Made perfect in Christ

 

People used to call me a perfectionist. I resented it because in my mind, every person should do the best they can. Not only that, it seemed to me that most folks could excel or at least improve if they tried harder.

Then one pastor said, “If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing poorly.” That made me think about my motivations. Was I restricting my activities to only the tasks that I could do well? Was I unwilling to attempt anything that I knew would not turn out well? Was ‘doing poorly’ a threat to me?

I still think that doing the best we can is a virtue, but have changed my mind about picking and choosing. Some things are impossible or not a good idea because of my health and physical well-being, but I’m far more willing to try new things and not worry too much about how I rate.

As for being a perfectionist, Jesus did say this: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) While perfectionism can be a sin, I wondered why tell us that when the Bible is clear that no one is perfect except God?

Today’s reading says this word is used in four ways. Job 1:8 points to one of them.

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8)

According to this writer, God uses this term to describe someone who is ‘sincere’ and says that God’s people are not deceitful, hypocritical or pretentious. While this is true of Job, the Hebrew word in other versions is translated blameless, free from guilt. This indicate that perfection is about keeping short accounts with God and trusting Jesus who bore our guilt. In other words, it is about being forgiven and knowing it to the degree that all of life is affected.

The next verse about perfection says: “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” (James 3:2)

This word in Greek is about maturity or completeness. Those who are in control of what they say are mature. It seems that perfection in this verse refers to Christians who are walking in the Spirit and not so much in the flesh. It isn’t so much about who they are all the time, but how they let God control their words as they obey Him.

The third use refers to the believer’s positional holiness, sinlessness, and blamelessness before God by the atonement of Christ and the imputation of his righteousness. The author used this verse to illustrate this meaning:

And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 16:14)

While perfect is used in this example, the context is a description of a sinful use of the physical perfections. The perfections of Christ imputed to us are not about the appearance of our physical bodies. Our imputed holiness is better described in the NT rather than this verse that uses the word ‘perfect’ to describe what He has given us. Not every Christian could be considered renown because of their outward comeliness, but all are perfect in holiness in Christ. 

Of course another use of the word ‘perfect’ is in describing  the ultimate glorification of all believers when we shall be made entirely conformed to the image of Christ in heaven. This verse is used:

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12)

Another author says that this use of ‘perfect’ should be understood in the sense of a functional stage of religious attainment, to be completely successful, to succeed fully. For this, I’m often drawn to this verse that describes what God is doing in my life:

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

In this life, I see Jesus in reading about Him, in experiencing and responding to His grace. This is the route to perfection, yet He does it. On my own I can do nothing.

PRAY: Lord, as I confess my sins, You forgive and cleanse me. As I keep my focus on You, You transform me into what I see in You, yet this task is not done and will never be until You take me to be with You forever. If perfectionism means to be a fan of the One who is perfect, then I’m all for it.

A perfectionist?

 

Amish quilters are reported to put mistakes in their beautiful quilts. They do it because “only God is perfect.” As a quiltmaker, my mistakes are not deliberate; as in life itself, they just happen. However, Jesus did say in Matthew 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

PERFECT, at least in this text, means being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish. It can also be translated as mature, an English word easier to handle than the idea of perfection without defects.

In the OT, the word is usually applied to animals intended for sacrificial offerings. However, God is also described as perfect in His ways, His knowledge and His law . . .

2 Samuel 22:31. “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Job 37:16. “Do you know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge.”

Psalm 19:7. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

The NT word Jesus used to say God is perfect is “teleios” and can mean “perfect, mature, complete” or refer to something of the highest standard, or fully developed, or to be perfect or complete in a moral sense. In context, Jesus is telling me to love all, even my enemies, and do good to them just as God in common grace sends rain on both the just and the unjust.

1 Timothy 1:16 adds that Paul considered himself chief of sinners, but Jesus Christ was merciful to him to “display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

James 1:4 uses the same word concerning patience under trials. James says to realize the purpose of trials is to build patience and I am to cooperate in that process by letting “steadfastness have its full effect, that (I) may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” It helps to remember that this virtue reveals the depth of my faith — without patience, I reveal that I am not trusting the Lord.

This verses also echoes the words of the prophet in Isaiah 26:3, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Trust and peace go hand in hand and for that, God grants perfect peace.

Another reason to trust God in trials is in Hebrews. It says Jesus was made perfect through suffering and by that become the source of my salvation. Suffering and learning from suffering puts me in good company.

James also uses this term concerning our speech: James 3:2, “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.” Since the commands of God reflect who He is and what He is like, from this I know my perfect God does not sin or fall short in what He says! He controls all that He does and His perfections show up in His Word and His actions. His will is perfect and knowing that changes the way I think about everything else . . .

Romans 12:2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. This goal seems impossible. Unlike the Amish, I don’t need to add mistakes to show I’m not perfect. My imperfections are easily seen, yet an odd thing about human inability to be perfect makes God’s people candidates for His perfections. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” That is amazing! In other words, to be what God wants, I must rely totally on Him for I cannot be perfect by my own efforts. Being perfect cannot happen without being weak and unable.

Philippians 3:12 adds another thought. I have not obtained this or am perfect, but I press on to make it my own, in faith and trusting Christ Jesus who has made me his own. It is a learning curve with lessons taught in the classroom of trials and challenges. Yet there is reason to be joyful about trials. 1 John 3:2–3 could say something like this: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him perfects himself as he is perfect.” In the plan of God, one day I will be like Jesus and that hope makes the process easier — even though most of the time it doesn’t feel like it.