1. I want to speak on a very important subject. It is a subject that is misunderstood by many Christians. It is actually ignored by most Christians.
2. I am speaking about the subject of Christian perfection. Second Corinthians 13:9 says, "and this also we wish, even your perfection."
3. Verse 11 says, "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect."
4. Our Lord said in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
5. This is a command from our Lord -- "Be ye therefore perfect..." God does not give us commands that are impossible or unattainable.
6. Perfection is not the same as "sinless." The Bible does not teach sinless perfection. The Bible teaches us that we have a perfect Saviour who provides us with a perfect salvation, and this salvation includes salvation from sin.
7. The Scriptures command perfection; and the Scriptures promise perfection.
8. James 1:4 says, "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing..."
9. In I Corinthians 2:6, the apostle Paul says, "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect."
10. "Them that are perfect" -- not, "them that will be perfect."
11. The Holy Spirit speaking through Paul acknowledges some are already "perfect."
12. Some think perfection will not be possible this side of heaven. But I Peter 5:10 says, "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." This is speaking of right here and now, not heaven.
13. The Scriptures command perfection; and the Scriptures promise perfection; and the Scriptures give many examples of perfection.
14. Genesis 6:9 says, "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."
15. Job 1:8 says, "And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?"
16. "Perfect" does not mean "sinless," because no one can be sinless this side of heaven, except of course the Lord Jesus Christ, whom is God.
17. Noah was said to be perfect but Noah was not sinless. For example, Noah got drunk.
18. Perfection is the Christian ideal and aim. The great Baptist preacher, A.J. Gordon, said: "I would rather aim at perfection and fall short of it, than aim at imperfection and fully attain it."
19. The apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:12, "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." This was Paul's goal. He "pressed toward the mark" (Phil. 3:14). Is this your goal?
20. My message this morning is entitled, "What is Christian perfection?"

I. THE MEANING OF PERFECTION

1. First, we must distinguish between absolute and relative perfection. Absolute perfection is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. John Wesley said, "Christian perfection is not absolute. Absolute perfection belongs not to man, nor to angels, but to God alone."
3. Samuel Chadwick said, "All perfection is relative except for the perfection of God. Christian perfection does not indicate finality but fitness." That word "fitness" should be noted.
4. By "fitness," Chadwick is giving a good Biblical definition of "perfect." God is making us fit to do His will.
5. Strong's Concordance says "perfect" means, "to make fit, to complete, to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair, to arrange, to adjust, to equip, to put in order."
6. Chadwick says the word "perfect" means, "to arrange and equip so as to secure effectiveness and efficiency for the result to be achieved."
7. In Matthew 4:21 we read that our Lord saw two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.
8. The Greek word for "mending" is the same Greek word that is translated perfect in II Corinthians 13:11, "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect."
9. The nets must be made ?t for their purpose, just as Christians must be made fit for their purpose. The fisherman has no difficulty in understanding perfection as applied to his fishing nets. They must be made ?t for their purpose.
10. In like manner, Christians are to be ?t for their purpose, and their purpose is to glorify God.
11. Second Chronicles 25:2 says King Amaziah "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart."
12. His righteousness fell short of God's standard of perfection, and the deficiency arose from a lack of moral and spiritual qualities. His heart was divided.
13. There are many Christians like that! One day they are up, then the next day they're down. They certainly are not perfect church members!
14. One day they are reading their Bible, but then the rest of the week the Bible sits on the shelf. One day they will pray earnestly, but the next day they are prayerless.
15. Hosea 10:2 says, "Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty."
16. James 1:8 says, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
17. First Kings 8:61 says, "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day."
18. Therefore, perfection involves obedience -- "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments..."

II. THE ELEMENTS OF PERFECTION

1. No one preached more about Christian perfection than the great evangelist John Wesley. John Wesley said, "I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn." I admire preachers like that!
2. And while I do not agree with everything John Wesley taught, I do appreciate his emphasis on deliverance from both the penalty of sin and the power of sin.
3. Wesley said, "We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith...Do not forget strongly and explicitly to urge believers to 'go on to perfection.' When this is constantly and earnestly done, the Word is always clothed with power ... Till you press the believers to expect full salvation now, you must not look for any revival." Wesley had the right emphasis, and Wesley saw great revivals.
4. John Wesley was the leading preacher during the First Great Awakening that swept through the American Colonies during the first half of the 18th Century.
5. By "full salvation," Wesley meant salvation not only from the penalty of sin, but salvation from the power of sin.
6. Referring to I John 4:18 -- "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love" -- Wesley said Christian perfection is "perfect love."
7. Wesley said, “Pure love alone reigning in the heart and life, this is the whole of Christian perfection.”
8. Colossians 3:14 says, "And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness."
9. Therefore, if love is the bond of perfection, we could say love is the most important element of Christian perfection. Our Lord said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).
10. Not only is there perfect love, but there is also "perfect faith." James 2:22 refers to the perfect faith of Abraham. Romans 4 and Hebrews 11 describe the perfect faith of Abraham.

III. THE NECESSITY OF PERFECTION

1. The Bible teaches that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 3:16 says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
2. First Corinthians 6:19 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
3. Christian perfection is the sancti?cation and adjustment of man’s nature in order that he may be a ?t temple for the Holy Spirit.
4. Remember, "perfect" means, "to make fit, to arrange, to adjust, to equip, to put in order."
5. Therefore, perfection makes us fit for a life of holiness and service.
6. Since the Christian life has to be lived in this present evil world, this perfection is for present experience and work.
7. In other words, perfection is not final; it is initiatory.
8. Like sanctification, perfection is essentially progressive and gradual. Hebrews 6:1 says, "Let us go on unto perfection."
9. You may pick up a beautiful baby and say, "What a perfect baby!" You admire this "perfect baby," but you hope and pray that he will mature into a perfect Christian young man. You should pray that the child will "go on unto perfection."
10. That is how godly Epaphras prayed. Paul wrote to the Christians in the church at Colosse, "Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God" (Col. 4:12).
11. Let us pray like that! Remember, perfection is the Christian ideal and aim. The apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:12, "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."
12. This was Paul's goal. He "pressed toward the mark" (Phil. 3:14).
13. Then in Philippians 3:15 Paul says, "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded..." "As many as be perfect..."
14. There is no contradiction. There is a distinction between absolute and relative perfection. In Philippians 3:12, Paul is speaking of final perfection -- "not as though I...were already perfect."
15. Then in verse 15, Paul is speaking of the perfection of the intermediate stage. For example, the way you may look at a baby and say, "What a perfect baby!" because for his age and stage of development that baby is perfect.
16. It is relative perfection, not absolute perfection.
17. This is what our Lord means when He says in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect."
18. Our Lord does not mean that we are expected to attain Divine perfection; but that we are to be perfect in our development as Christians -- "no lingering, no loitering, no lagging behind" (Guy King). Perfect in our motives in wanting to live for God.
19. No slacking off, no goofing off, no backsliding, etc.
20. And this is why the Lord says to you and me, "Be perfect" (II Cor. 13:11).

CONCLUSION:

1. I read about a yardstick that was made in London out of platinum. It was designed to be used as the standard for the British government. It took them ten years to make this yardstick, and they said they will be examining it every ten years to make sure it’s still perfect.
2. They say if it ever varies by one millionth of an inch, they will reject it and make a brand new one.
3. God has a perfect yardstick, and He will never need to make a new one.
4. God has a perfect yardstick, and it is not off even by a millionth of an inch or a billionth of an inch. The Bible is the perfect Word of God.
5. Second Timothy 3:16 and 17 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be perfect<, throughly furnished unto all good works."