Not only are these concepts not taught in the Bible, but they are dangerous to your ministry. Please read the following and SHARE if you CARE to help people with this faulty mindset.

“I’M NOT PERFECT, I AM IN THE PROCESS”

Where does the Bible ever teach that a person born again is laking something in their spiritual nature? In other words, where does the Bible teach that salvation comes in stages and that you are not complete in Christ?
 
Here are the places where the words “perfect” and “complete” describe the instantaneous work of God at the moment a person is saved:
  1. Hebrews 10:14 (KJV), “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
  2. 1 John 2:5-6 (NIV), “5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
  3. 1 John 4:18 (KJV), “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
  4. Matthew 5:48 (NIV), “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Other References to Being Made New, a Masterpiece and Holy at New Birth which Leads to a Life Free From Sin
  1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
  2. Ephesians 2:10 (KJV), “For we are his workmanship [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
  3. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV), “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
  4. John 8:34-36 (NIV), “34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
  5. 1 John 3:9-10 (NIV), “9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”
  6. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV), “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Problems Ministries Face Who Constantly Teach People They are Not Who God Says They are at New Birth

  1. People will continue to believe that struggling with sin is normal and par for the Christian life.
  2. People will make excuses when confronted with sin and say things like, “We’re all sinners in a process. Why are you judging my process?”
  3. People will never experience a true, definitive moment when they can say they were saved and set free from sin.
  4. People will think sin is more powerful than Jesus in this life because they can only be free from sin at death (even though Paul said God would provide a way of escape from every sin in 1 Corinthians 10:13). Thus, death is their savior- not Jesus.
BOTTOM LINE: Say, “I am perfect in Christ!”

“I’M NOT HEALED, I’M BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN”

Where does the Bible, especially the New Testament, teach Christians to think of themselves as broken? The exact opposite is actually true!
 
Here are places where the Bible teaches complete emotionally healing the moment people cry out to God for it. Plus, it is His desire from us to remain healed and whole:
  1. Luke 4:17-19 (KJV), “17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.'”
  2. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV), “17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
  3. 2 Corinthians 4:8-13 (NIV), “8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak.”
  4. 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV), “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
  5. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV), “9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
  6. Isaiah 61:3 (NIV), “[God will] provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
  7. Psalms 34:6 (NIV), “This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.”

Problems Ministries Face Who Constantly Teach People They are Never Totally Healed, but Always Beautifully Broken:

  1. People will think emotional struggles like despair, low self-esteem and depression are normal for Christians.
  2. People will think others who have experienced victory are not being “real” or have an “easy life.” In other words, they will be cynical of real Christian testimonies.
  3. People will get upset when confronted with bad attitudes because they will say, “We’re all just broken vessels God is using. Who are you to judge my journey in the valley?”
  4. People will not trust God is a good Father- from whom every good and perfect gift comes, because they will think that they have to suffer for God to do good things in their lives.

BOTTOM LINE: Say, “I am beautifully healed in Christ!”

Romans 12:1-2, “1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”