In Psalm 15 David describes the attributes of God’s overcomers, the ones whom he considers to be “perfect” in the earth. He says,

Among all doctrines the doctrine of perfection seems to be the most difficult one for Christians to grasp. Most Christians believe (because most preachers preach) that people become perfect as soon as they believe in Jesus for salvation. If this was true, then most of the Bible would not have had to be written and, in fact, it would be a great waste of time for anyone to study it beyond the book of Exodus in the Old Testament, or beyond Mark in the New. The entire Gospel would consist only of Jesus dying for our sins. Clearly, this does represent the entire gospel in the eyes of many churches because they preach the basic salvation message every Sunday and never move on to the meat of God’s word or expect their congregation to actually be practicing righteousness.

The doctrine of perfection remains difficult to teach because most Christians dismiss the main New Testament book which teaches it, the Book of Hebrews, and most people do not understand that they attend churches or are the type of Christians which Christ rebukes in his seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3. I have written hundreds and hundreds of pages attempting to explain this doctrine on this web site, so I do not intend to say it all again here. But, I will point out a few Scriptures which should make this idea clear to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear.

First, the doctrine of perfection is also called “the teaching about righteousness” in Hebrews 5:11-14. The writer tells us there that only the mature Christians accept this doctrine. Do a search for “teaching about righteousness” on this site for much more information. Second, the book of Hebrews gives five serious warnings to Christians about losing their inheritance because of lack of faith, because of unbelief. The strongest warning, I believe, is the following:

³² But recall the former days when, after ^(AX)you were enlightened, you endured^(AY)a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³ sometimes being ^(AZ)publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.³⁴ For ^(BA)you had compassion on those in prison, and ^(BB)you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had ^(BC)a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has ^(BD)a great reward. ³⁶ For ^(BE)you have need of endurance, so that^(BF)when you have done the will of God you may ^(BG)receive what is promised.³⁷ For,

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:32-39, ESV)

Notice that this passage speaks to “enlightened” people who suffered for their faith. Observe that they wait for “the coming one” which, according to this book, is Jesus. These people, like us, wait for the second coming of Christ. Also see that if these people want to be counted as “righteous” then they must live “by faith.” Finally, accept the truth, really believe, that if any of them (us) “shrink back” from faith, then he (we) will be “destroyed.”

Jesus describes aspects of this destruction in his letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. Christians who do not overcome, who do not live by faith in him, will have their names removed from the Book of Life (Rev. 3:5) and will suffer the second death and have their part in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 2:11, 21:8). Most Christians simply reject this idea immediately because they believe that only those who never confessed Christ will “go to hell.” First, hell is not the lake of fire; second, the Bible teaches that even some of those who have confessed Christ will go to hell and/or the lake of fire.

I believe that the Lake of Fire refers to forced submission to the rule of God through his overcomers who wield a rod of iron. They are the only ones who submit during their lives to the baptism of fire which God requires in order to overcome the world and the world’s ruler, Satan. They embrace the following Scripture:

¹³ Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
    and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid;
    trembling has seized the godless:
^(O)“Who among us can dwell ^(P)with the consuming fire?
    Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
^15 (Q)He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
    who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
    who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
    ^(R)and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
¹⁶ he will dwell on the heights;
    his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
    ^(S)his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. (Isaiah 33:13-16)

Here Isaiah says almost exactly what David does in Psalm 15, but he adds a little to it. Putting the two passages together we see that one can only rest in God’s tent (tabernacle) and live on his holy mountain if he can dwell with the consuming fire and with everlasting burnings. This describes the one who has offered his life as a living sacrifice to God. He is not perfect by virtue of good works done by his flesh; he is perfect by faith in the living God who died for his sins and rose again so that his brothers (us) could have eternal life. Because they voluntarily offer their lives to this fiery God, they also willingly choose to walk in his ways. Much of the Bible explains God’s ways, but both David and Isaiah tell us a few of them in these two parallel passages:

1. practice righteousness – begin to understand and do God’s will; when you fail by sinning then repent and try again to be perfect;
2. speak the truth from your heart – don’t lie to yourself about your goodness or intentions; make up your mind to speak truth both to yourself and to others; a great sign of these times is that everyone loves a lie – we have a particular leader in these days who does one thing, but says another, and yet many believe the lie he says instead of the truth of what he actually did! Only people who lie to their own hearts can do this;
3. Keep your tongue from slander – don’t gossip! Don’t talk about people unless it builds them up or helps them in some way; speak the truth in love;
4. Never do harm to others – we can harm others in a multitude of ways; God speaks in principles. Do not do anything purposefully that you know harms someone else;
5. Do not seek to discredit neighbors – do not put someone else down in order to exalt yourself; be humble;
6. Look with scorn on the vile – do not look at the vile; do not watch their pornography or their violent and blasphemous movies.  Isaiah says that the person who can dwell with God must “stop his ears from hearing of bloodshed” and must “shut his eyes from looking on evil.” How much bloodshed and evil do we look at or listen to as we watch the latest news or as we entertain ourselves with movies? We must learn to scorn, abhor, and detest that which is vile. Again how often do we laugh at the crude joke told by a family member, a co-worker, or a friend? Turn away from the vile. Instead,
7. Honor those who fear Adonai – yes, honor those who fear the LORD!
8. Hold to an oath, no matter the cost – let your word bind you; honor your word no matter the cost;
9. Refuse usury when you lend money – do not charge interest when you loan someone money; if you run a business and someone owes you money, do not charge them interest (you may charge them a re-billing fee to cover your own costs, but don’t charge interest!); this separates the people of God from the money-lenders;
10. Refuse a bribe to damage the innocent – never, never, never take anything of value as payment for doing harm to someone. Bribery is so rampant in government, business, and our courts today that the entire system upon which our society was built has been destroyed. No one can trust anyone to actually honor their word and do what is right these days. In keeping with the times the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that lying is constitutionally protected freedom of speech! (Also, I can tell you from 23 years of experience as a lawyer that perjury, lying under oath, is never prosecuted except for a reason dealing politics or a bribe. Look at the Trayvon Martin case as an example of the politically correct application)

David gives us ten principles in Psalm 15 for walking in perfection. God’s overcomer embraces every one of them. He may not perfectly walk in them, but he wants to. He desires the rest that only God can give and he wants to live on God’s holy mountain. He, like Moses, sees the smoking mountain bathed in God’s fire, and he willingly walks up. He has determined to dwell with the consuming fire and the everlasting burnings.