What We Believe

You've probably heard these sayings, "nobody's perfect" and "everybody makes mistakes," many times in your life, spoken by your parents, siblings, relatives, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, or by the members of the church you attend. If you were to turn on the television or radio, you might even hear one of these statements being made by some famous television or radio personality. There is even a good chance that these statements are a regular part of your own vocabulary. The fact is, almost everyone in the world today believes that it is impossible to be perfect, and that making mistakes cannot be avoided.

Now these sayings are both true, and yet at the same time they are not true. They are true, if the speaker of the saying is referring to natural perfection. Yes, there are many things that we humans do unintentionally, and no matter how hard we try, there will always be something, some error, that we do not make purposefully, such as striking out while at bat in a baseball game, or messing up a favorite shirt by accidentally spilling bleach on it. Sometimes, we misplace things, such as keys, wallets, purses, even our money. We forget what we are going to say, we stutter, we slouch, we stumble, we trip, we fall. And the natural bodies we now dwell in definitely aren't perfect. One side of our faces is never exactly the same as the other, and our right legs are never the exact same length as our left legs. Some of us have to wear glasses because of impaired vision, while others must wear hearing aids due to hearing impairment, while others are completely blind and/or deaf. And not only that, but we have allergies, we get sick, we get injured physically, and the very worst of all, we die. It would most likely be impossible to write of all the natural imperfections of mankind, but what has been written is sufficient enough to paint a fairly detailed picture for you, of how all these things do happen, and will continue to happen in our daily lives, until the very end.

But there is a form of perfection that is attainable. It is a spiritual perfection, the righteousness and holiness which the Holy Bible speaks of throughout all its pages. From Genesis to Revelations, the Bible is filled with obedient servants of Yahweh, perfect men, and the lives of these men are a witness against all other men, proving that it was then, and is even now, possible to live a perfect life, free from sin.

Let's take a look at a few of these witnesses, good and faithful servants, with whom Yahweh the Father was well pleased. There was Abel, the brother of Cain. He offered unto Yahweh a good and an acceptable sacrifice, the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof, and by his offering he obtained witness that he was righteous (Gen. 4: 4, Heb. 11:4). Then there was Enoch. The Bible says that he pleased Yahweh because he walked with Yahweh (Gen. 5:24, Heb. 11:5). After that came Noah. He also was a just man and perfect in his generations, and he too walked with Yahweh (Gen. 6:9) Also there was Job. He was perfect and upright, one that feared Yahweh and eschewed evil. Even when Yahweh allowed Satan to take away all his riches, even all the lives of his children, he still held his integrity, and sinned not with his lips (Job 1, 2:1-10).

It would be erroneous to say that these men never, in their whole entire lives, ever committed a sin, because the Bible boldly states in Romans 3: 23, that "...all have sinned, and come short of the glory of Yahweh." 1 John 1:6-10 says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Yahshua Messiah his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." No, Yahshua the Messiah was and is the only man that never sinned. Nevertheless, these afore-mentioned men did not take advantage of Yahweh's grace by continuing in sin, but they spent the remainder of their time faithfully, consistently, and perfectly doing those things that they knew were pleasing in Yahweh's eyesight, and in their faithfulness, they earned the title of being called perfect. Now, with all these men that the Bible specifically refers to as being perfect, it should make us all wonder why anyone claiming to be a follower of the Messiah, would ever say that they can't be perfect.

Referring to Yahshua Messiah, it is written in Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." When the angel of Yahweh spoke in Matthew 1:21, he told Joseph that Yahshua would "...save his people from their sins." And Yahshua himself said in Matthew 10:25, that "It is enough for the disciple to be as his master, and the servant as his lord." When Yahshua spoke to his followers in Matthew 16:24, he told them, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." You see, dear reader, Yahshua was talking about sinning. When he said "deny yourself" he was talking about not doing those sinful things that Yahweh does not want us to do. When he said "take up your cross" he was referring to the suffering that a righteous man experiences in his flesh, when he is no longer fulfilling the flesh's sinful lusts, but is doing that which is right in God's sight, instead of that which is wrong. When he spoke of "saving your life" he was speaking of continuing in the sins that we humans love to commit, and when he said "lose your life" he meant the opposite, not continuing in the sins that we as individuals love to commit. "To gain the whole world" would be to always get what we want, and to always get it right when we want it, in other words, to sin in any way that you want. But remember the next thing he said, he is coming back to reward all men according to their works. This means that if you sin, then you will not be rewarded the gift of eternal life, but rather you will be rewarded for y