solomon, Saul, and any of the patriarchs. John continues,
"He that saith --- I understand him! and his commandments is not keeping them is false, and in him the truth is not! but whosoever may be keeping his word of a truth in this man the love of God hath been made perfect (I John 2:4-5)."There goes that terrible, ugly word "perfect." How we hate that word, because we know that no one is perfect; but is that really true. It is interesting that Jesus Christ says, "And if ye salute your brethren only what more than common are ye doing? are not even the nations the same thing doing? Ye therefore shall become perfect as your heavenly father is perfect (Matt. 5:47-48)."
AH-OH, we don't want to hear that terrible word again. I just wonder if we aren't in reality cheating ourselves by abusing that word in our lives. I have done research and found that the work "imperfect" isn't even in the scriptures, than why do we use it. Every time we do, we call Jesus Christ a liar. There must be a definite reason why Jesus Christ tells us to be perfect, or to become perfect. He is not talking about reaching perfect at the conclusion of this life; he is talking about reaching perfection now, in our lives. Here is a concept that is really hard to understand and to fathom. We all make mistakes, true; but does that mean we are in sin? In other words is making mistakes committing sin; or is sin something entirely different. I'll let you be the judge. "Be not judging according to appearance, But just judgment be judging (Gospel of John 7:24, -- many Bibles say, "Don't judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement)."
The closest to the word "imperfect" that I have found in the Bible is the word "unperfect."Mine unfinished substance thine eyes beheld and in thy book all the parts thereof were written, -- The days they should be fashioned! While yet there was not one among them (Psalm 139:16)."
You may wonder why the word "unperfect isn't there. That's simply because I'm using the Rotherham Emphasize Bible. Other Bibles actually have the word "unperfect," for the word "unfinished," that the Rotherham has. As I have said, the word "imperfect," actually isn't in the Bible. If you go to the Strong' s Exhaustive Concordance, you will find that it will tell you to See Unperfect for imperfect. So what does unperfect mean? The word "unperfect," in the Hebrew comes from the root word that means dead; or to be dead. In other words, whenever you say "Nobodies Perfect," your actually saying, "Nobodies alive," When you say, "I'm not perfect, you are actually saying, I'm dead.
In the Gospel of Matt. 5:48 the word, in the Greek that means perfect is "teleios." It literally means to labor, growth, mental and moral character. As a noun it means to be "completeness when it is used with the words "ho, he, to," --"the, this, that, one,, he, she, it, etc. The word also comes from "telos," which means to set out for a definite point. To continue, of full age, man, perfect. There goes that ugly word again. Don't you just hate that word "perfect." However, Jesus Christ uses it; and he is actually saying to "stand up for yourself, make yourself known, to be set apart, be ye perfect."
So what the Bible is actually telling you is to have moral character, to stand out from the crowd, and to be counted for righteousness. For some reason this concept is not even preached in the church's of today; it was at one time, but we have fallen a way from the true meaning of the Gospels to the point that we have become tolerant of everyone and everything. Is anyone in the church really ashamed of abortion or homosexuality any more. No, we have begun to tolerate such sins. Is one worse than the other? No. God equate' s sin as sin. God does not see perfect and imperfect. He sees good and evil, right and wrong. Also, God is not perfect in the way that we would like him to be. He will not come down to our standards, he requires us to be in, and to reach up to; his standards.
Jesus Christ came down and died on the cross to meet our needs. We no longer need a blood sacrifice, Jesus Christ was the blood sacrifice. We don't need to be complainers and grovelers. Jesus Christ did that also. he complained for us to the Pharisee's (The Edomite Jews). Jesus Christ was like another Moses; he said, "let my people go." Well, not directly as Moses, but through his parables, and dealings with the Edomite Jews.
For some reason the church doesn't want to teach righteousness any more. It continue' s to want to stay on the salvation message. What she is actually doing is telling her people that when they get saved; they are to walk up to the cross and gawk at it. I suppose this is why there are so many mega church's all around the country, as well as foolish preaching like Joel Olstein; who talks the prosperity doctrine, not the doctrine of Jesus Christ. It is easy to go to church, but it is not so easy to actually be the church. God doesn't want you to stand at the cross and gawk at it; he wants you to walk up to the cross and carry it. Carry it until your time on this earth is finished; then you can throw it down to the ground and walk into the kingdom unblemished.
White Christians remember, it is you that carry the cross. Not blacks, or Asian's, or any other race. It has been given to you the spirit of God; and you must respect that, and use it for God's purposes. It is required of you to bring the other races in line. Do not fall into the concept of tolerance, or give sway to other doctrines that tickle the ears. Sin is sin, that is true; but your righteousness is to rise above your sin. Never dwell on your sin. Sin is in the world, now it is up to you to make a difference.
"...O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:1-2).
"He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye Yahweh" (Psalm 149:19-20).
"The secret things belong unto Yahweh our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29).
