Perfection in the Bible can be confusing, if we don’t see a distinction between the perfection that is instant and complete, right now for the believer; and the perfection that is set as a goal ahead of us… a maturity that takes time and effort and diligence. A believer needs to know that he already has perfection now, in God’s eyes, in order to effectively attain the perfection that we’re to grow and mature into.
We have to be perfect to make it into heaven. God will not allow darkness to enter into His glorious light. God will not accept even a tiny bit of sin into His holy presence. When we each stand before the Lord in the day we pass from this earth, He will not weigh the good deeds against the bad deeds, and say, “OK, 60% good – 40% bad. You get a bronze crown, instead of gold… but come on in.” Not even 99.9% good – 0.1% bad will do. We must be perfect. We must BE the righteousness of God.
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might BE MADE the righteousness of God in him.” [2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV] That is perfect righteousness.
Our names do not get added to the Lamb’s book of life, after we’ve left this life, and God opens the books, and weighs the good against the bad. It must be written there BEFORE we go. Our name must be FOUND written there. “And whosoever was not FOUND written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” [Revelation 20:15 KJV]
Hebrews 10:14 says, “For by one offering he HATH perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” ‘Hath’ means it’s past tense… DONE. A little before that, Paul makes it clear who is sanctified, and when. “By the which will (God’s will) we ARE sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
[1 Corinthians 6:11 KJV] “…ye ARE washed, but ye ARE sanctified, but ye ARE justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
I’ll stop there, and get into the growth and maturity kind of perfection next. Still trying to keep these relatively short, which carries a risk that some readers will think I’m leaving out something important. (Scripture emphases in caps above are mine.) God’s Word is SO good!
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