The topic of moral perfection often came up in our men’s Bible study - probably because we were all hopelessly far from it. The room would always be divided between those who thought it impossible, those who thought they had attained it, and those who were very comfortable well short of it.
The public opinion on perfection seems to be that it is the enemy of good, or to quote the trite saying, that excellence is as far as we will get in the pursuit of perfection. Another widespread belief is that goodness and perfection are whatever we want them to be. Jesus unsurprisingly had other ideas.
In history’s most famous speech, Christ said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”1 The Hebrew word for perfect is Tamim, which means blameless, whole, complete, sound, and healthful.
The bar has been set unbelievably high. We must aim for perfection and nothing less. And we have no excuses, because our Captain has been to the other side. Jesus became a lowly man and lived a blameless life to show us that it is possible.
The Bible unfortunately has lots to say on perfection, or the lack thereof. Noah and Job were described as perfect. This surprisingly indicates that Biblical perfection doesn’t mean flawlessness, because we all know that Noah holds the title of the first man to get drunk. The meaning is closer to devotion, loyalty, and obedience to God.
God commanded the Israelites to be blameless,2 but this was accompanied with the command to not emulate the detestable practices of other nations.3 Throughout the Old Testament, the word perfect is used to describe those who undividedly worshipped and obeyed God.4
In the New Testament, things don’t get any easier for us. The authors never hesitate to remind us how far we are from perfection, but in the same breath encouragement is always given.
If we want to be perfect, we must sell our possessions and give to the poor.5 We become perfect by purifying ourselves of things that contaminate us, out of reverence for God.6 Anyone who keeps their tongue in check is perfect.7 Loving one another covers many sins.8 Jesus was made perfect through what He suffered.9 And we are mysteriously told that through Jesus’ crucifixion, we have already been made perfect.10
In Mere Christianity, CS Lewis takes a swing at this topic. He says that the main thing we learn from a serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues is that we fail. But this should then lead to an honest place where we admit that we can’t live a righteous life without Jesus’ help…
“We have not got to try to climb up into spiritual life by our own efforts: it has already come down into the human race… The son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God… The man in Christ rose again: not only the God.” Jesus will indeed help us if we ask Him, and if we truly desire to be helped. He has already helped us more than we could ever imagine.
On this journey of trying to “be perfect”, as Christ casually puts it, the obvious pitfall is imperfection. But the less obvious pitfall is an obsession with perfection. Dostoevsky speaks about a satanic pride that comes from incessant rule following. Christianity is a relationship and not the general ledger. It is more about boxing than box-ticking.
Lewis says that God cares more about what we are than about what we do. He wants you to be a certain kind of creature - a new kind of person. God cares more about the heart posture behind our actions than blind obedience. He wants us to follow His Holy Spirit rather than a list of rules.
We must be striving to live righteously in a less conscientious and worried way. Lewis says, “Christianity starts off as rule following and it leads to a new world.” He says that we were made for more than mere morality, and that “we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing God means to make of us.” Lest we forget Psalm 82:6: “I said, ‘You are gods’; you are all sons of the Most High.”
GK Chesterton also took a jab at the topic. He said, “the more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.” A man is not free if he can do whatever he likes and go wherever he wants. That man is lost. A truly free man is told where to go, and there he finds freedom.
Chesterton refers to Christianity as a dance or a romance, and Lewis says that it is more like painting a portrait than obeying a set of rules. And another time he refers to Christianity as a fighting religion. This reminds me of Jacob fighting the angel, where our relationship with God is accurately compared with wrestling.11
Perfection is doing the best we know. “Simply put, if disciples are earnestly doing their best to live the gospel of Jesus Christ—including repenting as often as they need to—they are perfect.”12
Let us never forget that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”13 We must be vehemently against sin, but simultaneously quick to get back on the horse when we fall. If we stay down after we fall, we put ourselves above Jesus’ sacrifice.
I often think that sin will impact me negatively somewhere far down the line. But the reality is, based on our decisions at each moment, life is either becoming more like heaven or hell. Obedience and disobedience lead to instant realities. My last Lewis quote: “Virtue – even attempted virtue – brings light; indulgence brings fog.”
Following the Christian morals shouldn’t be constant drudgery and labour, because Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy and His burden is light.14 The real difficulty with living a righteous life is surrender. When we are fully surrendered to Christ’s will, obeying Him is easy and light. But if we are constantly straddling the line between surrender and rebellion, son and wanderer, His will becomes hard and heavy. It becomes unbearable.
A great practice is to question the Christian morals. We must ask God why he doesn’t want us to get drunk, or to lust, or to covet the possessions of others. When we question the morals and test the boundaries, we see that His ways do in fact lead to life itself, to freedom itself, and to love itself, and that our ways do not.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”15
Matthew 5:48
Deuteronomy 18:13
Deuteronomy 18:9
e.g., 1 Kings
Matthew 19:21
2 Corinthians 7:1
James 3:2
1 Peter 4
Hebrews 2:10
Hebrews 10:14
Genesis 32:22-32
"Be Ye Therefore Perfect" | Religious Studies Center (byu.edu)
Romans 3:23-24
Matthew 11:28-30
Psalm 34:8
Hi Michael
What a great post, indeed quite perfect!
My take on perfection is that we can be perfect, because that is what God expects of us, and he doesn't ever expect too much- for he will never test us beyond what we can handle, but with the test will provide the way out, so that we may be able to endure it. (1Cor 10:13)
Following is an excerpt of a future post I will be putting up on my substack, when I get around to finishing the preparation of it, I would love your comments on the below:
God expects us to be “righteous” and “perfect”, yet many Christians feel this is simply too difficult to attain. But to be righteous and perfect is what God expects of us, as the following scriptures clearly direct us to understand: Matt 5:48, 19:21, Luke 1:6, Rom 12:2, 1Cor 2:6, 2Cor 12:9,13:11, Eph 4:13, Phil 3:12-15, Col 1:28, 4:12, 2Tim 3:17, 2Tim 4:8, Heb 13:20-21, 2Pet 2:8, 1 John 2:1, 2:29, 3:7, 3:12, James 1:4, James 3:2, Rev 3:2.
God Is Building His Spiritual Temple
While righteousness and perfection may seem a tall order, what it actually means is that we must follow Christ as the exemplar of perfect behaviour. This expectation of our perfection, can be appreciated through the analogy of Christ being the “chief corner stone” in the spiritual temple of God. (Matt 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, 1Peter 2:6-7, Eph 2:19-22)
A corner stone is the one point in any building that all measurements are taken from, to determine if everything is square and upright in relation to each other. When you are in line with the corner stone, no matter if you are on the other side of the building, on the roof, or part of the floor, then you are following that standard set by the corner stone. Similarly, we are all different, yet we are to follow Christ, to fill up the sufferings of Christ. (Col 1:24, Heb 11:36-40) We do this by living according to his standards, like a brick, door, or roof tile is aligned to the standards of the chief corner stone.
We, however, are a bit more complex than a brick that is placed in a building, for we can choose at any time to actually leave the building! Throughout our life we must stay in line with Christ and continue to walk the walk that Christ showed us in his life: if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was proclaimed in all the creation under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and (through this suffering) I fill up the things lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh (by suffering physically), on behalf of His body, which is the church; of which I became a minister, according to the administration of God given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God; (Col 1:23-25) Jesus fulfilled the word of God (Matt 5:17-20), we too must fulfill it in our actions, if we follow his way of life.
How can anything be lacking of the afflictions of Christ? Christ is not the entire building; he is the corner stone to which the building is aligned. We are all elements of the building, but we must stay aligned to Christ. Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, (part of the building of God) and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, (the apostles of the New Covenant and prophets of Old Covenant) Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom every building having been fitly framed together, (we are the rest of the building that) grows (is alive!) into a holy sanctuary in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit. (Eph 2:19-22)
Christ being the corner stone, and our being the rest of the elements of the holy building of God, is a great analogy, yet it too should not be carried to an extreme, or you could misunderstand the profound and simple concepts being taught. Christ was not a woman, or and old person. He never married or had physical children. He was never unemployed, or put up with the pollution of this modern age, nor had any sickness in his life. We are all in a different circumstance from Christ, yet we are to still follow his example that he set in his life. We do this in the same way that a window is not made of the same material as the corner stone, yet it must be aligned to the corner stone, in order to be of value to the building. We say that such a window is right for the building. That is what it means to be righteous, and perfect, within the spiritual building that God is constructing. We align ourselves to Christ’s righteousness, by the power of the Holy Spirit, then God the Father considers us as being righteous and justified to be within his building. That is all that the spiritual term “justification” means.
Once we are justified, we are then set apart, like building materials carefully stored on the building site, so that they are ready to be used in its future construction. The spiritual term for being set apart is “sanctified”: … but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1Cor 6:11) We are “set apart” as an integral element of his building by being called by God, to be granted the Holy Spirit to enable us to follow the Lord Jesus. We are then justified as being a part of the design of his truly magnificent and grand building, by living the life of righteousness that he has set for us. We do this, as discussed in the next chapter, by living by the covenant of his blood in us, because his blood aligns us to him, and we partake of his flesh, by living as he lived. This is what it means to “eat his flesh and drink his blood”.
God expects us to be perfect: For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (which is the entire Church): 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: (Eph 4:12-13) Christ is the standard of what our perfection is measured against.
Thank You