Brit dear, think about this logically. Put aside the emotive psycho-babble of your ‘plurality of elders.’
Would Christ command us to do something unnecessary?
And are you honestly telling me that you don’t ever want to sin? Because if you don’t - what’s going on when you’re tempted? I’m a young man, and I’m afflicted with the typical crippling wounds that you might expect a man of this foul generation to have. It takes the slightest thing to set me off, and BANG - there’s a raging battle inside me. Sometimes God will win, sometimes I’ll win. But make no mistake - in circumstances like this, it IS us against God. The human person is capable of wanting two things at one time. This thing about someone who has been “saved” never wanting to sin is rubbish. If that’s the case, then no-one is saved. Because when it comes down to it, there is a part of us which wants our autonomy, wants that fruit that we know we shouldn’t want, and will take it. Accepting Christ as your saviour does not change this. Sure, it may change over a lifetime but few of us are perfected this side of death.
Not that I want to start up another area of debate, but that’s the beauty of purgatory