“That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27)

Looking for the perfect church? There are many who continue to look for that perfect congregation, forgetting that they themselves are anything but sinners by nature, as are others. Like any marriage, the honeymoon lasts only for a short time. To survive, it takes commitment, forgiveness, understanding, love and faithfulness to one another, in spite of the faults.

The Good News is that there is a church, not of men’s making, that is absolutely perfect, of which all are already members whom God the Father has already redeemed and justified in the glorious person and work of His Son. God graciously does not see the imperfections of its members, as they see each other’s because the LORD Jesus so completely paid their sin debt and satisfied the Father’s law and justice, that there remained nothing but righteousness to impute to their account once for all, AT THE CROSS, Hebrews 10:10,14. All the goodness, righteousness and perfection is in the Redeemer/Substitute, not in the members of His body. God counts them saints because of the glorious work accomplished for them as sinners, AT THE CROSS.

This being so, we who are members of Christ’s Spiritual church, are instructed to forgive one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us, Eph. 4:32. Such is the power of God’s Grace, Christ Jesus, not only to forgive but to love one another, blemishes and all because such is the unconditional love of Christ for each of us for whom He died, Eph. 5:2. We cannot impute guilt and fault in a begrudging manner to the LORD’s people because we are to look on them as God does, holy in His Son, 1 Pet. 2:5. We no more attribute wrong doing and guilt to another member of Christ’s body than He does to any of His members. The LORD Jesus has no favorites before God the Father. We are ALL equally declared holy (saints) because of His finished work at Calvary. This is not by any individual holiness or faith inherent in us but rather; God’s very own holiness earned and established by the LORD Jesus Christ, which the Father accepted and imputed at our Redeemer’s death, 2 Cor. 5:21. God was forbearing with the sin of His people until Christ bore it away on the tree, Rom. 3:25, all the sins of the elect being laid to His charge, Isaiah 53:5. Now He sees all for whom He died, even those yet to be called by His Spirit, as justified before Him because of Christ’s finished work, Romans 5:9-10.

And yet, in our nature and practice, there is so much sin, weakness and wandering as the LORD’s sheep. That is the nature of a sheep, Isa. 53:6. But the exposure of our sin is what magnifies even more how God so graciously has chosen, redeemed and justified us in His Son and, in time, has called and is calling each of His own out of darkness into His Marvelous Light, by His Spirit, through the Faithful proclamation of the Truth. What would be a hospital, without sick people? What is a true church without sinners saved by Grace? Of all people, we, as redeemed sinners, should be longsuffering and prayerful for one another, knowing the Grace of God toward sinners such as we are. Even if some are not sheep among us but goats who have wandered in for a time, ours is to Faithfully set Christ forth before their eyes in Doctrine and example. Be careful, however, that one we perceive as a goat may well be one of the LORD’s sheep and the reason they are among us is to hear the same Gospel that brings comfort and blessing to any of us whom Christ saved by His death. Any that He has saved by His blood shed, He will most assuredly call, Galatians 1:15-16.