Sinless Perfection. Why do so many teach against what Jesus taught?

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Lizbeth

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It really is a shame that Jesus has become such an "idol", yet the people don't follow Him, believe His words, or obey Him.
Many don't I'm sure, but of those who are born again I hope and think most are doing their best to, according to their level of growth (unless they have fallen away or been led completely astray).
 

MostlyConfused

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No idea what you mean sister
I know. I grew up with and lived with this and I know you aren’t aware of it, at least not mostly. And I know it was done to you and it just repeats through the generations, and God sees that. He knows how damaged we are. From the top of the head to the sole of the foot, the walking wounded. I will go back to not answering you and will catch it sooner and be less foolish next time. I know I can’t fix anyone and I’m learning, STILL, to not get drawn in. Episkopos has helped me with it. Even if I’d had no private conversation but just his threads alone informing me, both what he says and the repeated responses would be enough (but for the fact that I am stubborn.)
 

Lizbeth

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I know. I grew up with and lived with this and I know you aren’t aware of it, at least not mostly. And I know it was done to you and it just repeats through the generations, and God sees that. He knows how damaged we are. From the top of the head to the sole of the foot, the walking wounded. I will go back to not answering you and will catch it sooner and be less foolish next time. I know I can’t fix anyone and I’m learning, STILL, to not get drawn in. Episkopos has helped me with it. Even if I’d had no private conversation but just his threads alone informing me, both what he says and the repeated responses would be enough (but for the fact that I am stubborn.)
All I know is that you ever since you came to these threads you seem to have fixated on me for some reason. I'm guessing it's projection. Not pleasant to bear with from my end.
 

MostlyConfused

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Here’s an amazing thing. If I go back through a more recent journal I see a repeated thing or theme over 30, 60 or 90 days or so. I see it so plainly that it shocks me it took me so long to see He was patiently telling me something again and again. What I think is just random scraps sort of…coalesce unmistakably.
Isnt that just the darndest thing???
 
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It really is a shame that Jesus has become such an "idol"...
It's a shame that Epi has become such an idol.
There is no Jesus in his gospel, just Epi.

...yet the people don't follow Him, believe His words, or obey Him.
All his sheep follow him, believe his words, and obey him.

John 10:4-5
4his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Just because some people who claim to be sheep don't follow him doesn't mean all of them are false sheep.


Epi has unfairly and justly condemned everyone who doesn't follow Epi without knowing a lick whether or not they follow and obey Jesus. Let me help you out here. Condescension towards others, the arrogance of thinking you're better than other men, hypocrisy, and unfair and uninformed judging are all signs of a false prophet.
 
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Here’s an amazing thing. If I go back through a more recent journal I see a repeated thing or theme over 30, 60 or 90 days or so. I see it so plainly that it shocks me it took me so long to see He was patiently telling me something again and again. What I think is just random scraps sort of…coalesce unmistakably.
Isnt that just the darndest thing???
It's damnable. He's leading you to destruction. The works justification gospel will not save you. When you rely on the (so-called) righteousness of your obedience to get into the kingdom of God you are making Jesus of no effect to you in justification.

Galatians 5:4
4You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.

Righteousness doesn't come from following laws. You don't do that well enough to be made righteous that way. No one does. It comes from having faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and receiving the Holy Spirit. The believer receives a down payment of the righteousness that is to come via the Holy Spirit while still in unredeemed flesh. And it is by that Spirit that they begin to live for Jesus more and more. But it isn't until the resurrection when we shed these unredeemed bodies that we believers will receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and will walk in perfect righteousness in glorified bodies. That is the hope of the believer. That is the gospel. God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham.
 

MostlyConfused

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It's damnable. He's leading you to destruction. The works justification gospel will not save you. When you rely on the (so-called) righteousness of your obedience to get into the kingdom of God you are making Jesus of no effect to you in justification.

Galatians 5:4
4You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.

Righteousness doesn't come from following laws. You don't do that well enough to be made righteous that way. No one does. It comes from having faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and receiving the Holy Spirit. The believer receives a down payment of the righteousness that is to come via the Holy Spirit while still in unredeemed flesh. And it is by that Spirit that they begin to live for Jesus more and more. But it isn't until the resurrection when we shed these unredeemed bodies that we believers will receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and will walk in perfect righteousness in glorified bodies. That is the hope of the believer. That is the gospel. God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham.
You are so hyper-focused on preaching that lawlessness is the way to be saved that you quote a post completely unrelated to that and continue the rant.
 
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Lizbeth

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Here’s an amazing thing. If I go back through a more recent journal I see a repeated thing or theme over 30, 60 or 90 days or so. I see it so plainly that it shocks me it took me so long to see He was patiently telling me something again and again. What I think is just random scraps sort of…coalesce unmistakably.
Isnt that just the darndest thing???
Yes, I sometimes notice patterns too. I hope you will take notice of Episkopos' patterns, for one example.
 

Lizbeth

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You are so hyper-focused on preaching that lawlessness is the way to be saved that you quote a post completely unrelated to that and continue the rant.
He is not preaching lawlessness....quite the opposite. But the way to fulfill the Law is through Christ, not our own righteousness and strength. We don't follow the Law, we follow Christ, His Spirit and that BY His Spirit. Faith does not make void the Law:

Rom 3:31
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

And scripture is specifically talking about the down payment with respect to it guaranteeing the redemption of our bodies.

Can we taste the powers of the world to come? Yes for sure. As to whether the Lord has laid down an expectation that we must remain permanently there in this life is another question.
 
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ProDeo

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Are you aware that there were 12 spies??

"10 were bad, 2 were good"...a song we sang 55+ years ago in children's church.
Their mission was to spy out the promised land for 40 days and come back to give a report...10 gave bad reports (unbelievers of God’s promises) and 2 gave good reports (believers of God's promises)....you read the account...

12, correct, so then what are we talking about?

Caleb and Joshua had faith, the other 10 feared and were punished with death for their unbelief, not allowed to enter the promised land while have being there and reported fear, unbelief.

The discussion started by MC saying -- the prophet you both support through tick and thin -- epi has been as one of the spies being in the promised and now is back and telling us what he saw.

And what does your prophet preach?

The beauty he saw, encouraging people, edifying people ?

No, his message is fear, like the 10 spies.

Wake up.

Remember what Epi recently said, how he in an unguarded moment sinned and trembled all over afraid the Lord would cast him in outer darkness.

@Laurina, dear sister, is that the Gospel message ?

Think...

He has not understood how much God loves him.

In all these years.

We can't earn our salvation.
 
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You are so hyper-focused on preaching that lawlessness is the way to be saved that you quote a post completely unrelated to that and continue the rant.
Lawlessness is not the way to be saved. Lawfulness is. But since you and every other human being besides Christ fail to always be lawful you can't be saved that way. That's why you can only be saved by the mercy of God's forgiveness. If you believe in and receive his forgiveness he will credit right standing with him to you until such a time in the kingdom to come when you will walk in the righteousness of the fullness of the Spirit.
 

JustMe

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I'm sorry, ProDeo I'm not understanding your point. I think you misunderstand MC.

What I do understand is that Episkopos is the only man living here on earth at this time (2026) in Canada that I know that has seen Zion, has walked in the light of it and has a testimony of it. He has a similar testimony of the writings of saints of old that have passed on. Perhaps you aren't meant to believe/understand this at this time or ever...that's not up to me or in my power (these things are too high for me)...that's God's department. For me, men like him in our day and age are so very rare, it's hard to believe...but then we must humbly pray, "Lord I believe, help Thou my unbelief," because with God all things are possible.
Well, maybe he is the only person anywhere who has seen Zion in the *Matrix* TV series.

Seriously, Laurina, I’d be careful about your position and beliefs—and that advice applies to all of us, including me. I don’t question that Epi has had experiences over the years, and perhaps others as well. I can assure you that he is not, and was not, the only one. I’ve had experiences in my own past that entered the spiritual realm of God. Though they affected my mind and, to some degree, my whole soul, I never saw them as a reason to change my faith in God, His Son, or the gospel, even slightly, or to gradually build a new, supplementary religion around them.

I’d simply say that what you know about Epi and his beliefs may strongly shape your words and posts. At the very least, pause and take a careful look at it all. That could be worthwhile, whether it confirms your current position in your writing or leads you to adjust it somewhat.
 
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1stCenturyLady

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Yes, he is talking about his failed fight with the desires of the flesh in Romans 7. You cannot fight fleshly desires with the mind. It is through the power of the Spirit that fleshly desire is slain. He goes on in Romans 8 to explain this.

Romans 8:13
13if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Born again people will always have the corrupt desires of the flesh to contend with. That's because the flesh is unredeemed. The redemption of the flesh does not happen until the resurrection.

Romans 8:22-23
22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
This seems to be a mistranslation, because it not we who puts to death the deeds of the flesh, but the Spirit only. We can't. We are either in the flesh, or in the Spirit, but not both.

Romans 7:5-6
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Romans 8:9
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
 
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This seems to be a mistranslation, because it not we who puts to death the deeds of the flesh, but the Spirit only. We can't.
The Spirit is like a sword. We do the wielding, He does the cutting.

For example, it's entirely right to say, "I cut up the turkey", when actually it was the knife that did the cutting. Both are true and are acceptable and understandable descriptions.

We are either in the flesh, or in the Spirit, but not both.
'In the flesh' has to be understood properly. I have an extensive history with the charismatic movement. Being 'in the flesh' to them means you're presently operating in the realm of the flesh, not the Spirit. Not an entirely wrong use of the phrase. But Paul in Romans 8 seems to be saying that 'being in the flesh' means you are in an unsaved condition and still under the authority and power of the flesh and its desires. He's referring to the relationship you have with the flesh (see Romans 7:1-6), not whether or not you are obeying it in any one particular moment of time and circumstance.
 
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1stCenturyLady

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But Paul in Romans 8 seems to be saying that 'being in the flesh' means you are in an unsaved condition and still under the authority and power of the flesh and its desires. He's referring to the relationship you have with the flesh, not whether or not you are obeying it in a particular moment of time and circumstance.
The flesh is the old man. It was the sin nature. It is our nature that must be born again of the Spirit. Once cleansed we are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit. You can't be both.
 

William Barton

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In Matthew 5:48 the verb "to perfect" stems from Greek τελεω = "to accomplish." So when you fill the car with gas you have perfected its fuel requirement. Likewise when you finish reading a book, mowing the lawn, paying a debt, etc.

It does not indicate sinless perfection (Romans 3:23). That will not happen in this current creation.
 
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