Catching Up in Perfection

"The former way of doing things, a system of commandments that were weak & useless, was set aside because the law never made anything perfect. God has brought in a better hope, through which we draw near to God" (Hebrews 7:18-19).
"The sacrifice of Christ makes those who draw near to God perfect" (Hebrews 10:1).

The Law made nothing perfect but Christ does!

"By one offering Jesus has perfected forever those who are made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).
"The spirits of righteous men have been made perfect" (Hebrews 12:22-23).

Another accurate translation of the word "perfect" is "complete." The word "saved" can be translated as "made whole." Thus when you are saved you are complete, you are made whole, you are perfect forever. "The Lord's work is perfect" (Deuteronomy 32:4). You are His work (Ephesians 2:10).

"The blood of Christ can purify our consciousness of dead works so we can worship the living God" (Hebrews 9:14).
"God is able to make His worshipers perfect in their consciousness" (Hebrews 9:9).
"The sacrifice of Christ has purified us one time for all time thus our consciousness of sin & feelings of guilt can disappear forever" (Hebrews 10:2).
"Our evil consciences have been removed by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. We are clean. Let us draw near to Him with true hearts that are fully confident by trusting in Him" (Hebrews 10:22).
"A clear conscience depends on our knowledge of God’s grace & love for us, not on our own fleshly wisdom. It brings pure motives and godly sincerity to all of our behavior" (2 Corinthians 1:12).

"Your beauty is perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God (Ezekiel 16:14).

These are Jesus' words to the parts of His body which is His bride, the Assembly, "You are so beautiful, my beloved, so perfect in every part." (Song of Songs 4:7)

Here is a song I made in 2007 with the same title as this post.

Being A New Man

Our spirit is born of God thus making us children of God. The new creation we are in Christ is our spirit, obviously we still have our old bodies. "The new creation has been created in God’s image. It is righteous and holy" (Ephesians 4:24). Our spirit is born of God and is sinless and perfect.
    "No one who is born of God sins." (1 John 5:18)
    "By one offering He has perfected for all time those who are saints" (Hebrews 10:14).
   
"Because Christ died for all we no longer regard anyone according to the flesh" (2 Corinthians 5:16). We are to identify ourselves by our spirit. Thus we "put off the old man," no longer identify with him thus serving the flesh and "put on the new man," regard ourselves as we really are in the spirit as righteous, holy, sinless, perfect, & much more.

Romans 6:6 says, "Our old man is crucified with Jesus." The old man is already dead and gone so "putting off the old man" is putting him off of our mind. "Putting on the new man" is putting him on our mind and all the goodness that God has created in him.

To walk in the spirit is to walk according to the truth about your new spirit. You allow God to renew your mind so it will trust in the truth of who your Father has made you. A Child of God doesn't strive to win but rests in the victory of their loving Father and their older brother Jesus.

Be Perfect Like You? Are You Serious God?

In Matthew 5:48 Jesus says, "You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Today we can understand Matthew 5:48 at least these three ways:

Perfection is Not by Performance
Perfection does not come by behavior. When we assume that our behavior is the manner in which we attain any spiritual thing we miss what Christ has done for us.

Jesus taught the law before His death to reveal the desperate need for Himself and His coming sacrifice so people would be ready to trust His sacrifice. It is impossible for us to keep God's old covenant laws. Jesus said "be perfect" to make that evident to the people of His time who felt they could keep the law fully. "Be perfect as God is perfect" is the ultimate "I can't do that." Jesus was making it evident to people's hearts that righteousness could not be attained by adherence to the law (behavior). Instead of outright saying this Jesus wisely allowed the people time to discern this in their own hearts.

We are Perfect in Our Process
We don't expect children to be as mature as adults. In keeping with your development in Christ God can look at you as perfect in the place you are in your life. God isn't stupid. He knows you fully and He doesn't expect you to be able to do or be more than you are today. God is satisfied with you.

We are Perfected by The Prince of Peace
Only a child of the Father can be perfect like the Father. When you are born again, by trusting Jesus, you are perfected in Christ. "By one offering He has perfected for all time those who are made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).

All of God's children are "made holy." They are all called "saints" which means "holy ones." When we first trust Jesus we are perfected for all time, thus He makes us perfect as the Father is perfect. So this perfection is not something we strive to attain but rather what Christ has already attained for us & gives to us at salvation.

We can actually see that, as His child, it is impossible to not be perfect in God's eyes! And that from two different considerations of what "perfect" can be. When we trust Jesus for our perfection rather than our performance we experience the abundant life Jesus talked about. The Christian never has to try to become. The Christian simply trusts that they already are because of what Jesus Christ has done.