21 Minutes
God, who is the perfect Master will have a perfect servant. We have seen a perfect servant...once. We should get instruction from him. Being made perfect may be being made to burn in fire, or hung up to the stars, or buried in the earth, or dragged through the sea. Or it may be showing faith enough to stand on truth for the elemental reason that truth is the truth and that's just the truth. We should rejoice in any price we might have to pay for perfection. Perfection must be an absolute certainty for Christ to speak it. Why would we put off being like Christ when God the Father Himself tells us to be holy?
I Peter 1:15, 16 Leviticus 20:7
Why we should be perfect...is the faith God gives us perfect...is the love God shares perfect...is our hope perfect...are God’s purposes perfect...His promises...does God possess all possible perfections...can perfect come of suffering. Hebrews 2:10
Our being made perfect is the counteracting of divine power through the Holy Spirit. It counteracts the tendencies of our sinful nature. Moment by moment trusting in Christ renders our bias to sin weaker and weaker. We will never claim sinless perfection. We are all painfully aware of our lives. In Christ we are brought into a right position to overcome. And we are for never, by even a thought, to come to believe that perfection leads to the conclusion that both Christ and the Holy Spirit are unnecessary even once this state of eradication of the sinful nature is reached. Christ is the life eternal. Being made perfect is an increase in dependence, an increase of repentance, and constant prayer for forgiveness.
Christ is our sole perfection, our sole righteousness. In this life we are capable of not sinning, capable of being good, capable of righteousness, but it is as we are all Christ’s. God cannot act wrongly. And Jesus recommends us to God. And here is the wonder in that; is it not a strange thing that the advanced believer, as we are made to reach to the very height of reverent reasoning, having fidelity to the very root of truth, just comes to the spot where Jesus commenced our eternal being? Do we not begin at the cross, and when we have climbed over so high in our learning of the spiritual ascriptions of God, that the clarity or intelligibility of perfection and righteousness, is it not at the cross that we come again and again for there is where is shown divine perfection? Here is where we resolve all tension. We stop trying to solve the mystery of how God makes us perfect, we begin to experience it. It was not the crown of thorns that showed him king...it was the crown of blood about his head. It was not the rusted spikes entering his body that held him to the cross, it was the unleashed light of life from the wounds that caused him to stay that we may have life. It was not the flow of the blood and the water from his side that proved his death, it was the flow of the many bodies of the saints which slept that appeared to many and the flow of the word of truth from the centurion; “truly this was the Son of God”.
This is the ground for our confidence in being made perfect. None can be made fit for this purpose except Christ be in them. Have you ever learned that elephants “sound” the ground they walk on? It is for their safety, it is for their direction, it is a way of listening with their feet. As we walk for God, we must sound the ground. It is not good enough just for us to see others take a path that ensures that path is the right way. We know that God’s word is sound footing. His covenant is the strenght of His promises.
Psalms 119:133 II Samuel 22:33, 34
We are in the court of divine inspection in order that it may there be proved that we may be made perfect. It is here that we bring our faith to God’s tribunal. And the terrors of God’s law are not loose. No transgression is hidden from view. We must stand silent in the perfectness of Jesus Christ as his blood speaks for us. Be not presumptuous in your faith. Thinking you are chosen when you have no evidence of it. Let not confidence lead to idleness, but to thoroughness in service to God. We must begin to have higher thought, elevated thinking, that we may realize our higher self and the revelation of Christ inside. Our right judgment and our spiritual wisdom must go beyond the perception, the knowledge of pretension. We are called to a more complete reliance on God and a more diligent level of study. We have a conscious acquaintance with the Source and a desire to express the wisdom of Spirit. The word, the truth, the promise of God says He will not forsake us in temptation; do we not know that with just as much presence He should be with us in communion with Christ and with others? It is our faith in the word that grants us access to God on the footing of perfection.
Hebrews 10:14
We are perfected through the blood of Jesus Christ as were the vessels sprinkled for service in the sanctuary. God can accept our worship. And now, whatever God uses us for, He uses us as a perfect instrument, regarding us as being perfect in Christ Jesus. Faith before perfection is a submitted humility. Faith embraces God’s sovereignty and all that is Christ...his suffering, his obedience, his love, his voluntary sacrifice, his heart and his mind, his offer of salvation and eternal life. The bible gives a specific reason for the ability to come to an understanding of biblical truth. The reason, that the bible gives, is that God’s Spirit leads one to the understanding of these truths. We must be the ground of truth. The term “ground of truth” conveys an essence of completeness. There is going to be a people of God who will be standing on the ground of truth. When we look at the “commandment keeping” people of God today, we see a disarray, a true disorder of beliefs. It is clear that the people do not represent a body that has received the promise of truth that we have just read, or the perfection that we have been looking into. So, what has happened? There are some in the body who receive what they ask for. Their pursuits have been to a large degree skewed in nature. These are interested in a more sensitive relationship with one another. Then there are those who have desired to have a greater “joy in the Lord”. These ask for what is in God’s will...the perfecting of His people. These have the desire to grow in truth. We declare our memento of duty. Let no events of the day override our duty of the day.
John 14:13-17
The text just read is a plain, dynamic, and wonderful promise for those who have a need to live for truth. By our conscientious care we perform our trust, in universal obedience to his commands; this is better than sacrifice, better than tears. With this relationship between our asking, the keeping of the commandments, and the indwelling of the spirit of truth, we are brought to the perfecting of truth. Why is this needed? As of now, the truth of a matter is not sufficient enough to motivate us in all that we do. We push truth aside for relations that border idolatry. Siding with another for the sake of need. Forced to feel a certain way or do certain things opposing truth when in a relationship. Friends of convenience, rather than a friend of truth, being in the same friend group. This is lacking the love of the truth.
Are you in spiritual relationships that promote questioning, decision making and a definite commitment to things proven true in all areas? Let’s stop for a moment, and consider our normal attitude in regards to valuing truth. We all know that the truth of a matter is not sufficient enough to motivate us in all that we do. This is borne out, as a regular occurrence, for all of us to one degree or another. Our popular health message is a prime example of our tendency to push truth aside. In this case, for convenience and taste. Worldly variations, as opposed to milestone viewing of important and significant events in the development or history of discovery and life’s progress in television viewing would also be an area of concern. As we look at our daily routine, we can easily see the concessions that are made to something other than a way that would reflect the true instructions of the Word of God.
Perfecting is doing everything possible to fulfill that command in the spirit of truth. The instruction is perfectly complete...be ye therefore perfect. How then are we able to grow into the stature of the person this is speaking about? We have to ask for it in faith, with a devout heartfelt desire - a desire that God knows is the truth. What should we be asking for? That every question that we could possibly have, be resolved with a perfect answer from God. We are not yet the bride of Christ. We must lay a true foundation. When God’s word gives evidence that we can use to make a decision, we have a responsibility to effectively use that evidence. By His spirit, we can reach for the calling and the perfection that is being offered to us. Without that reaching, and asking, we won’t come close.
It is becoming clearer and clearer who we really are. Being made perfect is a considerable subject in itself. Truth, plain and simply makes a point. The first fruit is only a total of 144,000 people, our calling is commanding, and beyond our present ability to really understand its greatness. This thing is clear. Because the number is that few, the perfection that God speaks of is well called for. To help qualify the possibility of that number we should notice that the “great multitude which no man could number”, has repented and been cleansed by the blood of Christ but have yet to receive “life as perfected” as we have.
Hebrews 11:39, 40
We are the callen chosen of unprecedented value. This may bring a new appreciation of the work being done in us, an understanding of the degree of righteousness that our Father is guiding us into. We will stand on the ground of truth. We will be made complete. When that will be, is the question that we are learning to resolve. Being made perfect is a higher calling than being made very good. The “very good” was designed to achieve God’s intended eternal purposes – to perfect us that we might be worthy. Being made perfect is the redemptive purpose to restore His intent, it is not a plan “B”. This path inoculates the faithful and true believers against defection from the faith. You cannot contend that it is impossible for a child of God to come to perfection in Christ. This mystery carries with it overtones of true conversion. With this faith comes rank, favor, and priviledge. God’s perfected are viewed in a separate class as spirits of just men made perfect. The “perfectedness” is not the result of human merit; the glory is to God yet certainly does not exclude our obedience to the Lord’s requirements. We are being brought to completion of the promised victory and there to abide in. Our trust is grounded in Jesus.
Being made perfect requires a faith greater than any fear. The fear of God is the only acceptable fear. This fear comes with wisdom, understanding. Enormously difficult, hurtful, harmful, high risk times will be the norm in the last of the last days. Very serious decisions will need to be made. We must be determined to live by faith, rather than in fear. Faith is grounded in truth; fear is grounded in misrepresentations. Fear is not wanting to hear every word of God. To have faith in God means to trust in His integrity. What kind of fear causes one to resist searching the word of God for truth? Unless we seek to serve God with our undivided affections, we will fail to perfect holiness in His fear.
SOP - The Lord has pledged His glorious perfection that those who seek Him with humility of heart, confessing their sins, will find Him precious to their souls. But those who refuse to obey, for fear of displeasing earthly friends, cannot be friends of God. {TDG 153.5}
What kind of perfection are we talking about in reference to God? Being made perfect has to do with knowing God and His ways spiritually. To do this means that we need to refuse to accept ungodlike thoughts and strive to express genuine, God-given qualities, such as love, forgiveness, and wisdom. As God’s goodness is reflected in our lives, it brings restoration to a likeness with God’s created intent. Our thoughts begin to with divine perfection. Through our prayer and study, we see more of spiritual reality and divine harmony. Matter loses its importance as we see its unreality and begin to understand the purpose of God with spiritual consciousness. We become aware of our spiritual identity. Being made perfect is not something that sounds good in theory. Perfection is obtainable because God has made divine provision for each of us to become perfect. It is the highest aim of what God, in His great power, can do for us. There are no degrees to perfection. It is not based on any type of measurement, but upon expressed, visible character virtues. And as far as being made perfect...you either are, or you’re not.
We realize how far from the perfection of Christ we really are. And we know that no amount of human effort can make us perfect as Christ is perfect. Our dilemma - we are commanded to strive for perfection while inhabiting a body incapable of achieving this perfection. We embrace this command just as we embrace the command to keep holy the Sabbath day because we are called to it by Christ. Perfection is the standard by which we examine our lives despite the knowledge that we are not yet complete. We strive for this perfection because in doing so we demonstrate our sincere faith in Jesus, godly perfection in human form. Because of this faith, therefore, God considers us perfect in His eyes now, while we await our transformation.
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