Biblical
Perfection
In the final verse of our
study this week, we hear the most challenging invitation that can
be given us: "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect"
(5:48). This phrase of the gospel gives, as the model of perfection,
the imitation of God's very Self. These striking NT
words parallel the OT Levitic command: "Be holy, for
I am holy" (Lev 11:45). This article will briefly review
some of OT and NT teachings about perfection.
The OT speaks of
sanctity more than of perfection. God is holy; and of a completely
other order than the beings of this world: "Great is the Lord
in Zion, exalted above all the peoples. Let them praise your
great and awesome name: Holy is God!" (Ps 99:2-3). God
is powerful and to be feared: "Renowned in Judah is God, whose
name is great in Israel. . . . Terrible are you, who can stand
before you? From the heavens you pronounced sentence; the
earth was terrified and reduced to silence" (Ps 76:2,8-9).
God is also marvelously
good and faithful: "The Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed:
'The Lord, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding
in love and fidelity, continuing this love for a thousand generations'"
(Ex 34:6).
The OT speaks of
perfection in God's works: "How faultless are God's deeds,
how right all God's ways!" (Dt 32:4); in God's law: "The
law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul" (Ps 19:8).
When the God of holiness
chooses a people for God's self, this people becomes holy in its
turn; that is to say, separated from the profane, and consecrated.
At the same time, a demand for perfection is imposed on it.
Thus God said to Abram, "Walk in my presence and be blameless"
(Gen 17:1).
For animals offered in sacrifice,
it is required that they "be without blemish or defect"
(Lev 22:21); for priests, perfection is also necessary: "Those
who have any defect shall not come forward to offer up the food
of their God" (Lev 21:17-23).
Pious Jews sought after perfection in the blameless observation
of the Law: "Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk
in the Law the Lord" (Ps 119:1). Job was seen as an example
of such perfection: "There was a blameless and upright man
named Job, who feared God and avoided evil" (Job 1:1).
For the people of God to
have this perfection, they needed inner integrity: "Your heart
must be wholly devoted to the Lord, our God, observing God's statutes
and keeping the commandments" (1Kg 8:61). The prophets called
for this inner purity in place of external worship: "What do
I care for the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. . .
. Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from
before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice
your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the
widow" (Is 1:11, 16-17).
In the NT, the
Greek word for "perfect" is "telios."
It means complete, finished. A child becomes more complete
when she grows up into adulthood. But "telios"
also took on a moral and spiritual meaning: "So that you may
be perfect and fully assured in all the will of God" (Col 4:12).
In the NT, it was
noted that certain people had this kind of perfection: Zechariah
and Elizabeth "were righteous in the eyes of God, observing
all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly"
(Lk 1:6); and Simeon "was righteous and devout, awaiting the
consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him*"(Lk
2:25).
The NT, like the
prophets, placed greater emphasis on an internal perfection.
Paul criticized those who "in their unawareness of the righteousness
that comes from God and their attempt to establish their own [righteousness],
did not submit to the righteousness of God" (Rom 10:3).
In Jesus we find the model
of perfection. He is the "lamb without defect" (1Pt
1:19). He takes upon himself our sins, and for their remission
he pours out his blood: "Son though he was, he learned obedience
from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became
the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him" (Heb
5:8-9); "It was fitting that we should have such a high priest:
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the
heavens" (Heb 7:26); "For by one offering he has made
perfect forever those who are being consecrated" (Heb 10:14).
Perfection is found in humility.
Rather than seeking to excel by our own strength, we need to rely
on God's grace: "But the Lord said to me, 'My grace is sufficient
for you, for power is made perfect in weakness'" ( 2Cor 12:9).
The word addressed to the rich young man is noteworthy: "If
you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and come follow
me" (Mt 19:21).
Jesus taught that the highest
perfection is found in love. In the passage of Luke
parallel to Matthew 5:48, in place of "perfect"
we read "merciful," "Be merciful, just as your Father
is merciful" (Lk 6:36). In John we read: "There
is no greater love (more perfect love) than this, to lay down one's
life for one's friend" (Jn 15:13).
We are called to this perfection
of love: "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a
grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must
you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of
perfection" (Col 3:12-14).
Paul saw working for perfection
as central to his life: "It is not that I have already taken
hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue
my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been
taken possession of by Christ [Jesus]" (Phl 3:12). For
James, perseverance was also necessary to reaching perfection:
"Let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing" (Jm 1:4).
Paul spoke of "the
work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all
attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to
mature adulthood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ"
(Eph 4:12-13). "It is Christ whom we proclaim, admonishing
everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present
everyone perfect in Christ" (Col 1:28).
Enabling this perfection
in Christians was at the heart of Christ's mission: "Christ
loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might
present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish"
(Eph 5:25-27)
This is a mission to be
fully attained in the end time: "May the Lord make you increase
and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have
for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness
before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all
his holy ones" (1Ths 3:12-13).
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