Tdrew i am only on the SAINT stage of salvation... Not perfect yet... Still only a Saint... Eph 4:11 to 13 says a saint need to be perfected still... I only did this part...
1 Joh 3:3... And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
As you can see I do have hope to be a child of God.
You can not hope to be a child of God for the same reason that Barak Obama can not hope to be President of the USA - you already are one. Hope must be contrary to present circumstances - or it is not hope. The verses you quoted were directed to those who are already children of God.
I Jn 2:28-3:3 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
We have the hope of righteousness, the hope of being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
On the one hand, you agree that you do not possess perfection yet. You do not want to be judged for your spelling errors. Presumably, you would not want to be judged whenever you act from your corrupt birth nature, which is still alive and being crucified in you (else you would not be making spelling errors AND WORSE), instead of the perfect, regenerated nature that is ALSO alive in you (else you would have NO RIGHT TO BE CALLED A SAINT - HOLY ONE). Perfection is the standard. God has not lowered the standard. He raised us up to it IN HOPE.
Mat 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You and I have this in common with John Wesley - we have a HOPE of holiness. But our hope is not a probability - it is a sure thing. A hope that anchors our soul (our thoughts and emotions can not drift too far before they wind on the anchor, they circle back). God is just when he declares us innocent - there is no sin in us, consequences of which have not been paid in full. GOd is just when he calls us holy - we do have, right now, an incorruptible nature that can not sin. And we do have a sanctification problem - described over and over in scripture
Putting off the old nature, putting on the new.
Walking in the spirit instead of in the flesh.
Presenting our members as slaves to God instead of as slaves to sin
Our righteousness is not a matter of obedience. Just as we can not be saved by obedience, NEITHER CAN WE BE SANCTIFIED BY OBEDIENCE. Obedience is not a strategy, it is an outcome. We re not saved by the Law. We will not be sanctified by the law, but by grace through faith.
We need to "reckon", to "Consider" to "present ourselves" to remember who we are.
Eph 1:16-19 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.
If we remember who we are as a result of the atonement of Christ, we will live according to our regenerated character and will not be capable of sin. If we forget who we are, we will live according to our birth character and will not be capable of pleasing God. This is the struggle of sanctification. It is correct, from a point of view, to say we can not sin. We need to forget who we are in order to be capable of sin. But we are capable of forgetting who we are. Otherwise, there would be no misspellings, intentional or otherwise.
God has judged, and atoned for the sin of the world. There will be no second payment demanded. But bad character produces bad works. Those who slip into eternity with their birth character will produce bad works and be judged for the works of their hands. Those who have a regenerated character
