Perfection.
Is Perfection perfect?
If the standard of perfection is absolute then this absolute standard of perfection applies to all perfect beings and all perfect things. But if the standard of perfection is not absolute then any perfect being including God, Jesus and the Word as it is within God could become imperfect.
Chrisitians cannot biblically accept even in the least that God, Jesus or the Word could become imperfect. So if perfection itself is perfect then we must accept that perfection, with its absolutely perfect standard, always applies to all perfect beings who therefore can never become imperfect under any circumstance.
Were Adam and Eve perfect?
If Adam and Eve were perfect before they disobeyed God and Fell against His Will, causing sin to enter the world, then we would have a clear example of already perfect beings becoming imperfect and this would mean that the standard of perfection is not absolute, unchanging or eternal.
If there is just one example of any perfect being becoming imperfect then the standard of perfection cannot be absolute, so there would be nothing against any other perfect being also becoming imperfect under similar circumstances and that includes God, Jesus and the Word as it is within God.
The reason a Christian will give for Jesus not sinning is that he was perfect. The reason a Christian will give for God not tempting nor being able to be tempted is that He is perfect. According to this biblical reasoning, being perfect means you cannot be tempted or sin, so Adam and Eve could not have been perfect before they Fell.
Was Jesus perfect?
There are some Christians who say perfection for God means something different from perfection for humans. If we are to believe this then we have to accept that there is not one standard of perfection and that, since each standard applies only under certain conditions and to specific beings, neither standard is absolute.
Since, as Christians claim, Jesus was both man and divine then we would have to believe that as a man Jesus lived according to one non-absolute standard of perfection and, in regards his divinity, he lived according to another totally different standard of perfection which also is not absolute.
Not only would Jesus be in contradiction within himself between two differing and non-absolute standards of perfection and so could not be called the Truth since God's Truth is absolutely perfect and non-contradictory, but he and God could never be perfectly One since each of their standards of perfection would be different.
Is God the perfect Creator?
A common mistake is to think that God can do anything because He is all powerful, which is a completely unbiblical viewpoint since the Bible says no such thing. Instead, the number of ways in which God can apply His unlimited power is limited by His absolutely good and perfectly true nature.
Furthermore, some things are simply not possible to achieve regardless of any being's creative ability or power. A popular example is that of a square circle. If a circle was anything other than a circle then it would not be a circle. So it doesn't matter how much power you have, a circle that is not a circle can never be created.
According to the Genesis account, after each day of the creation process, God declared that what He hade made was "good" and, on the last day, said it was "very good". Adam and Eve are described as being innocent and naive which, while also being childlike quailties, are qualities related to goodness.
If you search for the word 'naive' in the Bible you'll see it being associated with or likened to a lack of wisdom. Wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit a person receives as one grows in relationship with God. This lack of wisdom illustrates Adam and Eve were indeed childlike and had not yet grown in wisdom, that is, matured spiritually.
After their Fall, Adam and Eve came to know both good AND evil. Before their Fall, however, based on the above insight from Genesis, they were innocent in their hearts as children who knew only good. Adam and Eve knew good before their Fall, so we can understand clearly it was not necessary to know evil in order to know good.
Being created innocently naive and childlike by God with the potential to become perfect and complete and mature as our Heavenly Father is perfect, does not detract from God's perfection or creative ability. In fact, to say Adam and Eve were perfect and then became imperfect contradicts the concept of perfection itself.
Creating imperfect beings is not the same as creating evil beings. God, being absolutely good, can never create evil. Adam and Eve were good and innocent with naive and childlike qualities of heart. As a perfectly good being God can certainly create good things which, according to the Genesis account, He did perfectly.
God chose the only way to fulfill the purpose of love, which was to give us a choice. If He had created Adam and Eve already perfect and complete then they would have no choice but to already be in an eternal relationship with God that they could never choose to be in. Such a forced relationship is not love.
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OUR VALUES
God, our Creator, the One, is our eternally loving Heavenly Parent. Jesus is God's beloved Son, the resurrected Son of Man, and is our Way, Truth and Life. We are expected by God to excel in the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the sake of others and the establishment of the Kingdom. The Bible is the inspired Word of God and the Gospel is its central message.
OUR VISION
Discerners Church is participating in the fulllfilment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth through Unity with God in Truth and Love and in co-operation with other believers who love God.
OUR ETHOS
Truth Without Contradiction.
OUR MISSION
With God's blessing we find those who are born with the gift of Discernment, even if it is undeveloped, and help to bring it under the proper tutelage of God's perfect Love.