"All have sinned and fallen short."
But I speak now to those in whom Christ has been revealed:
no one who has come into the perfection of Christ is counted a sinner.
Is it not also written that outside are the slanderers and the idolaters? Or have you come to believe that there is no longer an “outside,” that the old distinctions have vanished without fulfillment? You watch the leaves change their color and you say, “They will fall.” Yet you yourselves do not fall away from sin. We came to you saying, “Fall”— not that you should bow to us, for the glory belongs to God alone, but that you should fall away from what is passing and dwell with us upon the grounds of heaven. Not in sin, but in glory. Of this I am fully convinced: those who dwell in the eternal house of God are not counted as sinners. For we who seek an eternal dwelling have already left our earthly houses— temporary, perishing, and marked by decay— and have set our hope upon the mansions of the righteous. When we shake the dust from our feet, it is not to disgrace the earth nor to exalt ourselves, but to leave behind what cannot follow us. For we are no longer welcome in those former houses, nor do we desire to return to them. If anyone says to you, “We are all sinners,” they are inviting you back into a worldly house. They speak not from the knowledge of God’s love, but from familiarity with earthly maps and documents. They would yoke you under their guidance— their miracles, their credentials, their apparent wisdom— yet they lead only to the public square of the world, not to the dwelling of God. In this way, they are exemplifying what is written about them:
"To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."
If any are deceived in this way, those of you who remain in us will not be harmed. For it is written:
"The second death has no power over them."
I do not desire these trials for you, yet it is also written:
"Those who are destined for captivity will be taken captive; those who live by the sword will perish by the sword."
Do not let the patience of the saints become a stumbling block. Hold fast to the love that has always guided you. I say again: you will not be harmed. I am speaking to those who have left the world for the sake of the eternal dwelling. If someone says to you, “You are a sinner like us,” show them the peace of the Lord and have little to do with them. Yet hear this clearly: to be perfect is to be humble before all. It is permitted to confess with your mouth, “I have fallen short.” But do not take upon yourself the name of sinner as the world defines it. Do not submit to a yoke disguised as humility. For those who have passed through grace now walk the halls of the eternal, and our bare feet do not defile the dwelling of the Almighty. In this way the word is fulfilled: "To some, a fragrance of death unto death; to others, life unto life." Those who speak otherwise condemn only themselves. Do you not remember what was spoken through Jeremiah?
“You must no longer say, ‘This is the burden of the LORD,’ for each person’s own word becomes their message. In this way you distort the words of the living God.”
They do not keep the law because they do not understand the law. They prophesy their own thoughts and say, “This is the burden of the Lord.” But you who are with us are not to be burdened— not by sin, not by impurity, not by lawlessness, not by governance, not by blood or wine or genealogy. You have been perfected in Christ. You have cast off the garments of the abyss and have clothed yourselves in the white robes of the Upright. As you have given us the eternal blessing, so too do we give you the eternal blessing. That blessing is Christ, and to dwell with Christ from eternity to eternity.