Perfection
Perfection
By Doug Cook – 2015
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, chosen, talented, impeccable and extraordinary? Actually who are we not to be? Our playing small doesn’t serve the world. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us and as we let our own light shine, We unconsciously give others permission to do the same.”
Christian perfection is a documented truth in the Word of God I have been studying for many years. I have taught bits and pieces of it on many occasions both in group teachings and in person to person fellowship and I can declare without hesitation that it is one of the most misunderstood biblical doctrines in scripture and, when expounded on personally or in an oration, causes much division and dissension in the body of Christ. In fact, most of the time I address the subject I find myself accused of being prideful and “full of myself.” This study is another effort to provide an in depth, detailed understanding of this biblical concept that is part of our full redemption of our body, soul and spirit. And please understand, it is not my words that should change your beliefs, it’s only God’s Words that have the power to change us, therefore I will be putting together many scriptures that support this biblical reality. “The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.” (ASV) It is the total sum of God’s Word from the beginning that establishes a correct doctrine, not just one or two scriptures taken out of context to fit someone’s pre-determined beliefs.
Act 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained…
I have arrived at the conclusion that the root of the problem in grasping biblical perfection and other important certainties in scripture is that most believers are completely ignorant of who we truly are in Christ Jesus and precisely what has already been accomplished for us on the cross. Ignorance is repairable, but where God has “winked at” our ignorance in times past, he is warning us to get our acts together. The day of the Lords judgments is at hand. Ignorance will no longer be excused because the truth is being opened unto those that will receive it. Rejecting what He is illuminating will not be looked on lightly. I have found most “believers” (who are not newly born again) to be intolerant of learning anything that requires stepping outside of their “church as usual” carnal beliefs. I don’t recall who coined the phrase, but I deeply appreciate the profound insight it offers;
“The capacity of the human mind to resist the intrusion of new knowledge is infinite.”
Most believers, (except those who sanction the false unconditional eternal security “once saved, always saved” doctrine), know the bible warns us of a great falling away (apostasy) of believers. With each of us being held individually accountable to the Lord, will we go with this falling away, or submit unto the call to come out of it? Will we choose to remain in our ignorance, or answer the call to come out into the light?
How many times have you heard a Christian say that “we all sin once in a while,” or “nobody’s perfect?” Another usual response is “we’re all just sinners saved by grace.” Statements similar to these made by believers sound genuinely humble and holy don’t they? I used to think and believe the same thing in my earlier days of growing in the Lord, but during my comprehensive research of the scriptures I was finding truths that were not agreeing with these dreadfully common beliefs and statements that are throughout all denominations in Christendom. The Lord revealed most of these type statements emanate from a desire to look and sound humble in front of other church people but are actually a form of pride and false humility endeavoring to defend their fragile fallen ego’s.
What first attracted my attention to the truth of biblical perfection was this statement in Matthew 5:48
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
If you happen to have a red letter bible, you will notice all of this verse is in red which means it is a command directly from Jesus himself. He is telling us to BE perfect which is present tense meaning to be perfect NOW, not later when we get to heaven. Usually, when I present this verse to other believers, they try to declare it doesn’t really mean perfect as in sinless, it means “mature” or some other word they invoke that lowers the standard of attainment to a level they can personally achieve in the flesh. They quarrel over terms and tenses, abstract definitions and speculative hypotheses, till they can’t see the woods for the trees. I then draw attention to the fact the verse itself defines the word perfect as being just like our “Father which is in heaven.” Doesn’t God operate in sinless perfection, or does He sin every once in a while? Jesus’ own definition of perfect in this verse can mean nothing less than “without spot or blemish” because that’s the way our Father in heaven functions eternally. Christian perfection is salvation from ALL sin. A higher meaning than this it cannot have; a lower meaning it must not have. There is perfection throughout the Word of God that is both commanded and promised to all believers. Obviously, out of the works of our flesh, we cannot do what Jesus is commanding here, so those trying to redefine the word perfect are trying to find excuses for operating in fleshly mediocrity and they are viewing not only this one but many other scriptures with a carnal mindset. “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Clearly this verse can only be understood and followed by those who “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” as Romans 8 says.
During the late John Wesley’s day (1700’s), as in our day (there is nothing new under the sun), objection was taken by most of the pious people to his use of the term “perfection.” He contended that the word is scriptural, and therefore he said, “Neither you nor I can in conscience object to it, unless we would send the Holy Ghost to school, and teach Him to speak who made the tongue.” He would not abandon the word, but he took great pains to explain it. “What is the objection to this teaching? Is it not scriptural? Is it not stated in the very language of scripture?” Mr. Wesley also said, “This perfection cannot be a delusion unless the bible be a delusion too.” Was he mistaken, and a preacher of false doctrine? Or is the church the ones who have forsaken the Word of the Lord and pursuing false doctrine? After exhaustive study of the scriptures I find myself in the same situation clinging to the exact word the bible uses and, in keeping my own conscience clear, refusing to deviate from scripture.
When we run into verses like this one in Matthew where we know it is impossible for us to accomplish in our flesh, rather than seeking to redefine the words in the bible to conform to our current denominational theology, we should “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Sometimes this means studying for days, weeks, or even months to unlock the hidden mysteries in one scripture in the Word. Is this investment in time worth it to have intimate knowledge of the One who is responsible for our very existence or do we have more important things we need to be doing?
Without Spot or Blemish
I would like to use God’s Holy Word to expand on a phrase I used to partially define perfection in a previous paragraph which is “without spot or blemish.” So I will list several scriptures here to consider.
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Colossians 1:21-22 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
1Thessalonians 3:12-13 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1Timothy 6:12-14 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
2Peter 3:13-14 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
With all of these scriptures effectively communicating the same standard for all believers, a question that begs an answer is can we continue to be imperfect and sinning once in a while as most of the church believes and confesses and yet be “without spot or wrinkle, holy, faultless, unrebukeable, unblameable, without blemish, and unreproveable at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ?” Do any of these words used in these scriptures leave any room for sin to be an occasional part of our Christian Walk?
Most all current Christians who believe “nobody’s perfect” and “everyone sins once in a while” are familiar with the concept of the “rapture” at the second coming of Jesus. (I’m not going to debate pre, mid, or post “trib,” as that topic is for another study). If Jesus is coming back to gather His saints that are without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish and He manifests today “at that moment in the twinkling of an eye,” will you be ready? Since the bible says He will come when we least expect it, what happens if we’re doing one of those sins that “everybody does once in a while” when He arrives? Evidently we will miss the call because in the blink of an eye, there won’t be enough time to repent! That means it’s plausible that most believers will be left behind that have convinced themselves they were “rapture-ready” just because they received salvation at one point in their life.
I’m not trying to be amusing here because this is a deadly serious issue. I’m explaining this from a carnal viewpoint to try to give a diverse explanation of an event the bible says will happen soon. If we don’t understand who we really are in Christ by the spirit, we could be very easily deceived into believing a lie and end up being a part of the great falling away rather than the catching away.
Call me blind and deceived if you care to, but I don’t see how we can fulfill the requirements of the numerous scriptures above being continually without spot and blemish for the time of Jesus’ return, without walking in union with the sinless perfection that Jesus was commanding us to do in Matthew 5.
Be Perfect
Before going further in scripture, we need to reflect on Webster’s unabridged dictionary definition of the word perfect.
PER’FECT, v.t. [L. perfectus, perficio]
- Finished; complete; consummate; not defective; having all that is requisite to its nature and kind; as a perfect statue; a perfect likeness; a perfect work; a perfect system.
- Fully informed; completely skilled; as men perfect in the use of arms; perfect in discipline.
- Complete in moral excellencies.
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Mat 5.
- Manifesting perfection.
My strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor 12.
Perfect chord, in music, a concord or union of sounds which is perfectly coalescent and agreeable to the ear, as the fifth and the octave; a perfect consonance.
A perfect flower, in botany, has both stamen and pistil, or at least another and stigma.
Perfect tense, in grammar, the preterit tense; a tense which expresses an act completed.
To finish or complete so as to leave nothing wanting; to give to any thing all that is requisite to its nature and kind; as, to perfect a picture or statue. 2 Chr 8.
-Inquire into the nature and properties of things, and thereby perfect our ideas of distinct species.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4.
To instruct fully; to make fully skillful; as, to perfect one’s self in the rules of music or architecture; to perfect soldiers in discipline.
With this explanation, it looks like most Christians are not only NOT reading their bibles, they have not even read their dictionary’s when they boldly proclaim “nobody’s perfect.” They make this statement without understanding the carnal dictionary definition of the word “perfect.” Obviously Mr. Webster believed it was possible to be perfect and even uses bible verses as examples, including Matthew chapter 5. Jesus’ last words on the cross were “It is finished.” The work He did for us was “finished” / “completed” so we have “all that is requisite” to have the “nature” of Jesus, a “perfect likeness” of Christ, “manifesting perfection” as Mr. Webster states here. Seems most believers can not function in perfection because they refuse to be “fully informed” (reject knowledge) which is a prerequisite of perfection as defined in his dictionary. You can’t be perfect because you refuse the knowledge, therefore nobody else can either! This kind of earthly mindset is causing massive deception in the body of Christ. Do we really want to allow ourselves to descend to this level of accepted wisdom? “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.” This is a very dangerous attitude to be in as a believer.
In the study of God’s word, we cannot be ensnared in the trap of taking one or two verses in the bible and trying to establish a rigid biblical doctrine out of it. This is the main reason there are literally thousands of factious denominations out there, each worshipping their own little “Jesus” they created out of a small portion of bible text. The Word must build upon a truth from Genesis to Revelation “precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little” before a pure biblical truth can be established. Therefore, I would like to engage multiple scriptures that actually use the word “perfect” in describing the believers walk with the Lord.
Matthew 19:18-21 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Jesus was talking to a rich man (living under the Old Covenant at this time) who asked what good thing he must do to have eternal life. Jesus quoted the Ten Commandments and the man answered he did all these but what did he lack? Jesus then said “if you will be PERFECT” (complete, whole) he must give everything away and follow Him. Of course this prevented the young man from following Jesus because he trusted his wealth more than he trusted God. In this case perfection was defined as surrendering everything; following Jesus and being completely like Him.
1Corinthians 2:4-7 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Paul said in this passage he speaks the “hidden wisdom” of God to “them that are PERFECT.” If no believers are perfect then who is he speaking to? Paul is addressing believers who have been humbled enough to receive truth in the spirit. He is saying they are perfect because their faith is not based on the carnal wisdom of man so they can understand and receive the “hidden wisdom” he is teaching. He is not saying this to carnal Christians because they would not understand, nor be able to receive the revealed truth because their puffed up fallen egos have not been nailed to the cross.
1Corinthians 13:9-12 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Here is a controversial set of verses. Keeping this passage in context, the whole chapter is dealing with the subject of charity or agape love. Paul is encouraging the church of Corinth to deal with one another in love, not condemning each other, because none of them had arrived at full knowledge nor were prophesying at a hundred percent yet. But he acknowledges that when perfection comes, “that which is in part will be done away.” Most believers interpret this to mean when Jesus comes back in the future to take us to heaven, the “part will be done away.” This is not true and not what Paul is saying here. Apply what we learned in Webster’s dictionary. Paul is saying that when we become “complete,” “fully informed,” “a perfect likeness” of Christ “manifesting perfection” His love will be perfected in us as 1 John 4 says and we will treat each other in love as we should. We will have full knowledge of who we are in Christ resulting in more accurate prophetic words. He then relates this to acting like a child when we were young, verses acting like an adult with our accumulated knowledge. He doesn’t say we act like a child till our daddy comes home, then he will make everything perfect. He says we will gain knowledge to be a man (perfect) and put away our own childish (carnal) ways. In fact Paul backs this up later in his first letter to Corinth in 14:20 where he says, “Brethren, be not children in understanding howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.” The Greek word for “men” in this verse is “teleios” which is translated as “perfect” in the verses 9-12 passage above. Perfection comes when we start acting like men and put away our childish factious denominational ways, not when Jesus returns.
Incidentally, being a man has nothing to do with how long we’ve been born again. I’ve seen adults who are fifty years old still acting like spoiled little babies. Similarly I’ve seen Christians sitting in pews for thirty plus years still acting like babes in Christ, and recently born again believers that understand more about a full and complete salvation than most preachers. It depends on “how bad is your want to,” not our seniority in the pew.
Paul then says in this 1 Corinthians 13 passage “we see through a glass darkly” and “I know in part, but then shall I know also as I am known.” Paul is doing what I have done throughout this thesis and that is including myself in with the whole group as saying we rather than saying you. I don’t believe nor am I following most of what I say “we” the majority of believers are doing in this dissertation but I’m still including myself in with the whole body of Christ in general. Like myself, Paul is not doing what he says “we” or “I” are doing but he is using himself as an example so he doesn’t have to point fingers at someone else (like saying you). The bible says Paul was given a messenger of Satan to buffet him and keep him humble because of the extensive knowledge of God he understood. Next to the Lord Jesus and Moses, who met God face to face, He was probably given more knowledge of the hidden mysteries of God than any other person who ever lived or has lived since. Paul knew much more than “part” and was definitely already manifesting perfection when he wrote this epistle. If we (i.e. you) take this one scripture to try to establish a doctrine that Paul was not in perfection just because he makes the statement “I know in part,” then we expose ourselves (i.e. you expose yourself) as not having done a line upon line study of this truth because other scriptures don’t back up a doctrine of Paul only having limited knowledge.
Speaking of 1 John 4;
1John 4:11-18 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit (Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Comforter, Spirit of God, Spirit of Truth, NOT the Spirit of Christ). And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
John is speaking of our love for one another (fellow believers) and using that love as an assessment to see if God is dwelling in us (Spirit of God, NOT the Spirit of Christ) and we are dwelling in God, thereby revealing His love is perfected in us. When he says in this passage, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God,” John is not referring to speaking this proclamation with our mouths, although we definitely need to do that. If you will back up in this same chapter to verse 3 you will find he is referring to our SPIRIT making this confession, not our mouth. In other words, the fundamental nature of our inner man is manifesting outwardly in our lives so much so that others can see the Lord working in us without us having to tell them vocally. Add to that love another evaluation concerning perfection of “boldness in the day of judgment” (which is where we are today) and our love is “made perfect” because of our boldness. Please also note John’s statement “as He is, so are we in this world.” He is stating that our love is to be as God’s love (perfect) NOW, IN THIS WORLD, not later on when we get to heaven. Another outward expression of perfected love is that you don’t fear anyone except the Lord. If we fear anything except the Lord it very specifically says we are not yet “made perfect in love.” It’s another one of the assessments to see how close we are to walking in Christian perfection. “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
2Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Speaking of a healthy fear of the Lord, it is this fear we must have in order to help us walk in perfect holiness. Can we walk in prefect holiness if we are still sinning? I think NOT. He encourages us to cleanse ourselves of the sins we are doing in the flesh. In other words, believe by faith we have been delivered from those things our flesh still lusts after. If we have a proper fear of God that can send us to hell eternally for practicing sin, we will naturally have a whole different perspective and urgency to deal with “those sins that so easily beset us.”
Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
When we began our walk with Christ and received salvation we didn’t have to DO anything to receive Christ’s spirit in us except believe on Him. This is what he means by “having begun in the spirit.” We couldn’t even be interested in becoming a born again believer without the Holy Spirit drawing us to Christ. All the ‘works” to be born again were done by the Lord by His Spirit. We didn’t have to go back and correct any past sins, be circumcised, keep a certain day holy, dress a certain way, eat a certain kind of food, drive a specific car or horse, or attend a class on how to obey some man’s little denominational “Jesus” to be a believer in Christ. This is why Paul is reproving the church of Galatia for being “foolish.” He was telling them neither can they be made perfect by performing doctrines and traditions of man. This is probably why most all “Christians” are unable to understand biblical perfection much less walk in it. We cannot follow ANY denominational or non-denominational laws in the flesh and walk in perfection because holiness can only be attained by Christ working within us by faith in the Spirit. Paul told the church in first letter to Corinth if they were yoked to any man-made doctrines and traditions “ye are carnal.” Christians can not align themselves with any sect causing division and be “made perfect.” It is only accomplished by the Spirit of God through faith.
For years I thought that holiness comes by a gradual growth and maturity in grace, but from my experience let me tell you, it NEVER gets there. We may gain extensive head knowledge and man’s wisdom of the scriptures with maturity, but more intellectual knowledge isn’t necessarily more holiness. That is the experience of everybody who hopes to “grow” into a mature Christian. It never comes by growth, either un-urged or forced, It’s like saying the evil grows with the good until the evil is purged out! Surely this attitude cannot be consistent with the gospel of a Savior who is able to save to the uttermost, that we should be forever striving and forever failing! His purpose is that we should be saved with a present, free, and FULL salvation, and His grace is equal to His purpose. Salvation is not of works, but of grace through faith. It is a gift from the Lord. The work is not begun in grace and perfected by our own works. Do we grow in our intimate knowledge of Christ by continual study of the Word? YES, of course. But we should already be walking in holiness.
I’ve also seen many denominational sects apply this growing and maturing concept to ministry offices, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc. You begin as a member of their faction, and then you can work your way up into a “deacon” level position. If you serve well and are liked by the people and leadership, then you’re promoted to another level, such as a minister or “associate” pastor. Then if you’re real lucky, a great steward of their denominational doctrines, and have good leadership skills, you have the chance to be promoted or “voted” into and even higher level of “senior” pastor, high priest, bishop or whatever they call their upper positions. This pyramid type promotion is done by imitating a man-made corporate philosophy and is not of the Lord. It doesn’t matter how many lots are cast in the process. As believers, we are supposed to be living in the Kingdom of God managed entirely by the King, not the man made democratic rule of the church. The Lord calls us “before the world began” to a specific function or office in the body of Christ according to His own will and we are placed in that office according to His purpose and timing and “after the council of His own will,” not the council of a sect’s elders. “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own works (or corporate structure), but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” For example, in the Kingdom of God, if a man is called to one of the five ministry offices, it’s done by the Holy Spirit from the beginning of the creation of the world, not after passing a plethora of man made tests while climbing a denominations ladder of success or attending their denominations seminary (cemetery). After being born again, that man begins functioning in his pre-ordained office when the Holy Spirit says it’s time. Apostles were the ones who ordained elders in the early church, and it was only through the leading of the Holy Spirit, NOT by the roll of the dice. They only cast lots one time right after Jesus died, and that was because they were still operating in carnality before they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost.
Ephesians 4:11-14 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Speaking of ministry offices, these four verses are critical in understanding why saints are falling so short of walking in perfection. The first question I have is; do you know how many ministry offices it takes to bring believers into perfection? The answer according to this scripture is five. Don’t misinterpret this verse to say some saints get trained by apostles, some saints get trained by prophets, some get trained by pastors, etc. It takes all five ministry offices to build a perfected believer. One office all by itself is incapable of bringing a saint into a full manifestation of Christ, which is why God gave five completely different offices. Look around Christ’s church today and tell me if you see God’s system of “perfecting of the saints“ in operation anywhere. Your answer should be NO. What you see in every denomination and sect is a one man, “senior” pastor/bishop/pope dictator system where other ministry offices are not only not invited, they are not allowed to operate or fully function in the freedom of the Holy Spirit if they show up because, heaven forbid, they may not follow the man-made “laws” the leader and his denomination enforce. The result of the current system is the saints are constrained to the limited knowledge of mans dictates and doctrines and will never come into the “unity of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God.” Most of these pastor/bishop/priests/ministers won’t teach on subjects like perfection because they themselves are ignorant of the subject. The evil one has succeeded in making the whole divided church system a setup to make believers fall way short of perfection and “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Which means they will still be “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men (senior pastors, priest, bishops, ministers), and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” It’s like Paul said in one of the previous verses we looked at, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.” The church of today is full of children! When do we put away childish things and start acting like “completed” adults and distance ourselves from the current church’s religious divisional system???
2Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof (conviction), for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
These five ministry offices in Ephesians 4 are supposed to be using the Word of God “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” so that the men of God under their tutelage can be perfected. Pick any meeting from any denomination these days and watch the countenance of the people as they depart the service. Are they distressed and teary-eyed because they just heard passages out of the bible that placed them under conviction to get on their crosses and address their unrighteousness, or do they have smiles on their faces because they just heard again how much God loves them and wants them to be happy. When was the last time they received a true hell-fire and brimstone message from an elder in the body of Christ? The man that was given more wisdom than any other man said “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth (joy, pleasure). It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2-5) Feel good, ear-tickling messages can not pierce “even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” bringing the saints into perfection.
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Epaphras was an intercessor for the church of Colossi. He was fervently praying that they would stand perfect and complete. If “nobody’s perfect,” why would he be praying this kind of prayer? This is another reason why there is very little perfection in the church today because very few intercessors understand perfection therefore are not praying for it.
Hebrews 5:11-14 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
In this set of verses the translators of the King James chose to render the same Greek word “teleios” as “them that are of full age” instead of using the English word “perfect” as in the rest of the verses we have been looking at. Paul had many in depth truths and hidden mysteries of Christ (strong meat) he wanted to teach these believers, but he couldn’t because they didn’t want to hear them (dull of hearing) and couldn’t understand them even if he did tell them. Here we are again with this church system being full of little children only willing to suck on baby formula when they should be to the point of being able to teach other believers. These denominational bottle babies were “unskilled in the Word of righteousness” so Paul couldn’t teach them the truths that would bring them into perfection. Evidently Paul had his problems with the “nobody’s perfect” religious crowd in the early church just like we have today. “There’s no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us.” The deep truths and hidden mysteries of Christ only belong to those that have been to the cross and fully crucified their flesh and therefore have ears to hear. These are the only believers who can truly discern good from evil. May God have mercy on these babies in these last days who will most certainly fall under the deception of the enemy of our souls.
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Here Paul is praying for the Hebrew people that God make them perfect in EVERY good work, not just a few good works. He is praying it would happen in their lifetimes, not after they die and go to heaven. Paul knew they needed to be perfect to fulfill God’s will for their lives on this earth, “which is well pleasing in His sight.” And how did he say that perfection is worked in us??? “Through Jesus Christ” by faith and “through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” Just like our salvation, there is nothing we can do by the works of our flesh to achieve perfection. It is only attained by faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit to work it in us, but we have to believe this fact first before we can receive it, just like the beginning of our born again experience.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
James also thought it possible to walk in perfection. He is admonishing us to be joyful when we have temptations try us because these trials help us to develop patience. He goes on to say that patience is part of being complete and perfect in Christ. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit.
Proverbs 11:5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
Even the Old Testament speaks of those that walk in perfection. Again, if nobody is perfect, then exactly who is Solomon referring to in this statement? This is the Hebrew word “tâmîym” which according to Strong’s Concordance means “without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright (-ly), whole.” It was translated eighteen times in the Old Covenant as perfect and was used by God to describe both Noah and Abram.
There are many other scriptures we could address, but this should be more than enough to prove that walking in perfection is not only possible it is commanded of every believer. It should also be enough to reveal that perfection does mean living without any mistakes and these perfect believers are the ones Christ will be gathering when He returns to claim His church that are “without spot and blemish.” Now that we have proven the bible says in numerous passages it is a part of the believers walk, we need to understand how to attain this sinless perfection.
Perfect by Faith
Before we appreciate perfection by faith, we need to fully comprehend what true biblical faith is.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
If we can see something with our eyes in the natural realm, then we have no problem believing it is so but the bible says this realm is “temporal.” However, just because we earnestly believe something does not mean we are operating in faith; neither does it mean that what we believe is an established biblical truth. Many believers perceive faith and belief as almost the same thing, but nothing could be farther from the truth. It is NOT faith if we have to see it to actually believe it, as doubting Thomas did. That’s why Jesus told Thomas “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” According to this biblical definition in Hebrews 11, faith is things we can not see occurring in the natural realm, but we have the assurance through God’s Word in the spiritual realm it will come to pass, so we believe that it exist as if we have already seen it. We are so confident of manifestation that we disregard the lack of evidence within our five senses in the natural realm and believe by faith it already subsists – it is so! The very basics of Christianity require us by faith to believe that Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins. We did not see that situation happen in the natural, so we must necessarily believe it by faith to be born again.
I want to digress for just a minute to explain the difference between “temporal” (temporary) and “eternal” as expressed in this verse in 2nd Corinthians. I recently heard a couple of ministers explain a concept the same way and it made “perfect” sense to me so I would like to borrow their definition. (There is not much original with me.) The world we now live in is temporary and is like a hologram generating holographic images. The temporal world will disappear soon and then we will all be part of the true world which is the spiritual unseen world the bible tells us will last forever; and time, as we experience it in the hologram, will be no more. I’m going to date myself here, but the best example to use is the Star Trek Enterprise TV series that aired decades ago. On the space ship they had what they called the holodeck. For their leisure time they would go to the holodeck and have the computer generate a hologram of a place they wanted to visit for their own personal entertainment while on the spaceship. I remember on one episode Captain Kirk had the computer generate a place with trees, flowers, streams, animals of all kinds and birds flying around, just like he was on an island somewhere with all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings you would have in a place like that. The computer generated all the things needed to engage all his senses and he was reveling in his relaxing moment detached from reality. All of a sudden, one of His subordinates, Spock, came bursting in the door saying “Captain, there is a Klingon warship within laser range,” Captain Kirk then said “computer, end program” and all of a sudden there was nothing left in the room but walls of the space ship and they proceeded to the bridge to deal with the approaching situation. Captain Kirk knew the real world was fighting wars in the heavenlies with his space ship, not the temporal world of having his senses tickled in a hologram.
This is a perfect example of the earth we now live on. It is a temporary hologram of a place we are visiting and it appeals to all of our senses. However, the Klingon from hell usually succeeds in sidetracking us by keeping us focused on the hologram and engaging all of our sensory organs till we believe this is all there is and this is our true place of residence, therefore distracting us from doing our part in the warfare going on in the heavenly realm. Very few seem able to understand the fact that it is just temporal and one of these days the Lord will say “computer, end program” and every one of us will be thrust into the true spiritual world that will last forever, few for eternal life and most for eternal damnation. Most all people living in this temporal world, including Christians, have their belief in the hologram because they are depending exclusively on the emotions generated by the input of their natural senses. Brothers and sisters our belief needs to be in the true spiritual realm by FAITH only, setting aside our vacillating emotions, because “…whosoever therefore will be a friend of the hologram is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4 Doug Cook Version) The bible plainly says this hologram is not our home and real biblical faith is living, moving, and having our being in the unseen Christ of the spiritual universe.
I heard to two testimonies recently from two different men that had out-of-body death bed experiences and then were brought back into their fleshly bodies and into this temporal life. Neither man knew each other nor had knowledge of the others experience. One was saved and visited the heavenlies and the other was not saved and Jesus let him experience the pits of hell. However, they both said the exact same statement at the beginning of their testimonies saying, “I was more alive out of my body than I was in my body.” Both of them signified we are more alive in the spiritual realm than we are in the hologram of this natural realm.
And for those that say we have to live in the hologram for now so we need to cooperate with the holographic images, I would cast that attitude in the same category as the carnal mentalities of the pastors that say “you’re so spiritually minded you’re no earthly good.” If you hear any pastor or leader regurgitate any statement similar to this you need to run, not walk, away from his faction and never return because he is operating in pure carnality and will lead you down the path of unrighteousness unless he repents of his earthly mindset.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Galatians 3:22-23 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Most Christians don’t realize that even the faith that is required for salvation is given to us as a gift. This verse in Ephesians is not saying the grace is the gift, it says faith is the gift. And it is the faith OF Christ, meaning it is Christ’s faith not our faith. These verses in Galatians show that the faith OF Christ is given to all that believe and “before faith came” or before we received the faith of Christ at salvation, we were under the law and shut off from the faith which would be revealed. So salvation has nothing to do with our own faith. The only part we have to do is believe and we are given the Faith of Christ we need to support that belief. That’s why we are called believers, not faithers. Many of the newer translations of the bible say faith IN Christ in this and other verses in the Word, but that is a poor translation because it then suggests it could be our faith rather than specifically the gift of Christ’s faith that empowers us to operate in this supernatural faith.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Jude 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
As we see in Hebrews, it is impossible to please God without using the faith of Christ in every area of our walk, not just when we receive salvation but throughout our whole life as a believer. We continually must learn to exercise the faith that was given us so we can apply it to every area of our lives, in this case applied to walking in Christian perfection. The first and most important way to strengthen our faith is to listen to or read the Word of God. For example, all through the Word we are called saints, priests, kings, righteous, holy, sons of God, etc. We wouldn’t know this is what the Lord calls us if we don’t continually read and study our bibles. The Lord also reveals His own character throughout the scriptures so it’s the only way to develop a closer relationship with Him. Another way to build faith is praying in the Holy Ghost, in other words in our heavenly language. (It is impossible to follow Jude 20 without receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit) We don’t know what we are saying so we have to exercise our faith and trust the Holy Spirit is praying the true desires of the Lord through us.
Mark 11:22-24 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
James 1:5-8 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Jesus Himself is telling us to have faith in God. Then He describes the kind of faith He wants us to operate in. Do you have your faith exercised enough to cast a mountain into the sea with your words? I have not gone through that experience yet, so I don’t know that I’ve arrived at mountain movin’ faith YET. Jesus said if we won’t have any doubt but believe what we’re saying, (not declaring when or how long it will take) it WILL come to pass. James says we will not receive anything if we waver in our faith and he call’s those that do “double minded.” If we truly believe what we say, we will have whatsoever we say. That’s the faith of Christ and where we all need to be in our walk. This principle works regardless if we believe something biblical or unbiblical. So if you say and believe with your heart “everyone sins once in a while,” guess what you personally will receive??? You “shall have whatsoever he saith” and you personally will continue sinning!!! If you continually confess and sincerely believe “nobody’s perfect,” guess who will NOT be without spot and wrinkle when Jesus returns? If I have NO doubt in my heart, sincerely believe, and confess with my mouth God’s words that says I am “walking in sinless perfection through the faith of Christ,” guess what will be fully manifesting in my life at some point? “But I say into you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Are we so sure of our erratic opinions that we can flippantly make uninformed carnal statements and not expect any repercussions at some point? Our fallen egos are so prideful in our efforts to present ourselves so knowledgeable and humble in front of others, but most always end up validating our absolute ignorance of biblical truths. “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Maybe that’s why the bible says “let every man be slow to speak and quick to listen!” “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”
James 1:22-24 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass (mirror): For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Here is where we run into our problem with our flesh fighting against the faith of Christ. If I look in the mirror (carnal introspection), I see there may be some of the “old nature,” the fallen ego, left in me, So do you if you are being honest with yourself. However, this is seeing me as I am in the holographic, carnal, natural man, but NOT in the spirit by faith. James calls this being a hearer of the Word only and not a doer of the Word. We know what the word says and we’re supposed to believe by faith we are no longer that carnal sinful person, but most of us don’t do this, so we are “a hearer of the word, and not a doer.” We can quote the Word, but we are not acting on our knowledge. He further states we are deceiving ourselves because we are not looking into the “perfect law of liberty” we have in Christ, so we forget who we truly are in Him and of what manner of man we are supposed to be. We will only be capable of receiving the truth if we look in the mirror and see Christ and Him alone. Our focus needs to be changed from the natural to the spiritual.
2Corinthians 3:17-19 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
In the spirit, according to Paul in 2 Corinthians, when I look in a mirror (spiritual introspection) I should be “beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord” because “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) What I presently am has nothing to do with my carnal, natural, holographic man, if… IF… I see this spiritual fact AS SO by the FAITH of Christ. Confessing this as so in the “it is already so” FAITH realm will cause it to come to pass and, from glory to glory (bit by bit), I will be changed into the same image as Christ – PERFECT. I may not like the kind of tribulation or persecution this belief looses to bring it to pass, (especially from church-as-usual denominational Christians) but it WILL come to pass. As Jesus said, “he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
1John 3:1-9 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
This passage speaks for itself and you would have to have the devil help you to misunderstand what is being said. If there is any question about sin in a believer’s life, this passage alone should suppress any uncertainty. I wonder if the “Christians” that confess “everyone sins once in a while” ever get around to reading this passage in 1 John 3? However, I have discovered some of them can sure quote 1 John 1:8 that says “If we say we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” because it seemingly fits their misguided beliefs. John wrote this whole epistle at the same time. Did he contradict himself from chapter 1 to chapter 3? I think not. The bible doesn’t contradict itself, so it would require these uninformed brothers and sisters to study the whole book of 1 John to see how these two chapters fit together in unity. None of these verses in Chapter 1 teach that sin must always be in us, or that we must certainly keep on sinning. On the contrary, they make plain God’s provision for sin. I as well had to reconcile the seemingly opposite statements by allowing the Holy Spirit to bring revelation about what chapter 1 was truly saying. If you are genuinely interested in the truth, you will inevitably need to do the same.
In reconciling the differences between chapters 1 and 3 years ago, I came to the same conclusion John Wesley did back in the 1700’s. The Lord sometimes makes available other men’s point of views to confirm we’re not missing the mark and reveal that previous generations made the same discovery from the Word. The Holy Spirit gave me this revelation long before I read about Wesley’s interpretations, but I would like to provide his well written response to the question of 1 John 1:8-10 instead of mine.
“I answer; the tenth verse fixes the sense of the eighth: ‘If we say we have no sin,’ in the former, being explained by, ‘If we say we have not sinned,’ in the latter verse. The point under consideration is not, whether we have or have not sinned heretofore; and neither of these verses asserts that we do sin, or commit sin now. The ninth verse explains both the eighth and tenth: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ As if he had said, I have before affirmed, the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. And no man can say, ‘I need it not; I have 110 sins to be cleansed from.’ If we say we have no sin, that ‘we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves, and make God a liar:’ But ‘if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just’ not only ‘to forgive us our sins,’ but also ‘to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,’ that we may ‘go and sin no more.’ In conformity, therefore, both to the doctrine of St. John and the whole tenor of the New Testament, we fix this conclusion: A Christian is so far perfect, as not to commit sin. This is the glorious privilege of every Christian, yea, though he be but a babe in Christ.”
John begins chapter 3 by calling us “sons of God” now in this time. He then states that when Jesus shall appear, we will be like Him and see Him as He is, which supports the other scriptures used earlier in this thesis that say we will be spotless and without blemish at His coming. Look closely at these statements; “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not,” “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,” and “:he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Three times it emphatically states that a true believer does not operate in any sin. And then John also gives the converse “He that comitteth sin is of the devil.” The difference between the children of God and the children of the devil is that one sins and the other does not. Nothing can be plainer than that. This may be a harsh and difficult statement to swallow; nonetheless it would mean the “Christians” that need to be allowed room to sin once in a while are not serving the Jesus of the bible, but the devil and their own flesh. Another critical statement John makes is “whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” This is what I was endeavoring to impart as the root of the problem at the beginning of this exposition. We don’t intimately know Christ and what He did for us on the Cross. A lot of pastors are to blame for not emphasizing this critical spiritual understanding, but each individual believer is also responsible for their own growth. The bible says most Christians “heap to themselves teachers having itchy ears.” They find a pastor teaching what they want to hear that sounds good and makes them feel good and there they will reside, blinded by their own complacency.
You may be asking how are we supposed to overcome sin and be perfect and sinless every day? In most congregations overcoming sin is usually conveyed something like this; “take your sins in detail, resolve to abstain from them, and fight against them, if need be with prayer and fasting, until you have overcome them. Set you will firmly against a relapse into sin, pray and struggle, and resolve that you will not fall, and persist in this until you form the habit of obedience and break up all your sinful habits.” To be sure it is generally added: “in this conflict you must not depend upon your own strength, but pray for the help of God.” This may sound real holy, but this type of approach really amounts to sanctification by our own works. We would be fighting against our sinful flesh with our flesh and asking God to help us do it this way. This directs the attention to the sin and its source and diverts it away from Christ. These efforts are useless and results in delusion. The outward act or habit may be overcome, but the root desire to sin is left untouched.
The way to truly overcome sin once and for all is by faith in Christ and Him alone, “not of works, lest any man should boast.” Jesus Christ will manifest Himself in a people, and that by His work in us through the faith of those that will believe Him for it. He longs to reproduce Himself in us, but He can only do it from the realm of FAITH. This is where our focus should be, in faith to bring things to pass. We need to be focused on Him, not we our sinful selves, and the work He is doing in us. If we in any way depend upon ourselves, then we are in a self worship produced by our religious fallen ego. Works only lead to bondage and death, and will always corrupt us, for we are not able in ourselves to create ourselves. We were powerless to save ourselves, and just as powerless to bring ourselves into perfection, a total redemption from our own fallen nature that wants to work its own way to being “as god.”
Believing by faith does not mean that we sit around and wait for Jesus to change us. There is a part we play in this and something we have to do, our “works” if you will. We should exercise ourselves toward righteousness, but we should not depend on or have faith in that exercise for deliverance. Our greatest need is to focus on Christ, study the Word so we can get to know Him intimately and BELIEVE what He says. We then must by faith pray and speak these things into existence in the natural realm. If we continually speak “I am perfect in Christ because He has made me this way,” it will come to pass. Our words will flow naturally from what we genuinely believe. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Conversely we need to be very careful to think about what we may be speaking into existence that may be hindering our perfection before we let the words flow out of our mouths. “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” This is why James tells us “let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.” This is one verse I see very… VERY… few Christians follow. We’re so puffed up with what little knowledge we think we have, we jump at the chance to get our opinions in so our egos can show everyone how smart we think we are. This especially applies to the “nobody’s perfect” speaking Christians that are in direct opposition to what God’s Holy Word says. “…Knowledge puffeth up but charity edifieth. And if any man think he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” (1Corinthins 8:1-2)
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
When we read a verse like this one in Philippians, do we actually believe this will happen or do we say to ourselves “I sure hope He can finish the work in me, but I still have a lot of sin in my life? If we sincerely believe the facts of this verse, we need to act like it is already so by faith and our words will confidently proclaim the matter is already settled. Remember what James said, if we waver in our faith at all we won’t receive anything, so any doubt in our hearts and the Lord will never complete this work in us. This ought to give us a healthy dose of the fear of the Lord from the enormous possibility of us missing the mark.
Philippians 3:8-15 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 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. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
This is a key passage to understanding how to attain perfection. As we saw earlier in Matthew 19 the rich man was unable to sell all he had, and give it all away and follow Christ. Paul explains in the passage that’s exactly what he had done. He gave up everything so he could have “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.” So that he could be manifesting Christ, not from his own righteousness or perfection. We cannot attain righteousness from anything we try to do in our flesh because that would be the works of the law. Paul began his ministry zealously trying to keep the law and failed miserably to the point he completely gave up the law and devoted himself to the righteousness which only comes through the faith of Christ. He wanted to intimately know Christ and the association with His sufferings. The apostle Paul went through much suffering and He counted it all joy as being one with Christ. Paul was operating in perfection as Jesus commanded, but he did not want to stay in the mindset that he had already attained perfection. This is what he meant when he said “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect:” I’ve heard preachers say about this phrase “See, even Paul said he hadn’t reached perfection.” This is NOT what he is saying in this scripture. He is saying that his thoughts are not that he had already attained perfection, (even though he had) but he was focusing on pressing toward the higher mark of even more intimate knowledge of Christ. He reinforces this by saying “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be this minded.” By this statement he is not only admitting he is perfect, but he is speaking to other believers that are perfect, telling them to have the same mindset of pressing for more knowledge even though they had already attained perfection. For those Christians that think “nobody’s perfect,” please tell me who Paul is directing this statement to? He had to be talking to believers already operating in perfection. (And for those operating in denominational carnality who can’t believe for perfection, you can ignore this passage in Philippians because it’s not directed to you. He is only speaking to perfected believers here.)
Colossians 1:21-29 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Brothers and sisters, as in this passage in Colossians, there are just too many examples in the Word of God where the apostles admonished believers to be perfect, holy, blameless and other terminology that represent living this life while we are here on earth without sin. To make a statement like “nobody’s perfect’ or “we all sin once in a while” shows that many are dull of hearing and still rebellious babes in Christ. As Paul says in Colossians here he is trying to present every one of us believers as “holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel.” Notice his statement contains the word “if” which means it is conditional, and the condition is that we have to continue in unwavering faith. He is trying to help us understand the “mystery” of the gospel which was hidden from the Old Covenant believers and Gentiles. What is that mystery? “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ’s spirit is received by faith to dwell in our hearts, and then the Holy Spirit begins the work of changing all of us into His image and likeness, without us having to do any works. The thing that separates Christianity from all other religions is the fact that we are the only faith where the persons’ God actually comes to dwell within them and does the works of full and complete redemption Himself. All the other religions of the world (Including denominational “Christian” religions) have works of the flesh they must do in order to appease their “Jesus” they made up. This is why it is so critical that we don’t try in our flesh to keep any man-made law or try to stop doing some sin to be holy or perfect. As Paul says in this passage we should be “striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.” It’s Christ and the Holy Spirit working in us that is our hope to walking in perfection being unblameable in the Lords sight.
1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
John begins this verse with another IF. Christ shed His blood on the cross to redeem us from ALL our sins, not just some of them. If… IF… We decide to walk in the light. Unlike the deceptive doctrine of “unconditional love” being taught in the church today, abiding in God’s agape love is also VERY conditional based on IF we keep His commandments through the power of the Holy Spirit by faith. (John 15:10) The bible is replete with conditions all based on our willingness to accept the truth He is trying to reveal to us in His Word.
Redemption implies a restoration. Something forfeited is bought back. What is the something that constituted man’s original perfection, and which was lost through sin? The scriptures make it plain that God made man upright. He came from the hands of his Maker as being of excellence and perfection. God made man in His own image, and after his likeness. So far most evangelical believers agree, but when it is asked what this image and perfection looks like there is much disagreement. The first chapters of Genesis are the paradise of all speculation but, “seeing through a glass darkly,” truth takes shape according to every man’s imagination. By many, the perfection of man in his original state has been greatly exaggerated. It cannot have been his physical nature that was made in the image of God; for “God is a spirit.” He had physical limitations and desires that are still common to the human race. This physical flesh was made out of dirt, not spirit, and it will go back to dirt when we die. Neither was his perfection in knowledge absolute. The woman sinned because she was deceived – this indicates a lack of intellectual saturation combined with moral stubbornness. Adams nature was endowed with such powers as made interaction with spirits possible. He had fellowship with God, and was accessible to Satan. His perfection was spiritual and moral, held on condition of (IF) obedience, and exposed to moral and spiritual attacks. When Adam sinned he forfeited his inheritance. He lost God. The sense of the Divine presence and approval vanished. Losing God, he lost life. The soul that sins dies, but the death of the soul does not mean extermination of the body. It is the loss of that spiritual consciousness in which all right direction and control of man’s various facilities and powers have their source. In spiritual death no part of man’s nature is destroyed, but every part becomes chaotic and disturbed. In the life of sin God is dethroned and “the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” hold control over the soul.
If through Christ we are restored to this original perfect state of Adam, then we receive back the ability to commune with God in the Spirit and our morals are restored to perfection. We are no longer chaotic and disturbed but have the direction and purpose re-instituted in our lives (born again). Therefore, we have Christ in us restoring that perfection from which Adam fell because as John said; “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaneth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” We still have a body of flesh and blood and we still have limitations and desires as the original Adam had along with the moral and spiritual attacks, we just don’t have the desire to sin any more because of Christ’s Spirit directing our regenerated soul.
Perfection could be referred to as a full and complete salvation. It is so sad that most believers can’t see that it doesn’t take years to achieve this as it can be instantaneous and received by faith only. Like the usual “partial and incomplete” salvation experience we all had, we need to now believe for ALL of salvation. If we were taught from the very beginning that we could receive full and complete salvation during our born again experience, how many could be walking in this perfection from the foundation of their relationship with Christ? They would be completely delivered from ALL sins and not ever expect to sin sometimes while they grow in their relationship to Christ. Oh how we have been missing all that Christ has done for us and we don’t intimately know Him as the great restorer of ALL things right NOW during our lifetimes.
Most of the church has operated in carnality too long being deceived into believing this lie from the evil one that nobody can achieve perfection, yet it is part of our inheritance that is available to us when we make Christ Lord of our lives. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Carnal minded is a very dangerous place to be. The great falling away of believers will come from this group as most of them will not be able to receive the truth that sets them totally free.
As it was in previous centuries, there are most of those referring to themselves as Christians who will not receive this truth concerning perfection because the Lord has not removed the veil from their eyes. There is nothing I can say or explain further to help you!! This exposition was written for those few that desire to fully know Christ Jesus our Lord and have “come out from among them and be ye separate.” All I can do is scatter the seeds, someone else will do the watering, and God will give the increase if… IF… the hearts are open to receive.
1Corinthians 2:12-14 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
One last concern for those that are having trouble receiving this biblical truth of walking in sinless perfection, it may be that you have not received the indwelling or baptism of God’s Holy Spirit. We receive the Spirit of Christ at the point of salvation, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a different experience (See Acts chapter 8) and needed for “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” We need to receive the Spirit of God so “that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” Otherwise, even though you have received salvation, this teaching may seem like “foolishness” to you and you can not know these truths “because they are spiritually discerned.” If you are operating in carnal Christianity you will not be able to accept this biblical mystery “which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.” First step for eliminating carnality is to desire earnestly the baptism of the Holy Spirit, another free gift received by faith only.
Like the Lord we are a three part being made of body, soul, and spirit. In receiving the Spirit of Christ at salvation, God dealt with the root cause of sin in our lives which was our fallen sinful spirit that every person was born with after the fall of Adam. When we were born again, our old spirit or old man died and was replaced with the Spirit of Christ, but we still have our flesh which inherently contains the law of sin. It’s this flesh that still causes us to sin even though our desire after salvation (Spirit of Christ now placing conviction in our hearts) is to not sin any more as Romans 7 explains. Try as we may in shear power of our wills, we may suspend the outward sin but we can never defeat the law of sin that still remains in our flesh, so our constant battle to overcome sin remains. But when we receive the Holy Spirit we receive within our being the Spirit of Life that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8) and the Spirit of Life has the power to conquer the law of sin and death. With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we now have the power to overrule the law of sin in our flesh by believing the Spirit of God is overcoming our sins for us and without our help, just like he raised Jesus from the dead without Jesus help. The Spirit of God doesn’t just prevent the outward sin it destroys the desire to sin (law of sin) in our flesh, which makes “our yoke easy and our burden light.” It also means we are walking in the spirit and not in the flesh which keeps us free from condemnation that Romans 8:1 says. This only works by believing by faith the Holy Spirit is doing this work in us making us just like Christ. And if we sincerely believe that process is working in us, our dialogue will expose our belief. Remember again what James said, if your faith wavers you can not expect to receive anything of the Lord.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
A test to see how much of the Holy Spirit has accomplished in making us perfect (more like Christ) can be seen by the fruits of the Spirit evidenced in our lives. If we have trouble operating in the joy of the Lord, then a fruit of the Spirit is missing which means we are probably not trusting (faith) in the Holy Spirit to make us more like Christ or the joy would be evident. I have had people ask me to pray for them to have patience. I have mistakenly prayed for their request rather than instructing them to have faith in the Holy Spirit. Long suffering is a fruit of the Spirit, so if the Spirit is allowed to make them more like Christ, patience will be there automatically. You will also notice faith is a fruit of the Spirit. If we are having trouble wavering in our faith, we again are not trusting in the Holy Spirit but trying to perform works in our own power. I hope I am making sense what I am trying to point out here. If God’s Spirit is allowed to operate in our lives, then ALL of the fruits should be present. If some of the fruits are not present, then we are not allowing ourselves to be formed into the image of Christ. We don’t need to pray for God to give someone individual specific fruits of the Spirit, we need to help them get on their cross and die to their flesh so the Spirit can manifest Christ’s perfection in them with all the fruits.
I watched a movie recently titled “When the Game Stands Tall.” It’s inspired by the true story of legendary football coach Bob Ladouceur, who took the De La Salle High School Spartans from obscurity to a 151-game winning streak that lasted over 10 years and shattered all records for number of consecutive wins in any American sport. This coach was a born again believer in Christ and lead his team by Christian principles. Unlike most coaches, he never focused on winning the games. He kept the members of his team focused on two things, love for their fellow team members and walking in perfection. He instilled in every one of his players the need to give a “perfect” effort for each and every game they played. Each one of his players determined for themselves what they needed to practice on to make sure they were able to always improve their individual prefect game. He also had the team mates hold each other accountable to their own goals of perfection. After viewing this movie I contemplated what shape the world would be in now and how many wins the Church of Jesus Christ would have accumulated over the centuries if there were scores of pastors/leaders who were as passionate about instilling biblical perfection and brotherly love in the saints instead of regurgitating the innumerable ear-tickling divisional doctrines of men designed for adding more dollars and “church members” to their scoreboards? Selah!…….. The possibilities would be unfathomable.
Other Expositions on Perfection
I will leave you with condensed expositions of biblical perfection as written in previous generations by well known devout men of God. One by John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement in the 17th century, one by Samuel Chadwick a powerful preacher in the 19th century, one by the Rev. Charles G. Finney, and one by Watchman Nee so you will see it is not some new doctrine or wild interpretation I’m trying to promote but a well established truth being taught for centuries in the church. Samuel Chadwick also implied every generation would need a man of God from his own generation to help define and comprehend the most important concept of Christian perfection. This thesis is the Lords contribution through myself, and I hope others, for this generation and for such a time as this.
John Wesley’s definition 1769: “By Christian Perfection I mean – (1) Loving God with all our heart; (2) A heart and life all devoted to God; (3) Regaining the whole image of God; (4) Having the mind that was in Christ; (5) walking uniformly as Christ walked. If anyone means anything more or anything less by perfection, I have no concern with it.” On another occasion he stated, “Salvation from all sin, and loving God with all the heart;” and one of his latest sermons defines it, “By perfection we mean one in whom is ‘the mind which was in Christ,’ and who so ‘walketh as Christ also walked;’ a man ‘that hath clean hands and a pure heart,’ or that is cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit; one whom is ‘no occasion of stumbling’ and who, accordingly, ‘does not commit sin.’ To declare this a little more particularly: We understand by that scriptural expression, ‘a perfect man,’ one in whom God hath fulfilled His faithful word. ‘From all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse you: I will also save you from all your uncleanness’s.’ We understand hereby, one whom God hath ‘sanctified throughout in body, soul, and spirit;’ one who ‘walketh in the light as He is in the light, in whom is no darkness at all; the blood of Jesus Christ His Son having cleansed him from all sin.”
Samuel Chadwick’s definition 1934: Christian perfection is defined by its adjective. It is neither final nor flawless. It is a definite work of grace, by which the nature is cleansed of its bias to evil and is made to be partaker of the Divine nature. Every part is sanctified and made conformable to the Divine will. It does not make mistakes impossible or discipline unnecessary, but it does answer the prayer of the apostle in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
The Rev. Charles G. Finney wrote: “in this state I was taught the doctrine of justification by faith as a present experience… I could not feel any sense of guilt of condemnation by any effort I could make. My sense of guilt was gone, my sins were gone, and I do not think I felt any more sense of guilt than if I never had sinned… I felt myself justified by faith, and, so far as I could see, I was in a state in which I did not sin.”
Watchman Nee; from his book The Normal Christian Life: “in Hebrews 5:8-9, we read this account of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” How could He, the very Son of God, have to be perfected by suffering? He, who is the epitome, or the perfection, of beauty? Why would He have to be perfected by suffering?
“If it were only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there would be no need for our perfection. But that isn’t where it ends, is it? In the Word of God, we are told that Jesus is to have a bride – glorious, and without a spot or wrinkle. If Jesus is to have a bride that is gloriously perfect, then He must be able to understand His bride. He must suffer as a flesh and blood man in order to do that.”
“Maybe this example will help to explain what I am saying. If I came to Japan, a foreign country, alone, without my wife, Judith, and then returned to America and tried to relate to her all that I experienced there, she would not be able to relate fully to the Japanese culture. Had she experienced what I experienced by living in the midst of them, then she would fully understand how beauty and order are inherent in Japanese culture – from the lace seat covers in cars, to the individually wrapped and sized fruits in the stores. She would not have personally seen the trimmed and cultivated plants and shrubs around the homes and storefronts, and the many, many beautiful little touches in the everyday life of the Japanese people. I couldn’t even fully understand it not being Japanese myself. For Judith, it would be impossible. For me to convey perfect understanding to her is impossible, having not been born to the culture. In the same way, Jesus had to be born to the experience of personal human suffering, in order for Him to personally understand us in our sufferings.”
“In John 17:20-23, Jesus cried to the Father in His last recorded prayer before His death. His words echo His heart’s cry for the same communion to take place between His disciples and His Father, as He and His Father had. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
May the God of grace give you the desire for perfection in Him.
Your servant in Christ.