Your sinless perfection interpretation remains in contradiction with
1 John 1:8-10; 2:1.
Hi mailmandan,
What is sinless perfection? I ask because it strikes me you have to agree what sin is before one can say whether you can be without it or not, or even does sinless and perfection go together.
Let me elaborate. Sin in the sense Pharoah used it
27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
Exodus 9:27
This is an action in contravention or against another person which they have desired or asked for things to be different.
To a gnostic being physical is to be sinful, because physicality itself is a state of being wrong or evil.
To a legalist who wants no fault or guilt, everything is taken to an extreme where innocence is clear and there is no risk of failure.
Another layer is uncleanliness which is a circumstance which if not handled correctly leads to sin. Or making a vow or oath and then breaking it, or breaking a contract without an escape clause etc. Some go so far as to include all laws given by civil government, so parking fines, speeding, contraventions of safety etc. become sin.
So one person could say they have sinless perfection which is true based on how they define it, while another says liar, because their definition is different. Now both are correct in their definitions. One step lower is finding out how the Lord defines such things, as sin is often brought back to the Lords understanding, rather than peoples understanding.
Paul wrote this
But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin
Rom 14:23
"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Cor 6:12
If in faith everything is permissible, then nothing is sinful. Paul is not saying murder, theft and adultery are permissible, but rather boundaries on food and Sabbaths are not binding. Interestingly the apostles included not eating food sacrificed to idols and not eating blood, while Paul said food sacrificed to idols was meaningless as idols were just lumps of stone and wood, so ignore it.
I would suggest Paul had a very different view to sin than his pharisee past, but not sin does not need to be repented from. Equally Paul said he was not yet perfect, however it could be judged, and we should judge no one as far as perfection goes.
So I have this problem with the phrase "sinless perfection" and would like clarity on it so I can say do I agree it is wrong or it is our goal, or it is not a helpful description?