In a word, Yes - if we have a faith that enters within the veil. The message of the third angel declares that the patience of the saints is to be demonstrated in those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. If we have faith that lays hold of the merits of Christ's life as the complete solution for our great need of righteousness, we have both the faith of Jesus and the latter rain of the third angel.

And what is more, our sins are blotted out. Christ's robe of righteousness does not cover our sins, it purges them making us new creatures. In Him all things are become new.

In the type sins were confessed during the daily service and then they were removed, blotted out, during the Day of Atonement, the day we have been living in since 1844. Some Adventists have put off the blotting out of sin to the time of the latter rain based on Acts 3:19 where Peter said "Repent that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come." But Peter did not in any way mean to discourage new believers from trusting in the power of Christ to blot out our sins today and cleanse us from all unrighteousness now. Our faith can reach forward to that event today and grasp the latter rain which is, Christ Our Righteousness, just as the faith of the patriarchs reached forward to both the cross and to the ministry of Christ within the veil. Our full and complete pardon and restoration promised during the latter rain, the blotting out of sin, is available to everyone who claims the blotting out of sin by faith today and meets the conditions - full surrender of the heart and life to Christ.

Do I have an historical and/or scriptural leg to stand on for claiming this? In 1888, a central feature of the message of Jones and Waggoner was that the Lord imputed righteousness to the true believer and viewed him as though he had never sinned. While it is true that our sins are not blotted out in human time until the sanctuary is cleansed at the latter rain, the little sanctuary of our minds and souls can be, indeed must be cleansed fully today. And they are in fact cleansed by the blood of Christ for all who truly believe.

Sins that have been confessed and blotted out from the books of record are still recorded in our memories but their power is broken and we are fully liberated from them. When our hearts condemn us for past wrongs that have been confessed and forsaken we are to remember that God is greater than our hearts.

"Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him" including and especially the blotting out of our sins. Like David we can and must plead with God to create in us a clean heart and blot out our sin. Do any of us need that cleansing less than David? If we were to have the same sense of need that he felt, we would obtain the proportionate blessing.

But one of the best pieces of scriptural evidence that heaven is longing to impute and impart to us the full robe of Christ's righteousness is Zechariah 3 which ties the Day of Atonement, the blotting out of sin and the latter rain all neatly together. I recommend a close, prayerful study of this powerful chapter because those who receive this scripture along with the message of Revelation 18 on faith regardless of the personal cost will be transformed in character and empowered to give the loud cry of the fourth angel.

Jesus told this story: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14

But I perceive that the ambition of many is be a Pharisee, to one day approach God and say: "Behold how lily white I've made myself! I AM just like You."

///

James, the publican is like Joshua the High Priest in Zechariah 3, clothed in filthy garments but aware of his wretchedness. Christ tells us in Revelation 3 that our main problem is that we are wretched but don't know it. Lord help us all so that we feel our need of your righteousness and help us to receive it on faith. Clothe us in your righteousness like you did Joshua. We believe. Help thou our unbelief.

NO ONE will ever be perfect, nor will anyone of the last generation be able to approach God on the last day and say, "Behold how lily white I've made myself! I AM just like You."

///

Therefore, be perfect like our Heavenly Father - kind, loving, patient, faithful, compassionate, etc. This applies to born-again believers the instant they experience rebirth in God's appointed way. The thief on the cross and the aged apostle John are no different in this regard. Being perfect like God, however, and maturing daily are two different realities - like the difference between candle light and sun light. The difference between the two forms of light is depth and degree of light (not darkness). People who experience rebirth in God's appointed way do not become less and less sinful over time. Instead, they become more and more mature in the fruits of the Spirit - from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from glory to glory (just like Jesus maturing from childhood to manhood). Perfecting holiness, not unperfecting sinfulness.

The picture of Joshua the High Priest and the Angel in Zechariah 3 is a picture of the Day of Atonement ministry of Christ (see for example, the last verse) that has been taking place since 1844. The purpose of the Day was to illustrate the final cleansing of the sanctuary and of spiritual Israel at the end of the age. So we have to ask, what does that day teach about the final cleansing of heavenly sanctuary and the work of Christ as our high priest? Doesn't it teach complete atonement, complete cleansing, complete liberation from sin.

Zechariah 3 graphically shows what the yearly cleansing accomplished. Joshua is a type of God's people at the end. That's confirmed in Revelation 11 where a mirror scene is shown in which God measures and cleanses the temple. Anciently, in order to benefit from the service and not be cut off from the congregation the Hebrews were to afflict their souls and repent of their sins. If they did then, like Joshua, the promise was to them and is to us today that those who do will be transformed in character, covered in the robe of Christ's righteousness.

Boasting is excluded. We have a work to do to labor to enter His rest, but the rest, the liberty is from God. Christ is the alpha and omega of our faith; He is our Righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own. As Jeremiah says, "This is the name whereby He shall be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." This is the only place in scripture that the name of Christ is all in capital letters. The Lord wants us to take note. This is the latter rain, Christ our Righteousness. Genuine repentance always results in victory in Christ so that the life of the Spirit animates us - Christ our Righteousness.

Congratulations Mike on making the 22,222nd post here. That's a lot of posts!

Yes, that's a lot of posts - maybe too many. I took a break for a few years. Just recently returned. But the real question is - do you agree with the post above? Not many people do. Most people who believe in "human perfection" believe it happens gradually over the course of a lifetime of sinning less and less until they eventually cease sinning.

The reason I started this thread is that recently I've come to see better what Zechariah 3 and THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS is about. I agree with you in these two points 1) If we are born again and abiding in Christ, whether we are day old believers or veterans, we are clothed in His robe and we cannot sin. I John 3:9. We are perfect in the sight of God because He sees only the righteousness of His Son in us. 2) Sanctification is maturing in character and faith.

Where I think we likely differ is regarding sins of ignorance. I take passages like Ezekiel 45:20, Leviticus 4, and Numbers 15:24-29 to mean that people who are born again still commit sins they are not aware of. For example, they may not be convicted that they should not use caffeine, that the command to be good stewards of their health extends to everything in their diet. There are many truly converted people who still drink caffeinated beverages. But during the final atonement God's people will gladly sacrifice all for Christ including their appetites.

In the Mosaic service sins of ignorance were atoned for during the daily service. Notice this however: In Ezekiel's temple sins of ignorance are specifically purged at the yearly service. Ez 45:20. So sins of ignorance are also fully purged. According to Acts 3:19, this final blotting out occurs at the Latter Rain.

To clarify that last statement about the blotting out of sin at the latter rain, the purging of all sins, known and unknown, on the Day of Atonement is a type of the latter rain. All of those who know and understand the ministry of Christ in the Most Holy Place, His Day of Atonement ministry and who enter by faith with Him within the veil and come boldly to the throne of grace are being purged and are receiving the latter rain. It's not possible to separate the latter rain from the purging, the final blotting out of our sin by Christ. They are two sides of the same coin, Christ Our Righteousness.

Charity, thank you for the reply. The SOP speaks of thoroughly preparing baptismal candidates for baptism and church membership making sure they understand "all things whatsoever" Jesus commands and requires of newborn believers including lifestyle choices like diet and dress. This is God's "appointed" way - a process of conversion that leads to rebirth, newborn believers who are living in harmony with everything Jesus commands. His appointed process leaves no one in the dark, no character defect or lifestyle choice of which they are ignorant and to be gradually discovered over the course of a lifetime of sinning and missing the mark. Yes, there are people who choose to follow Jesus and join a church without having experienced conversion and rebirth in God's appointed way.

Everyone that comes before God at the end will have to be perfect or they will not be with Him. There is a cut off point where we will have to stand without Christ's mediation as He leaves heaven to come to earth for the Second Coming, at this point, you are either, as the Bible says, "unjust" or "just"...

Revelation 22:11

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

You lifted the verse out of its context and slapped on your own interpretation. The verse is NOT some utterance that immediately precedes the Second Advent, but is a call for decisive action concerning one's salvation. Here is the verse in its context.

And [the angel] said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." And "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie." Rev. 22:10-15

The time was at hand when John received the revelation, not 2,000 years away.

///

Yes, and it includes everyone - from A&E to the end of probationary time. The idea that only the final generation, the translation generation will achieve human perfection misrepresents the truth about conversion and rebirth. The thief on the cross was ready to be translated alive so far as human perfection is concerned. He probably wasn't ready (mature enough) for the final test and most likely would have been laid to rest (like so many will during the final crisis).

Those who have died have already been judged whether they are to be before God, only the living still are being looked over. But there has to be a cut off, and that is when Christ stops His work of mediation in the tabernacle to come for us. At this point they are living and either are perfect or they are not saved.

Here is SOP, "These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted as "the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble; they have stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments. But they have been delivered, for they have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." "In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault" before God. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." They have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst. But "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Revelation 7:14-17. (The Great Controversy, pp. 648, 649)"

Rick, yes, I agree. I was making a different point in my post. To be admitted into Heaven and the New Earth everyone must be judged and found worthy of eternal life, everyone must be as perfect, stainless, righteous as those who will be translated alive. The 144,000 will not be translated alive because they are more perfect, more righteous than everyone who lived and died before them. They are merely alive at the time Jesus chooses to return. Yes, they will have an experience like no other (being judged while alive, passing through the plagues, etc).

I would agree, all must be perfect before God, but its a unique experience especially living through the plagues and see unfolding the time such as never was, and being sealed in a state of perfection.

Yes. Amen. Now, concerning the the title of this thread " . . . And The Latter Rain Be Ours - Today?" No, the LR is not available today. It hasn't been poured out yet. We are still operating under the power of the Early Rain. The ER empowers us to experience rebirth and to live in harmony with the will of God, to mature daily in the fruit of the Spirit. The LR, however, is given to empower people living during the little time of trouble (the mark of the beast crisis leading up to the close of human probation) to proclaim the Gospel with extra power and courage and faithfulness so that listeners and learners can embrace Jesus as their Friend and Savior.

If the ER didn't do that to Peter, why do you think a LR would do that to you?

As I read it, the ER did do that for Peter. He, like all others, was living in harmony with the will of God while abiding in Jesus.

If someone fails to get the ER, can they receive the latter rain (LR)?

When Peter woke to his condition, Christ was about to go to heaven to plead with the Father for him.
In the endtime, those who wait until Christ is about to leave the Sanctuary, may be too late!

What do you think of Peter's actions below?

"Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy." Paul, from Gal. 2:11-13

Did the ER leave Peter temporarily? And does that mean that the LR could leave you temporarily as well?

The Holy Spirit left Moses temporarily too on the boarders of the Promised Land. His sin cost him the privilege of entering it. But the Lord forgave him and after death raised him and he has been with the Lord for many years now. The Spirit of God can't abide sin or show favorites. The Lord is equally merciful and equally just to everyone.

And the biblical evidence for what is in the red letters IS .... ?

He sinned. Anyone abiding in Christ cannot sin. It is not possible to sin and retain the spirit of Christ.

Peter was unclear as to relationship between Christians and Gentiles. His understanding grew over time. He eventually got it right. If someone has no idea that what they are doing is sinful they are not held accountable. It is not willful sin. The blood and righteousness of Jesus accommodates sins of ignorance.

So your spouse divorces you every time you do something unpleasant and then remarries you the next day and so forth? WOW, talk about confusion!

If Jesus had sinned even once it would have been all over for the human race. Fortunately for us (and the entire Universe), Jesus succeeded at paying our sin debt of death and making eternal life available, optional for every believing child of God. Post conversion sinning is addressed in 1 John 2:1-2. Through John, Jesus informs us that "if" we sin His propitiation stands ready to restore us to grace and eternal life. Should we refuse to repent, however, we stand uncovered, unforgiven, and damned to eternal death. The only sin He cannot atone for is the sin we refuse to confess and forsake.

Post conversion sinning is a choice. It doesn't happen by accident. We must first consciously, deliberately choose to neglect (or reject) Jesus. While thus disconnected from Jesus we are powerless to obey, powerless to live in harmony with God's will. We are sinning and, consequently, we stand before God condemned, unsaved, worthy of eternal death. We are fully aware of our damnation while we are in this state. The Holy Spirit works wonderfully to convict us of our perilous condition and to motivate us to accept the gift of repentance and to utilize its power to confess our sin. Once penitent, God is free to forgive us and to restore the relationship our sin severed. We resume where we left off abiding in Jesus, growing in grace, maturing in the fruit of the Spirit. We are once again worthy of eternal life.

The idea that we can neglect or reject Jesus during a temptation and retain our saved state while selfishly in the vicious grip of sin, self, and Satan overlooks the Plan of Salvation and the Great Controversy between Jesus and Satan, between good and evil. Is sinning and repenting equivalent to couples getting divorced and remarried every time a spouse is unfaithful? No, of course not. Instead, it is equivalent to one spouse pleading with the other to confess, apologize, and promise to be forever faithful. In some cases, however, spouses choose to abandon the relationship and refuse to return and live faithfully. The marriage is over. The good news is - there are times when such prodigal spouses come home and find favor and forgiveness. Thank you, Jesus.