Not Perfect, just Forgiven?
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I have heard this statement many times over
the years. Most of the time it is from
Christians, who are responding to someone who is asking about their shortcomings. Well, I’m not perfect, just forgiven. On one hand, this statement is a great
statement. If you are in Christ – you ARE
forgiven. That is a wonderful statement for
Christians to understand. Forgiveness is
a tremendous gift from God to the believers. But did you know that the Lord Jesus asks us to
actually be… perfect? In Matthew 5:48,
Jesus makes the statement to His disciples (MKJV Version) “Therefore be
perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” Luke 6:40 “The disciple is not above his
master, but everyone who is perfect shall be like his master.” In this post, we will explore what it means to
be perfect, and we might even improve a little on this catchphrase.
I have
used this phrase many times, but one day when I was reading the Bible during my
regular study, I came across the verse in Matthew. That was a very long time ago (maybe 35 years),
but I still remember talking with the Lord and saying to Him “You are asking us
to be perfect, but I am NOT perfect.”
This started me on a little study to find out how to understand what the
Lord is asking us to do.
Imagine the line below as your Christian
life. The beginning is when you first
became a Christian. That is when your spiritual
life with Christ first started! At the
end of the line is when your life ends, and you go to physically be with the
Lord. The key to this passage is
understanding what part of this diagram is this verse referring to?
Image by
Lee Malden
We know from the Bible that from the time
that we are saved until the time that we are caught up to heaven – we are supposed
to become more and more like Christ.
Romans 8:28-29 states “and we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of
his son.” This is a wonderful
passage that list another great benefit of knowing the Lord. These verses tell us that all the
difficulties and challenges of the believer will work out for his good because
he is involved in the purpose of God in his life to be changed into the image
of Christ. This involves a long process
of forgiveness, asking for help and guidance, and learning to be obedient to
the Lord. It involves learning to put
into practice what we read in the Bible.
When the Bible asked me to be perfect – I thought
that it meant that the Lord expected me to be at the end of the road. To be morally / spiritually perfect. Some Christians have tried to act like they
are perfect, but it doesn’t take very long to see that they still have some
room to grow. I knew from scripture that
even Paul did not feel like he had reached moral perfection. In Philippians 3:12 (Good News Bible) he
states “I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become
perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already
won me to himself. Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I've
already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and
do my best to reach what is ahead. So, I run straight toward the goal in order
to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.”
So, Paul states that he has not reached
moral perfection, but he does state that he is actively pursuing it. I think
that this is the big point. There is a
difference in understanding who we are in Christ and understanding His expectations
of us. In my study of the verse in
Matthew – I found a couple of things.
1. The word for perfect is the Greek word Teleios. The word is being used as an adjective and NOT a verb. It is describing the “being”, not the “doing”. “Therefore, be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” This verse is meant to be a reminder of who God’s people are, not necessarily how they behave. We are miss applying this verse if we are taking it to mean that our behavior is to be perfect. This verse is not talking about our behavior.
2. From what I understand, the word “perfect” in the English language does not communicate what the verse intends. Some translators used the word “complete”. Here is Wuest's translation “Therefore, as for you, you shall be those who are complete in your character, even as your Father in heaven is complete in His being.”
May I suggest, in light of this study that
we understand that we are perfect in our standing with Christ. We are complete in Him. We need to rest on that fact. This verse in Matthew is referring to the
beginning of the journey and our status all the way through the journey. Becoming complete in Christ is not a destination,
it is the reality of the first step.
We also need to follow Paul, who
also understood his position in Christ, and used that to fuel his determination
to “strive toward moral perfection”, understanding that we may never reach it -
until we see Christ, but we should most certainly work toward it. Maybe the better catchphrase is Perfect in
Christ, now trying to Live like it!
Image by
Lee Malden
Even though we may not have reached perfection
in our Christian life, we most certainly can try and be mature in our Christian
life. For example, has your patience
matured? Does it take more stress in
life for you to lose your patience than it used to? Has your language matured, or are you still
relying on profanity to get your point across?
Does the number of Bible verses that you can recall reflect the length
of time that you have been a Christian, or do you still rely on John 3:16 to
get you by? How is your longsuffering,
or your ability to suffer long? We
should not make excuses for our lack
of maturity, but we should also not feel condemned if we are not as far along
as we should be. I love this old
children’s tune and will close with it.
Little by
little every day, little by little in every way,
Jesus is
changing me.
Since I
turn took a turn about-face, now I'm walking in his grace,
and
someday perfect I will be.
He's
changing me, my precious Jesus.
I'm not
the same person that I used to be.
Sometimes
it's slow going, but there's a knowing.
That
someday perfect I will be.
Written by Lee Malden 2022
For more information: email lmalden@hotmail.com
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