Be Ye Perfect

Theologians have assumed that the body (flesh) was not included in any way whatsoever in the salvation process. Maybe they never really considered that the whole man had to die in order to be reborn. Because they proclaimed that the flesh has been excluded from the salvation experience, it was easy to conclude that the flesh is still under the captivity of the law of sin and always will be.

However, the Father did not neglect to deal with the flesh in the salvation process. He knew that the Law of Sin and Death working in the members (the flesh), would once again bring us into captivity. As we allow the Word to express itself without any private interpretation, open your heart to the possible assassination of your belief system.

In writing to the church at Colosse, Paul declared, “ye are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10). This means we are lacking in nothing. It also means the work of the devil is destroyed and nothing else has to be done. We do not need to receive anything else to accomplish that which God has called us to do and to be.

The Father has given us all things that pertain to His life and godliness. When we say we are deficient, we can only be deficient in those things He told us to add to our faith (2 Peter 1:5-7). God’s work is finished.

Colossians 2:11-12

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

As it relates to salvation, our error came when we only saw the regeneration of the new man from within. Circumcision in the natural is a cutting away of the foreskin from the male genitals. Spiritual circumcision is also a cutting away, a sanctifying and cleansing of the flesh. It is an operation of God where He cut away or removed all the dominion of sin from us. He put off from us the body of sin. When the old man was slain (crucified with Christ) at salvation, God placed the soul and the spirit in the Holy Ghost. But the same Holy Ghost also quickened our mortal bodies and brought us alive unto God. We rose complete in Christ. The Father has taken away all our excuses. Our flesh is no longer the body of sin but has truly become the Body of Christ. Let us allow the scriptures to take us further into this magnificent operation of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

And the very God of peace sanctify you WHOLLY; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

From the time we are born-again until the return of Jesus, our body, soul and spirit should be free from sin. Some of my brothers contend that this is impossible. You have to decide which you are going to believe, the scriptures or the vain philosophy of men.

Romans 8:3

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.

The finished work of Christ condemned sin in the flesh. What would be the purpose of even writing such a Word if the Sons of God are doomed to be locked in a daily struggle with the law of sin in the flesh? This is oil and water. The two just do not mix.

God made provisions for us to live a holy, sinless life here on earth. The law was unable to do so, but the circumcision of the flesh through Jesus Christ has destroyed the power and dominion of sin within and without. Paul declares that we were sanctified wholly or completely, body, soul and spirit. This is the work and Word of God. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Colossians 2:13).

The sin issue was dealt with at salvation. God removed the dominion of sin in the baptism “into Christ.” We rose in the body of Christ. The truth is if sin is an issue, it is because we, as Sons of God, make a conscious decision to sin against the Father. We do this in spite of the great love and mercy He has shown us. Now, we have the mind of Christ and are able to receive the following instructions and commandments. That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5).

We could not do this before. The nature of the flesh was that of evil concupiscence and we could not help ourselves. But now we are instructed to possess our vessels in the sanctification the Father has provided. We have overcome the lust of concupiscence that worked in our members. The law could not stop sin in the flesh because it was the nature of the flesh to sin. You cannot teach a cat to bark and act like a dog. That is not his nature. Therefore, it was impossible to live free from sin without the indwelling of the Spirit of God, which provided a new life and nature for the whole man.

Christ is not merely a shield to protect us from the wrath of God. He is our life. He is the life we live right now. It is by Him that we live and move. It is by His faith that we are able to please the Father. Our life is hid in Him and He is that hidden treasure in us; . . . as he is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).

To live a vacillating life of sin is to live a lie. It is not the nature of the Sons of God to live in any sin. To do so is to dishonor God and undermine the work of the Holy Ghost in us. A sinner is not who you are. In spite of how the songwriter has portrayed the Sons of God, we are not sinners who fall down and get up. We are the righteousness of God. We were created in the image of Christ Jesus. We are divine in nature and have overcome the corruption of the world that is through lust of the flesh.

To say that we have a dual nature because of our ability to sin against the Father is to say that Jesus Christ was completely incapable of disobeying the Father. If that is true, then His temptation in the wilderness and all the trying and testing He withstood was merely a show, seeing as how He could not sin anyway. That would make Him out to be a fraud, for how could He be tempted in all points like we are, if it was impossible for Him to sin in the first place? Yes, He could have disobeyed, He simply chose not to. We have the same choice.

Consider Paul’s instructions to Timothy. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Word of God was given to keep us in the boundaries of the faith. We can be perfect, whether some believe it or not.