l will try to explain the process of ongoing conversion. You must admit that after Baptism, even with the infilling of the Holy Spirit people still fall into sin, especially those who are alcoholics, addicts and those enslaved by the lusts of the flesh, such as, pornography and sex outside of marriage.
Christ is our justification and the perfection that we seek is to more perfectly imitate Christ. We strive in our spiritual life to know our faults and strengths, so that we can manifest the love of Christ in the world in ever more complete ways. We each progress in deeper self-giving love.
We seek perfection, the person of Jesus Christ. In encountering perfect love in Jesus we are both filled with loving gratitude and awareness of our spiritual poverty [our need for a savior, thus our gratitude]. Once we have encountered Christ, we continue to receive the grace we need as we strive to overcome our habitual tendency to sin. We have faults, sinful tendencies, which we must bring before the Lord for conversion. St. Paul talked about this as his struggle against a thorn in the flesh.
There are two aspects to conversion: our acceptance of Christ as our savior and the ongoing process of conversion as we struggle in cooperation with the Holy Spirit to overcome sinful habits. We rest in Christ our salvation and work in cooperation with the Spirit to overcome areas where we fall short of prefect imitation of Christ. This is what why we are called sinners; we fall short of the glory of God. Any attempt to achieve perfection without acknowledging our spiritual poverty, total dependence on grace for pardon and conversion is the heresy called Jansenism, the belief that we can save ourselves solely through our own efforts.
In clinging to Christ we are saved and gradually made more perfect imitators of Christ. We learn to die to selfish desires through grace, which moves us to pour our lives out in submission to the will of the Father out of love of God and love of neighbor. We undergo a process of conversion as we become more perfect imitators of Christ. I cannot “totally rest” in the promise of salvation, because I admit to my sins both of commission and omission in my failure to love like Christ.
In the spiritual life there are times of consolation as we are bathed in the joy and love of Christ. At other times we experience spiritual desolation under spiritual attack or from our sin or temptations common to humanity. To strive for perfection is to cooperate with grace being actively aware of spiritual consolations giving grateful thanks to God for mercy and love. At the same time, recognizing that we are beloved of God prepares us to actively resist spiritual desolation when it comes. We am prepared to resist the evil one, when we keep before our minds the awareness that God loves us personally, sends the Holy Spirit to purify us and helps us overcome our faults when we admit them and bring them to C Christ through his ordained minister for conversion. Jesus instituted the sacrament of reconciliation as his way of providing pardon for sins and the grace necessary to overcome human faults.
I hope that helps you on your journey, in Christ, Fr. Paul