Phil. 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

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God Demands Direction &
not Perfection!
1 Jn 1:7-10 But if we walk in the light as He is
in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses 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.

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Godly Logic!
●The Bible often uses logic to teach truth!
–See Is. 1:18 cf. Jn. 8:31-32
●1 Jn. 1:7-10 is often called “God’s second law
of pardon!”
●John uses common logic to teach a valuable
and much needed truth!
–“If (P) then (Q)” Modus Ponens or “if, then
syllogism”
●“If” is found 5 times in this first chapter!
–Once in each of the last five verses! P = Q

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How many of you here today have
ever met someone perfect, besides
yourself of course?
●The fact is that there are no perfect people, and
there has only ever been one!
–None righteous, no not one! (Rom. 3:10)
–None that understand, none that seek after God!
(Rom. 3:11)
–All gone away/astray, none that does good, no not
one! (Rom. 3:12 “all have sinned!”)
●The only perfect person was Jesus!
–“Yet without sin!” (Heb. 4:15)

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The fact remains that even the
children of God make mistakes and
continually need forgiveness!
●As we will see today, the Bible demands
direction and not perfection!
●I can remember listening to sermons growing
up and thinking to myself “I am going to have to
wait until right before I die to be baptized,
because I know I wont be able to live a perfect
life!”
●I was clearly misunderstanding God’s
forgiveness and what being a Christian is!

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Rom 8:37 Yet in all these things we
are more than conquerors through
Him who loved us.
●Direction and not perfection! Far too many
Christians have simply given up on doing what is
right because they have never learned this
principle!
●Many Christians go around always feeling
defeated, they experience the struggle Paul
speaks of in (Rom. 7) and then fail to see the
deliverance in (Rom. 7:24,25) and then
expressed in (Rom. 8!)

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I. The Realization!
●If one picks up their Bible and starts reading they will
read of men said to be “perfect” But what does this
really mean?
–Gen 6:9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a
just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked
with God. NKJV
–Gen 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old
and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said
unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me,
and be thou perfect. KJV
–Deut 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD
thy God. KJV

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Each of these is translated from
the Hebrew word tamiym
●Found 91 times in the OT! Translated as..
–Without blemish 44 times
–Perfect 18 times
–Upright 8 times
–Without spot 6 times
–Uprightly 4 times
–Sincerely 2 times
–Complete 1 time
–Full 1 time
–Misc. 3 times

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Gen. 6:9 “Noah was a righteous
man, blameless in his generation,
Noah walked with God!” ESV
●Blameless vs. Perfect!
–Did Noah ever sin? Did he ever make a
mistake? (Cf. Rom. 3:10-12, 23)
–Yet, he was blameless in the sight of God!
●Only one person has ever walked this earth and
never sinned, only one was ever perfect and that
was Jesus!
–Heb. 4:15 cf. Jn. 8:7

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The one that is blameless is the one
that when they sin they seek God’s
forgiveness!
Phil. 2:15; 2 Pet. 3:14
●For example consider King David!
–Act 13:22 "And when He had removed him, He
raised up for them David as king, to whom also He
gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son
of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all
My will.”
–Yet, did he ever make a mistake? YES!!!
–When he was confronted with his sin, he was willing
to seek God’s forgiveness!

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II. The Recognition!
●In our second point this morning we want to
move from “what” to “why!”
–This is where we need to understand how this
applies to us as Christians!
●We must “recognize” that we will make mistakes,
but we do not have to continue to make them,
and God is here to help!
–Lets read together! (1 Jn. 3:1-10)
●Everyone of us is “practicing” something, either
how to live right or live wrong!

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As we read of the great men and
women of the Bible, we read of both
their strengths and weaknesses!
●The strong man is not the one that never
falls, he is the one that keeps on trying and
getting up again!
●We need to simply learn to never give up
and keep on trying, trusting God to help carry
us through!
●We learn to always do our best and trust
God to do the rest!

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III. The Result!
●In our last point this morning we now want to move
to the “application” of what the realization and
recognition must bring!
●When we properly understand that God is here to
help us, this should motivate us to want to walk with
God!
–Heb 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without
covetousness; be content with such things as you
have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave
you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The
LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do
to me?"

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When we are walking with God, He is
here to help us when we stumble,
when we fall!
● God is here to help us “get back up again!”
● This is also why we “need” one another in the
body of Christ!
– Eccl 4:9-10 Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their
labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his
companion. But woe to him who is alone when
he falls, For he has no one to help him up.

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Because God demands
direction and not perfection,
we must keep looking to Him!
●Keep looking to Him for forgiveness!
●Keep looking to Him for strength!
–Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me.
●We cannot do it alone! We need God
and we need one another!

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Conclusion:
●There has only ever been one perfect person
and that was Jesus! Our only hope is Jesus!
–Rev. 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful
witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the
ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who
loved us and washed us from our sins in His own
blood!
●Never give up hope, as long as we are walking
in the light, the blood of Jesus continues to
cleanse us from sin!
●Have you come to Jesus to be forgiven?

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