The same confused Pilgrim (see April 26th posting) representing the Bible Standard Ministries who has been making statements that those of us who are consecrated living now have Christ's Imputed Merit, and are perfect, doesn't clarify his position. He doesn't understand the difference between those who were called during the Gospel Age (the Spirit Begotten) and those consecrating between the ages. He contradicts himself within his own discourses. His understanding of the Parousia and Epiphany Truth is like oil and water. Sad as this is, he has also been named as the next Executive Trustee of the Bible Standard Ministries. This is from his talk: In Prison, Out of Prison - Part 1
From 32 seconds to 1:03
"...We are living in a time when many changes are coming along in our understanding as we progress down our, our avenue of consecration and as God's plan comes, excuse me, ever closer to fruition, we are finding more and more progressive, thoughts we should be discussing with each other…"
From 3:34 to 4:13
"…John 8:36 We have been emancipated by the one named Jesus Christ, and the scripture reads 'If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.' Remember not too many years ago there was a gentleman that used that thought. 'Free Indeed' Martin Luther King, wasn't it…"
From 9:22 to 10:05
"…Now I want to take a little different avenue about from where we were committed by our mothers into condition of sin; and I want to ask the question Can we be perfect? and the answer is yes, God expects it of us. When we've use the word perfect, we think of that one that has, holy, come from the sand, to the glass, to the crystal. We are working on crystallization of our character, that is the whole purpose of where we are today in God's plan…"
From 11:35 to 12:15
"…Gen 17:1… and the scripture goes on: and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. This is what God expected when he made a covenant with him that he would walk before Him and be perfect. The thought of being perfect here is to do our very best. Be the best we know how to be…"
From 14:16 to 15:07
"…We can be perfect in the sense that God is perfect in Matt 5:48 there is the text where God gives us what he expects us to be, 5: 48 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.' These are Jesus' words to the one's he was addressing at that time. Be thou perfect..."
Here is a truth reference stating the opposite, from THE TRIAL OF YOUR FAITH, R4004 Pg. 170.
We are glad to have the testimony of the Apostle that these grand characters of the past met with the divine approval, and fell asleep in death to await at the resurrection a grand reward--their trial and testing having been successfully finished. But in the same connection the Apostle tells us that in the divine plan the "little flock" of this Gospel age has been called to a still higher station and privilege and blessing than the ancient worthies. The Apostle's words are, "These died in faith, not having received the thing promised; God having provided some better thing for us [the Gospel Church], that they without us should not be made perfect." Their perfection will be to the human nature; ours, if we are of the very elect, will be to the divine nature, far above angels, principalities and powers. What then shall we suppose respecting God's approval in the Gospel Church, and the tests that he will apply? Can we think that he would make faith a test in the past and ignore it as respects the present election? Nay, verily! Faith is still the test of all who would please God. So then, as God in the past selected for the channels of his promises and blessings only those who could exercise faith, we may expect that in the present time the Lord has nothing whatever to offer except to those who can exercise faith in him and in his promises. We know that this must of necessity signify that the called of this Gospel age would be a very much smaller number than the whole population of the world; and then again we have the further declaration that of the called few will be chosen.
What does this signify except that few will prove themselves to have the requisite faith and obedience to please God, to be counted worthy a share in the Kingdom with his dear Son, our Lord. And if only those who have faith have been called throughout this Gospel age, what shall we say of the testings of faith for these? The Apostle's intimation is that their faith will need a great testing. He says, "The trial of your faith is much more precious than that of gold which perisheth." (1 Pet. 1:7.) Gold has a special value at the present time by reason of its scarcity--a value that will perish when with the new order of things it will be as easy to have gold as to have clay or iron; but the "little flock," which the Lord is selecting during this Gospel age, is always to be specially precious in that to this class alone of humanity, so far as the divine revelation shows, will be granted the divine nature, with its glory, honor and immortality. Hence the trial of the faith of this class is very precious, a very important matter. None shall be admitted to that glorious immortality without first being tested and proven by the Lord. But here again let us remember that our testing is not as respects the flesh, to see whether or not we are perfect in the flesh, but on the contrary we are assured that God knoweth our condition--that all things are open and naked before his sight, and that he declares that we are all imperfect.
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