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Dr. Del Tackett is president of the Focus on the Family Institute and Senior Vice President to Focus on the Family. He is also the architect and chief spokesperson for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project, a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.

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Wrestling with Perfection, II

Posted on November 20, 2007
Filed Under Worldview |

Yesterday, we concluded three things:
God is perfect; we are not; and the creation is decaying.

Yet, in the midst of this, the Scripture seems to call us to perfection (Gen 17:1, Matt 5:48, 2 Cor 13:11, etc.).

But what does this mean to me, really? In the nitty gritty, nuts & bolts of my life…so what? Does this matter…or should it? Does God care much about whether or not I clean my gutters “perfectly”? (That’s how all of this started.)

I have found that it is sometimes helpful to break these kinds of questions into thirds and try to answer them with respect to the three realms: spiritual, social and physical. Or, if you think in relational terms: our relationship to God, our relationship to others, and our relationship to the creation.

First, let’s look at the question as it pertains to the spiritual realm or our relationship to God. The statement of Jesus, that we are to be perfect, stands in the context of a lot of fairly clear Scripture. Hebrews 12:14 says that “without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

But we are not holy.

Rom 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Isa 53:6 says that we have all gone astray, each of us pursues our own way. Rom 3:10-12 declares: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” A pretty bleak picture, indeed.

But it gets worse.

Isa 64:6 says this:
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

Even if we did attempt to be holy and righteous, those acts are said to be nothing but unclean.

This situation is not good.

But it is this exact dilemma that brings us to the “good news”. The perfection that is fully required, the holiness that is absolutely necessary, the righteousness that we must obtain, but can’t, has been gained by Jesus Christ. His sacrifice was the infinite payment for our sins that satisfied the wrath of God due us. His righteousness has been imputed to us. It wasn’t free, but we got it for free…given to us because we were unable to pay it.

Herein lies the justification for why and how a just God can grant us forgiveness…and why He can justly give us the right to be called His children and enter into a reconciled relationship with Him.

Salvation requires us to be “perfect”. But we couldn’t be perfect, so God did it for us.

This is the unimaginable, unfathomable, outrageously joyful good news…fantastic news…for those who were hopelessly lost and separated from God.

So, from a salvation stand point, perfection is required, but met by the righteousness of Christ.

The second half of our relationship with God is how we now walk before Him. That goal of perfection, we are going to find, is also unattainable…a principle that will extent into the social realm and the physical realm as well.

How do we handle that predicament?

Let’s visit that next time.

Comments

4 Responses to “Wrestling with Perfection, II”

  1. Pete Sheppard on November 21st, 2007 9:37 pm

    If we think of “perfection” as “totally without fault or flaw,” as you indicate, we’re sunk.

    However, perfection also means “completeness.” Perfection is used this way in biology. In this sense, we are perfect through the Cross. As we “work out our salvation”–NOT in the sense of earning our salvation, of course, but in the sense of expressing it, this “perfection” (or completeness) will express itself in our lives.

    As you mentioned, Dr Del, even though we are everything BUT holy in our natural or soulish people, WE ARE HOLY through the imputation of Jesus. The statement of I Peter 1 (”Be ye holy…”) has traditionally been regarded as a command, dismaying in its impossibility. However, it can also be understood as a statement of impartation or declaration, as in “You are holy, because I am holy.”

    Is this a cause to become puffed up? NO! Rather is is a cause to rejoice at the grace and goodness of our Father, who chose to so bless us, and to share that blessing with the world!

  2. Jordan on November 25th, 2007 4:33 pm

    Just came across an interesting verse that may apply to this topic. Ecclesiastes 11:3-4 in the Message translation says, “When the clouds are full of water, it rains. When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls. Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work. Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life.”

    Maybe this passage is saying that if we’re too worried about doing things perfectly we won’t get anywhere.

  3. Buddy Collins on December 4th, 2007 4:11 pm

    The Scofield Study Bible describes “perfect” in three (3) tenses :
    (1) Positional Perfection … attained at salvation .. we are perfect in God’s sight.
    (2) Relative Perfection … where are we today in comparison to yesterday ? … it’s a process.. (Sanctification)
    (3)Ultmate Perfection … never attained in this life … only upon Christ’s return.

  4. Jordan D. on January 30th, 2008 9:17 am

    I think that if we would read the Bible, and actually whole-heartedly seek the answer that we would find it. A fundimental truth in the body of Christ is Sprit, Soul and Body. What all three are and what affects what. Our body is simply a shell, our soul is our thoughts, emotions and imagination, and finally, our Spirit is the part of us that is perfect.
    When we accepted Christ, our Spirit became perfect and was brought back into perfect relationship with God. When God looks down on us, He litterally sees the Spirit of Jesus, now our Spirit.

    I’d reference you to a scripture but quite frankly the whole Bible confirms this over and over.

    If it is not in the Word of God, it is NOT truth! We should not make assumptions. The Bible (dispite what many think) is a complete picture of Christ. Don’t think this means that you read from Genisis to Revelation and you’ve got it all! Romans 12:1-2 sum it up for me. Verse 1: be a living sacrifice and live a life for Jesus. Verse 2: Renew your mind to the things of God. Individually, if you become a living sacrifice, it can destroy you. Same with just renewing your mind, it can destroy you. But together they are the formula to recieve the fullness of God. It really isn’t that complex and it isn’t that hard and the word of God should not be! God bless

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