On Christian Perfection

 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48

            In my opinion, Christian perfection is a widely misrepresenting portion of doctrine, when represented at all.  If misrepresented, then often misunderstood.  I myself have some reservation while writing this.  However, the Word will lead us right.  If this short discourse should fail you, go to God’s Word for yourself.  You will find, the promise in His word is that we can be perfect.  This promise is grounded in His Word, and therefore reinforced by His power.  There can be no deviation from what the Word says about perfection, otherwise it is not perfection; hence the word perfection.

            God wants your heart.  If you read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8) you will find that Jesus speaks to issues deeper than the physical.  He calls for righteousness that goes deeper than just what your hand does, where your feet travel, and what your mouth speaks.  Jesus wants to reach down and change your intent, and your action.  Jesus begins His ministry with a sermon about the heart and ends his ministry with a sermon about the heart (John 14-17).  In this we find the battlefield for perfection, and the very thing God wishes to perfect.  It can be so easy to get wrapped up in this natural world.  Laboring and striving to perfect everything that we can see.  Striving towards a perfect home, perfect car, perfect appearance; perfect life.  This we will always fall short of, and even be tempted to fabricate.  Consider this, is God so concerned with perfection in this regard?  If your hair is too long or short, what does it matter on the scale of eternity?  If you have a little or a lot, what difference does it make to Him who has it all?  The promise of perfection is not for the outward man, but for the inward man.  Therefore, the perfection should not be sought for the outward man, but the inward man.  The perfection is in your heart; a perfect heart is a holy heart.  If I break my finger, my body is now less than perfect, but am I now condemned to hell because I am no longer perfect?  No.  There is no disobedience found in a broken finger.  Imperfection in God’s eyes is rooted in direct disobedience to God, or sin, and sin is rooted in carnality (the inbreed desire to sin against God).  Carnality is found in the heart of man, and it is that which needs to be eradicated by the Holy Ghost.  When the Holy Ghost comes in it will remove that want to sin and “sanctify” your heart to the service of God; manifesting in your life a “perfect” love for God, and a “perfect” love for man.  It is this love that brings: peace, joy, contentment, obedience, wisdom, and all the fullness and goodness of God; as John Wesley once wrote: “the doctrine of Christian Perfection can be summed up in one word, namely this, Love.” (Source: A Plain Account of Christian Perfection) This perfect love will produce a life that is intent on pleasing God, and not oneself.  A holy life.  Holiness is not a Catholic priest, or a secluded monk, holiness is the Spirit of God manifest in ordinary people.  It is that selfsame Spirit that purges the sinful heart and produces a holy heart, a perfect heart.  It is the power of God that brings perfection, not the will of man.  If we are to labor, it is to labor in the call to holiness.     

            God expects you to have a perfect heart, and he will help you get there.  When you repent of your sins and absolutely surrender yourself to Jesus Christ; repentance brings forgiveness, and surrender will beckon the fire of the Holy Ghost.  Inviting Jesus, in the person of the Holy Ghost, to come in and “take up his abode with you.”  By this very action God gives you a new heart that is conformed to the image of himself: holy, pure, clean……. perfect; and when he has your heart, he has you.