Nobody's Perfect

Christians are commanded to "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). For many, however, being perfect is considered a utopia; an idyllic state that is interesting to talk about, but unachievable. These "Christians" lean on a biased misinterpretation of the following two scriptures:

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. (Mark 14:38)

They say something like, "the flesh is weak; therefore, I cannot be perfect" or "I'm only human." They may even add, "only Jesus was perfect." The fallacy with this kind of thinking is that it inadvertently declares God as a liar. If a part of God's Word is not true; then all of it is not true: "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9). Our mutual enemy, Satan, loves nothing better than a bunch of powerless Christians, caught in their own trap of unbelief. God commands us to be perfect; therefore for his Word to be true, he has to provide a way for us to accomplish what to many seems impossible. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3-4). John and Paula Sandford explain the process of perfection:

The Holy [Ghost] does not intend to improve us or make us better and better! He intends to bring us to fullness of death and make us new ... transformation of the inner man does not once and for all fully reform our flesh this side of physical death, but rather slows its power to control us, while clothing us with the righteousness of Jesus. "Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). If, on this side of mankind's ultimate perfection, the Holy [Ghost] were to so transform any area of a man's flesh that he could always rely on that dimension of his character, that man would inevitably cease to lean on Jesus and begin to trust in his own flesh. His perfection would thus have to be total, or he could not escape the corruption of pride. He would lose gratitude for Jesus' continuing salvation.¹⁴⁸

Therefore, in order to be perfect, "as pertaining to the conscience" (Hebrews 9:9), we must walk after the Spirit: we must become spiritually mature. "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). After all, per Matthew and Mark, the human spirit, the spirit of man, is not only willing but it is ready; it just needs divine help from the Spirit of God.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:2-5)

You could say that being human is to walk in the way God created us; anything else constitutes sub-humanity. Based on this, we could conclude that there have only been three humans: Adam, Eve and Jesus. "The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:47). And of those three, only one—Jesus—remained human during his lifetime. The rest of us would be classified as subhuman beings. We know already that walking after the Spirit starts with daily study of, belief in, and obedience to, the Word of God, which is spirit and truth. "But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:5-6). "The gift of the essential nature of God is made effectual in us by the Holy [Ghost], He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, which puts 'the beyond' within, and immediately 'the beyond' has come within, it rises up to 'the above,' and we are lifted into the domain where Jesus lives (John 3:5)."¹⁴⁹ Oswald Chambers elaborates more that

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship to God which shows itself amid the irrelevancies of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that strikes you is the irrelevancy of the things you have to do, and the next thing that strikes you is the fact that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives are apt to leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary, by human effort and devotion we can reach the standard God wants. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in perfect relation to God so that my life produces a longing after God in other lives, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God is not after perfecting me to be a specimen in His show-room; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He likes.¹⁵⁰

As we grow in spiritual maturity through our faith and obedience through suffering to the Word of God, charity—the love of God—is perfected in us. So, do we have to wait until the last day for perfection? Can perfection be attained now? When does perfection occur? The answers respectively are: no, yes, and upon sanctification. Sanctification represents the state of perfection for a Christian in which they walk in love and no longer willingly sin. Sanctification occurs when Christ—a perfect man—is formed in a Christian through trials of faith and by them sowing the Word in their hearts—transformation—through daily study of the Word in concert with belief in and obedience to the Word. "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (Galatians 4:19). For if the Word of God is sown on good ground—those that hear the Word, believe it and do it—we are guaranteed that "while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22). In other words, we shall reap what we have sown: "Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24; see also John 14:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Hebrews 10:14). As we stated in the introduction to this "Private Interpretations" chapter, I can of mine own self do nothing, but through Christ, I can do always those things that please the Father (John 5:30; Philippians 4:13; John 8:29).

So, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20-21). Moreover, "God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect" (2 Samuel 22:33). "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands" (Psalm 138:8). "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

DRAFT V2010-06-28T4:47:26 PM