Perfection Series

There's an old story about a couple who lived by the sea and kept

a boarding house. There boarders had only one complaint, and that

was lack of variety on the menu. Breakfast consisted of fish,

chicken, and eggs; dinner consisted of chicken, eggs, and fish, and

for supper they had eggs, fish, and chicken. The boarders finally

rebelled and insisted on something different. The woman said, "All

right, what would you like?" The spokesman said, "We don't care

just so its meat. Why don't you make some sausages." She said,

"I've never made them, how do you do it?" The spokesman was no

cook either so he just said, "The same as you cook fish." The next

evening as they all sat at the table a large tray was brought in as

they sat in excited anticipation. They could hardly wait for it to be

uncovered. When it was, it was a tragic sight, for in the center of the

dish were some dark brown looking things huddled together like

sand bugs in the desert. The old lady was on the verge of tears. She

broke out in a sobbing voice, "I know something went wrong, but

you know there just isn't much left in those things after they are

cleaned."

She certainly made a mistake in cleaning or gutting her sausages

as she did her fish, and some people feel it is just as big a mistake to

cleanse your life from sin. These are people who consider this as a

destruction of life, for if all evil were removed life would be nothing

but an empty shell, or dried up skin with all the meat of life

removed. They hesitate to receive Christ, because they feel that

giving up sin is giving up the best part of life. They want to go to

heaven, but they think the path of getting there is so drab and

lifeless they just can't see it is worth it.

As Christians, we can recognize the folly of their thinking, for

they only know the pleasures of the flesh, and have not experienced

the joys of spiritual blessings and the peace of God. They are unable

to conceive of the superior pleasures of abundant life in Christ, so

they hold back and cling to their sins and lose life's best. There are

two kinds of people then. There are those who feel life's best is in

sin, and those who feel it is in salvation from sin. But as one has

said, there are only two kinds of people in the world: Those who

think there are only two kinds of people in the world, and those who

know better. We know better, for in the second category there are

also different kinds of people. There are Christians who believe in

entire sanctification, or, that one can be completely victorious over

sin in this life. Then there are those who feel that this is impossible,

and that we must remain sinners to some degree all our life.

The amount of literature and debate on this subject is staggering,

and the more one reads the more he becomes aware that both sides

of the issue can be well defended. When godly men can be equally

convinced of opposite points of view, it usually indicates that there is

truth on both sides, and what is needed for a total view is to combine

the truths of both. This, I feel, is exactly what the Apostle John

does. Both those who hold to the doctrine of Christian perfection,

and those who reject it, quote I John for support. John teaches the

paradoxical truth that the Christian can be victorious over sin, and

yet at the same time be always in need of cleansing from sin.

The first verse of chapter 2 brings out this paradox very clearly. We

want to examine this verse in detail, and look at two key aspects of

John's teaching. First-

I. IDEALISTIC PURPOSE.

John is writing to these Christians in order that they may cease to

sin. It would be possible to read all that John had written so far and

come to an opposite conclusion. One could say, since we are all

sinners, and there is no use denying it, and since all we need to do is

confess and they will be forgiven, then there is no point in getting

excited about sin. Why bother to fight it? In other words, the good

news of forgiveness could lead us to a lite view of sin.

John says for us not to get any such misconceptions. I am

writing, not so you can sin and not worry about it, but that you sin

not. Complete freedom from sin is the idealistic goal for which John

is aiming. The sinless Christ is our model, and it is to be our aim to