Prose

Somebody (who is presumably a charismatic "Christian" of cultish kind) called me a "false teacher" just because my view about Christian perfection seems to be different from his own view.
 
I do agree with him that true Christians strive for spiritual perfection (Matthew 5:48). The only problem is, grace is virtually absent from his own view, making his view seemingly close to the Pelagian heresy - which generally states that after Christ's atoning sacrifice, God gave everyone the natural ability to attain spiritual perfection. What's even more objectionable in his view is his point that true Christians literally DO NOT sin. (Well, maybe he was just ignorantly using certain English words that made me think he was teaching sinless perfectionism; *sighs* communication barrier.)

While I do believe that true Christians should desire to be completely free from sin, I think it's very common sense that salvation is just the start of sanctification - and this obviously means that the saved will still falter at some point during the process. The good news, of course, is that if we do sin, "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1, MEV) and that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9, MEV).
 
I tried to point out to him that even John Wesley, who was the primary endorser of the "Christian perfection" doctrine, never used the term "sinless perfection" to refer to Christian perfection by grace. I also tried to point out that even Assemblies of God condemns the Pelagian heresy - to no avail! He still insisted that I'm a false teacher. But anyway, I think it's wise if I just simply assume that maybe we just misunderstood each other's views due to the apparent communication barriers.
 
As for me, I believe that we can't be perfected by our own efforts. As the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, "For without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, MEV). Just as a true Christian believer is saved by grace alone in Christ alone, he can only be perfected by grace alone in Christ alone.