I. THE GENUINE CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
AS TAUGHT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
We need to be reminded of the genuine Christian perfection as taught in the New Testament. In order to see the genuine Christian perfection, we need to see the revelation of the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the genuine, real Christian perfection.
The New Jerusalem has a strong base, and this strong base is God the Father’s divine nature, signified by gold (Rev. 21:18b, 21b). The holy city is a golden mountain. Surely, that is strong and sufficient to bear any weight. The entire holding strength of the holy city is God’s divine nature, and this base should be the base of our Christian life and work. The base, the gates, and the wall of the city are the basic building, whereas the throne, the temple, and the light are the furnishings. The intrinsic significance of all these items shows us what the genuine Christian perfection is. The New Jerusalem will be the ultimate consummation of the Body of Christ, so the genuine Christian perfection is also the Body of Christ, which is the aggregate of all the God-men living the life of the God-man.
A. The Genuine Christian Perfection Being according to God’s New Testament Economy
The genuine Christian perfection taught in the New Testament is according to God’s New Testament economy that God wanted to become a man that many men may become the God-men for the producing of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem as God’s ultimate goal. In the Lord’s recovery, the Christian perfection is the living of the God-man.
B. The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed and Consummated Triune God into the Believers
1. By God the Father as the Source, the Origin
Such a Christian perfection is the issue of the dispensing of the processed and consummated Triune God into the believers, the God-men, by God the Father as the source, the origin (Matt. 5:48). The Father in His nature is the golden base of the New Jerusalem as its source, its origin.
2. With God the Son as the Element
The genuine Christian perfection is also with God the Son as the element (2 Cor. 13:3, 5, 9, 11). This is typified by the pearl gates of the New Jerusalem. An oyster (Christ) lives in the salty water (the world of death) and is wounded by a grain of sand (crucified for the sinner) to produce a pearl by secreting its life-juice (dispensing His life element). The Father is the base, and the Son is the element.
(Crystallization-Study of the Epistle of James, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
