{"id":283,"date":"2012-10-09T19:42:49","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T00:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=283"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:20:27","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:20:27","slug":"obtaining-perfection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/09\/obtaining-perfection\/","title":{"rendered":"Obtaining Perfection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below is the link to the audio
\nhttp:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/sermons\/ObtainingPerfection.mp3<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew 19:16-31<\/p>\n

16 <\/sup>Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, \u201cTeacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?\u201d
\n17 <\/sup>\u201cWhy do you ask me about what is good?\u201d Jesus replied. \u201cThere is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.\u201d
\n18 <\/sup>\u201cWhich ones?\u201d the man inquired.
\nJesus replied, \u201c \u2018Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 <\/sup>honor your father and mother,\u2019 and \u2018love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019\u201d
\n20 <\/sup>\u201cAll these I have kept,\u201d the young man said. \u201cWhat do I still lack?\u201d
\n21 <\/sup>Jesus answered, \u201cIf you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.\u201d
\n22 <\/sup>When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
\n23 <\/sup>Then Jesus said to his disciples, \u201cI tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 <\/sup>Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.\u201d
\n25 <\/sup>When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, \u201cWho then can be saved?\u201d
\n26 <\/sup>Jesus looked at them and said, \u201cWith man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.\u201d
\n27 <\/sup>Peter answered him, \u201cWe have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?\u201d
\n28 <\/sup>Jesus said to them, \u201cI tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 <\/sup>And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 <\/sup>But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. (NIV 1984)<\/p>\n

Below is the link to the audio<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/sermons\/ObtainingPerfection.mp3<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jesus<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you all \u2026\u2026but as I started to read this, I found that I can say honestly, I have not kept all of the commandments that Jesus stated.\u00a0 Noooo, don\u2019t worry, I have not murdered anyone.\u00a0 I know at times I have not honored my father and mother, nor loved my neighbor as myself.\u00a0 This can be very discouraging while reading this.\u00a0 Having great wealth, well that is not a problem I have today, nor do I foresee that anytime in my future.<\/p>\n

Each of you has helped our family tremendously while we are at seminary.\u00a0 Our family just cannot express how much all of the prayers and thoughts mean to us.\u00a0 I have to tell you prayers and thoughts are invaluable while we are away from you all.\u00a0 Financially, I have to say I was really taken aback by the generosity of this congregation and the friends you all invited.\u00a0 I know you are generous and prove it time and time again in your prayers, talents, your time and possessions.\u00a0 I know of seminary students who come from congregations that worship over 300 people on a weekend and they have received no financial assistance, no letters, no email, and no reminders of any sort that anyone is thinking or praying for them.<\/p>\n

I want to look at this text a little deeper today now.\u00a0 I went into the Greek translation; yes that Greek class is coming in handy.\u00a0 In Greek and properly translated in our NIV Jesus tells the man of the things he should be doing.\u00a0 A little more clearly emphasized was the Greek in that it shows this as future tense.\u00a0 So it applies to tomorrow and the day after that, etc etc.<\/p>\n

Did you all catch the response from the man?\u00a0 He replies in the past tense of \u201cI have kept\u201d.\u00a0 Was he was missing the point here, it was today and going forward always.\u00a0 This can be next to impossible to do.\u00a0 Not only that, did anyone else catch what appears to be a lie the man said to Jesus?\u00a0 It was the same words, \u201cI have kept\u201d.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know of any teenager that honors their father and mother all of the time, nor even an adult.\u00a0 To honor, you do so when you are with them and away from them.\u00a0 I find it hard to believe that this man has never dishonored his parents.\u00a0 Come on, really?\u00a0 I am surprised Jesus did not come back and say, \u201cWhat ya talking about man?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Did you catch the other potential lie that is revealed in verse 22?\u00a0 The man is sad, because he had great wealth.\u00a0 Hummm, is he sad because he has so much wealth that it was going to be difficult to sell the possession and give to poor, which sure had to be a lot of wealth.\u00a0 Or was it he just did not want to give to the poor and rely upon wealth as his god?\u00a0 I am not sure which it is, we really cannot infer from the text.\u00a0 What I think I can safely infer is that he must not have loved his neighbors as himself if he really has so much wealth to give away.\u00a0 I really cannot say what the real issue was, however, there is a problem here for sure.\u00a0 Either way, it appears that he lies to Jesus when he said \u201cI have kept\u201d when referring to the commandments.<\/p>\n

We next hear that it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0 By the way, this applies to women to, just in case any of you women think there is a loop hole here. \u00a0\"Camels<\/p>\n

Upon hearing this the disciples were astonished. \u00a0Having wealth was often seen as God having favor on you and therefore the idea being wealthy and not having\u00a0eternal\u00a0life, just seemed to be a bit strange.\u00a0 If God favored you with all this wealth, why would you not also have\u00a0eternal\u00a0life?<\/p>\n

Now we hear, works of man, following the law, anything done by man will not make it possible to be saved. Ouch!\u00a0 Now what do we do????\u00a0 That is the whole point; we do not DO because God does it for us in God\u2019s Son.\u00a0 Following the Law, is doing works and doing works is does not lead perfection and therefore does not lead to\u00a0eternal\u00a0life.<\/p>\n

I had a long facebook conversation that is still continuing, involving faith, grace and works this last week.\u00a0 The idea of having to do works, the need to do works, now becomes a law.\u00a0 The person(s) I have been conversing with have been insistent that works need to be done and in doing so they enhance faith.\u00a0 Now I very well believed that what was being written was that works will be done because of faith.\u00a0 However that is NOT what was being conveyed.\u00a0 What I was most concerned about was the idea of enhancing faith by works, thus the idea that we can make our faith grow or be enhanced by works of our own.\u00a0 Faith is imparted upon us all by the Holy Spirit, the only thing we do is choose to ignore this faith and thus reject what God has given us through the Holy Spirit or not ignore and let the Spirit work on our faith that has been given to us.\u00a0 If we do not reject the faith, then the Spirit continues to work in and upon us.\u00a0 It is because of the faith given to us, not by our own works or abilities that we then respond to the grace imparted by God upon us.\u00a0 That response is by doing works but even God is the one that helps us to do the works because it is God\u2019s works that God has in mind for us that we do. \u00a0It is not that we have to do works but we will want to do works.\u00a0 Doing works does not enhance our faith, does not make us perfect and certainly does not gain our salvation.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit gives faith to whomever and whenever the Spirit wants.\u00a0 We have nothing to do with this and in such, we cannot enhance it either.<\/p>\n

So, what is it that God wants from us to be perfect?\u00a0 Nothing we can do for ourselves.\u00a0 God wants us not to ignore the faith that the Spirit has given us.\u00a0 Have faith in God\u2019s only Son, Jesus Christ, that by His death on the cross, suffering and resurrection, we are justified in the sight of God\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 Some might ask, \u201cwhat if I have ignored God\u2019s faith that God has given me, is it too late?\u201d\u00a0 No, it is never too late.\u00a0 God\u2019s grace comes to us in the sacraments of Baptism and Communion.\u00a0 Each time we come to the meal, God\u2019s grace is again imparted upon us.\u00a0 Once baptized, we are new creatures created by God.\u00a0 Even then, if we fall away from God, Martin Luther says that the life preserver from the baptismal boat is there waiting for us upon repentance and we can be pulled back aboard the boat.\u00a0 Another way of receiving God\u2019s grace is through confession, forgiveness and absolution.\u00a0 Those that are truly repentant will be absolved of their sins and God\u2019s will see them in God\u2019s grace as perfect<\/p>\n

So, in the end God wants to see us through the grace that he imparts upon us, so that on the Day of Judgment, Jesus Christ, our advocate can present us to God as a good and faithful servant.\u00a0 One who is perfect and worthy of inheriting eternal life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below is the link to the audio http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/sermons\/ObtainingPerfection.mp3 Matthew 19:16-31 16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, \u201cTeacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?\u201d 17 \u201cWhy do you ask me about what is good?\u201d Jesus replied. \u201cThere is only One who is good. If you want to enter … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,10,27,26,6],"tags":[100,97,99,96],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-283","6":"format-standard","7":"category-eternal-life","8":"category-jesus","9":"category-perfection","10":"category-seminary","11":"category-works","12":"post_tag-eternal-life","13":"post_tag-jesus","14":"post_tag-perfection","15":"post_tag-works"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-4z","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1488,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2016\/01\/13\/jesus-baptism-is-important\/","url_meta":{"origin":283,"position":0},"title":"Jesus’ Baptism Is Important","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"January 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Old Testament \u00a0 Isaiah 43:1-7 Psalm \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Psalm 29:1-11 New Testament \u00a0Acts 8:14-17 Gospel \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Luke 3:15-22 \u00a0 The story of Jesus\u2019 baptism must be important.\u00a0 It is one of few stories that are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baptism"","block_context":{"text":"Baptism","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/baptism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3650,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2026\/01\/24\/relationship-with-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":283,"position":1},"title":"Relationship with Jesus","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"January 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"January 18th, 2026 Psalm 127 John 2:13-25 (NIV) https:\/\/vimeo.com\/1156935054","rel":"","context":"In "Body of Christ"","block_context":{"text":"Body of Christ","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/body-of-christ\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/temple-cleanse.png?fit=710%2C340&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/temple-cleanse.png?fit=710%2C340&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/temple-cleanse.png?fit=710%2C340&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/temple-cleanse.png?fit=710%2C340&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":855,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/24\/jesus-uncovers-truth-and-presents-us-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":283,"position":2},"title":"Jesus uncovers truth and presents us to God","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"March 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Below you will find a video of a Children's sermon I did on the third Sunday of Lent, 2014. \u00a0This is based upon the Gospel reading from John 4:5-42 [youtube\u00a0http:\/\/youtu.be\/6U8swzpSwgg] \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Eternal Life"","block_context":{"text":"Eternal Life","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/eternal-life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/6U8swzpSwgg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3407,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2025\/04\/01\/go-see-jesus-in-the-other\/","url_meta":{"origin":283,"position":3},"title":"Go! 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