Last night I woke at 4 A.M. and my thoughts were upon Christian perfection, chiefly in two things, in love and holiness and want to share my thoughts.
Perfected In Love
"But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him." (I John 2: 5)
"No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us." (I John 4: 12)
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." (I John 4: 18)
In these verses the words "perfected" or "made perfect" are from the Greek word "teleioō," a verb meaning "to make perfect, complete
to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end
to complete (perfect)," or to "add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full
to be found perfect
to bring to the end (goal)" and "proposed
to accomplish
bring to a close or fulfilment by event
of the prophecies of the scriptures." (Strong) Both the verb and the noun are the basis for English words like "telescope," "telephone," etc.
So, what does it mean to have love perfected? Who has such love among the saints? From the words of the apostle John we know that a person who has a spiritual divine love that is perfect is one who 1) is keeping God's word, and 2) is loving God's people (and not merely in word but in action), and 3) is free from tormenting and slavish fear.
A perfect love is not a childish immature affection, but a mature love that has no mixture of fear. Why would we fear those we love and know that they love us? If we fear God's wrath, we manifest that our love to him is not perfected, not full and complete. So, we should ever be seeking to love God and Christ more and more. So believers ever sing "I want to love him more." Further, there is always danger that our love for the Lord may grow cold. (See Matt. 24: 12) There is the danger that we may leave our "first love." (Rev. 2: 4) So, let us ever be examining ourselves in regard to this thing. Let us be always asking ourselves "how dwells the love of God in me?" So the apostle in this epistle asked this very question:
“But whoso hath this world's good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?” (I John 3: 17)
I like to think of mature love as what some call "companionate love," the love that one has with a marital companion after years of living together and experiencing life's joys and sorrows as one. I loved my wife when we first married thirty seven years ago, but my love for her today is more mature, more firm, more a privilege than a mere duty. So we are told by the apostle Paul "by love serve one another." (Gal. 5: 13) Perfect love is a love that is complete and cannot increase any more, for it has reached its fullness.
The divine love is fully and well described by the apostle Paul in these words:
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." (I Cor. 13: 4-8a)
Love has been completed and perfected when it fully obeys the word and law of the Lord, when it no longer is envious, condescending, egotistical, narcissistic, hedonistic, selfish, or sinful. It is perfect when it is as kind and longsuffering as God himself, when it rejoices only in truth and righteousness, and when it never fails or decreases. This being so, love is never fully perfected in this life, but is the goal to which we are striving, and the end to which we have been predestined as believers in Christ.
In closing my thoughts on love being perfected, I want to include some other scripture that additionally shows how love comes in degrees and how it is demonstrated in service and obedience.
As John said, the one who is keeping God's word is the one who has love perfected. To the degree we are disobeying the word of God, we are showing that our love for God is still lacking, is not perfect. Jesus also taught this when he said -
“If you love Me, keep My commandments...He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14: 15, 21)
To show that some love more than others, read the story about the time when Christ was in the home of Simon the Pharisee in Luke chapter seven.
“And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. “And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (Luke 7: 40-43, 47)
This shows that love may be little or strong in us. When love is perfected, it is superlative, has reached its greatest degree.
Perfecting Holiness
"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (II Cor. 7: 1)
The Greek word for "perfecting" is "epiteleō" which again has telos as the base word with the prefix "epi." It means "to bring to an end, accomplish, perfect, execute, complete."
So, how do we perfect holiness, that is, how do we complete our sanctification? From the text itself we see how it involves first of all a being cleansed from "all moral and spiritual filthiness of both flesh and spirit." When we will have had all sin and propensity to sin removed from our very being we will then be perfected in holiness. Until then we are to be striving towards perfect holiness.
Holiness involves being separate from what is sinful and unclean. It means to be set apart from other things so as to be special, peculiar or unique. This is what it means for God himself to be holy. Said the apostle Paul:
"For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness." (I Thess. 4: 7)
It is our vocation, our calling, our duty, to be striving towards greater holiness of character and life. Just as we are daily cleaning ourselves (taking baths or showers, washing our hands, etc.) so too we should be daily washing away our moral filth in pursuit of holiness. Cleansing is regularly available to us through the word of God (Psalm 119:9; Eph. 5: 26; etc.) and through the application of the blood of Christ via confession of sin (I John 1: 7-9). Further, becoming more holy involves becoming more godly, more righteous in our character and conduct. Wrote Paul:
"...slaves of righteousness for holiness...now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." (Rom. 6: 19, 22)
To the degree we are living righteously and are free from sin and disobedience we are holy. In this life we never reach sinless perfection. That will not become a fact of our existence till we leave this world and enter the next. It will be our confirmed state throughout eternity. Hallelujah!
In the following text we see how being perfected in both love and holiness are joined together. Wrote Paul:
"And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." (I Thess. 3: 12-13)
The words state several of the points I have been making in this homily. Notice also how the level or degree of holiness is connected with the degree of being blameless. Notice also how perfect holiness is looked to as a future reality and connected with the second coming of Christ and the time of the believer's glorification.
Perfecting = Accomplishing
"Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." (I Peter 5: 9)
In this verse the word "accomplished" is the same Greek word as in our text where the English word "perfecting" is used. It denotes a finished product or workmanship, a completed work. For the present life of a believer, he is a work in progress. God is accomplishing his work by making the believer more obedient and more like Christ. Often the afflictions that believers experience are meant to purify them, and to improve them. So Paul says "no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this." (I Thess. 3: 3) Why appointed? Is it not part of our training, a means to perfect us in holiness? The apostle Peter wrote in support of this thesis:
"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." (I Peter 5: 10)
One day all believers will be perfect, fully established in righteousness, and fully strengthened and settled, but while we live this life we are being worked upon by God our Potter.
The Process of Being Made Perfect
“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect (teleioō) in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (John 17: 23)
This was the prayer of our Lord for us as believers. He prayed that we be made perfect, that God finish his work in us, in we who are "his workmanship." (Eph. 2: 10) This leads us to say as did Isaiah - "For You have also done all our works in us." (Isa. 26: 12) The same thing is said by Paul in Hebrews.
"Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete (perfect kjv) in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." (Heb. 13: 20-21)
He also said to the Philippian believers:
"...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1: 6)
God is accomplishing his purpose to make us like Christ and that work is progressive and will be finished at the return of Christ.
Another verse that shows that growth in love and holiness is progressive and continuous is this:
"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping (perfecting KJV) of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—" (Eph. 4: 11-15)
Again "perfect" is from the Greek word teleios but is used as an adjective to describe the chosen people of God. While we are growing and maturing we are still advancing towards perfection. Again, Paul wrote:
"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3: 12)
For Paul, perfection was the goal, the end product. In this advancement towards perfection, Christ as a man is our example. Of him it is written:
"...though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him..." (Heb. 5: 8-9)
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