Reference: Perfection
Easton
See Sanctification.
Hastings
The various Biblical terms connoting 'perfection' differ in shade of meaning between wholeness, the attaining of an end or ideal, complete adjustment, full equipment in fitness for an appointed task. They are sparingly applied to God; In OT His way, work, knowledge, law are 'perfect' (Ps 18:30; De 32:4; Job 37:16; Ps 19:7); in NT the same term is used of His will, His gifts, His law (Ro 12:2; Jas 1:17,25), while Christ describes the Father in heaven as 'perfect,' and therefore as the source and pattern of moral ideals (Mt 5:48). The sense in which perfection is attributed to or urged upon men must naturally vary according to the moral conceptions of the time.
1. In OT.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
These [are] the generations of Noah. Noah [was] a righteous man, without defect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
When Abram [was] ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, "I [am] El-Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless
because I [am] Yahweh your God, and you must keep yourselves sanctified, so that you shall be holy, because I [am] holy. And you must not make yourselves unclean with any swarmer that moves along on the land,
"Speak to all the community of the {Israelites}, and say to them, 'You must be holy, because I, Yahweh your God, [am] holy.
The Rock, his work [is] perfect, for all his ways [are] just; [he is] a faithful God, and {without injustice}; righteous and upright [is] he.
Let your heart be completely with Yahweh our God by walking in his statutes, by keeping his commands as this day."
It happened at the time of Solomon's old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father [had been].
He walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father.
because David did right in the eyes of Yahweh and he didn't turn aside from all that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not with a fully-devoted heart.
[There] was a man in the land of Uz whose name [was] Job. That man was blameless and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil.
So Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you {considered} my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth--a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil."
{So} he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Do you know about the hovering of the clouds, {the marvelous works of the one with perfect knowledge}?
To [the] loyal you show yourself loyal. To [the] blameless you show yourself blameless.
This God--his way [is] blameless. The word of Yahweh [is] flawless. He [is] a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
The law of Yahweh [is] perfect, reviving life. The testimony of Yahweh [is] firm, making wise [the] simple.
Also, keep back your servant from arrogant [sins]; let them not rule over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Yahweh knows [the] days of [the] blameless, and their inheritance will be forever.
For those who are upright will dwell [in the] land, and those who are blameless will remain in it.
The righteousness of the blameless will keep his ways straight, but the wicked will fall by his wickedness.
"Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy [them] but to fulfill [them]. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all takes place. read more. Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps [them] and teaches [them], this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness greatly surpasses [that] of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it was said to the {people of old}, 'Do not commit murder,' and 'whoever commits murder will be subject to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry at his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Stupid fool!' will be subject to the council, and whoever says, 'Obstinate fool!' will be subject to fiery hell. Therefore if you present your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and first go be reconciled to your brother, and then come [and] present your gift. {Settle the case quickly with your accuser} while you are with him on the way, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will never come out of there until you have paid back the last penny! "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw [it] from you! For it is better for you that one of your members be destroyed than your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw [it] from you! For it is better for you that one of your limbs be destroyed than your whole body go into hell. "And it was said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for a matter of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. "Again you have heard that it was said to the {people of old}, 'Do not swear falsely, but fulfill your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, because it is the throne of God, or by the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king. And do not swear by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. But let your statement be 'Yes, yes; no, no,' and anything beyond these is from the evil one. "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer, but whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. And the one who wants to go to court with you and take your tunic, {let him have} your outer garment also. And whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'Hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors also do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is remarkable? Do not the Gentiles also do the same? Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Therefore [in] all [things], whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.
Then Peter came up to him [and] said, "Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven!
Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me."
And [as] he was setting out on [his] way, one [individual] ran up and knelt down before him [and] asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do so that I will inherit eternal life?" So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one [is] good except God alone. read more. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one [thing]: Go, sell all that you have, and give [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me." But he looked gloomy at the statement [and] went away sorrowful, {because he had} many possessions. And Jesus looked around [and] said to his disciples, "How {difficult it is for} those who possess wealth to enter into the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were astounded at his words. But Jesus answered [and] said to them again, "Children, how difficult it is to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier [for] a camel to go through the eye of a needle than [for] a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God." And they were very astounded, saying to one another, "And who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them [and] said, "With human beings [it is] impossible, but not with God. For all [things] [are] possible with God." Peter began to say to him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields on account of me and on account of the gospel {who will not} receive a hundred times as much now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, together with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life. But many [who are] first will be last, and the last first."
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, "Good Teacher, [by] doing what will I inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one [is] good except God alone. read more. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" And he said, "All these I have observed from my youth." And [when he] heard [this], Jesus said to him, "{You still lack one thing}: Sell all that you have, and distribute [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me." But [when he] heard these [things] he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy. And Jesus took notice of him [and] said, "How {difficult it is for} those who possess wealth to enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier [for] a camel to go through the eye of a needle than [for] a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God. So those who heard [this] said, "And who can be saved?" But he said, "[What is] impossible with men is possible with God." And Peter said, "Behold, we have left {all that is ours} [and] followed you." And he said to them, "Truly I say to you that there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children on account of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come, eternal life."
Because of this, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not charged to one's account [when there] is no law. read more. But death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who is to come. {But the gift is not like the trespass}, for if by the trespass of the one, the many died, by much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, multiply to the many. And the gift [is] not as through the one who sinned, for on the one hand, judgment from the one [sin] [led] to condemnation, but the gift, from many trespasses, [led] to justification. For if by the trespass of the one [man], death reigned through the one [man], much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. Consequently therefore, as through one trespass [came] condemnation to all people, so also through one righteous deed [came] justification of life to all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What therefore shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, in order that grace may increase? May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it? read more. Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live {a new way of life}. For if we have become identified with [him] in the likeness of his death, certainly also we will be [identified with him in the likeness] of [his] resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with [him], in order that the body of sin may be done away with, [that] we may no longer be enslaved to sin. For the one who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, knowing that Christ, [because he] has been raised from the dead, is going to die no more, death no longer being master over him. For that [death] he died, he died to sin once and never again, but that [life] he lives, he lives to God. So also you, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Wretched man [that] I [am]! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks [be] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh [I am enslaved] to the law of sin.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person {does not belong to him}.
And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what [is] the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God.
Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what [is] evil; be attached to what [is] good,
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves someone else has fulfilled the law. For the [commandments], "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet," and if [there is] any other commandment, are summed up in this statement: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." read more. Love does not commit evil against a neighbor. Therefore love [is the] fulfillment of the law. And [do] this [because you] know the time, that [it is] already the hour for you to wake up from sleep. For our salvation [is] nearer now than when we believed. The night is far gone, and the day has drawn near. Therefore let us throw off the deeds of darkness and put on the weapons of light. Let us live decently, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and do not make provision for the desires of the flesh.
Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same [thing] and there not be divisions among you, and that you be made complete in the same mind and with the same purpose.
Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but wisdom not of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing,
And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual [people], but as to fleshly [people], as to infants in Christ.
Brothers, do not become children in [your] understanding, but with respect to wickedness be as a child, and in [your] understanding be mature.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Now those {who belong to Christ} have crucified the flesh together with its feelings and its desires. If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.
On account of this, I bend my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, read more. that he may grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, [that] Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (you having been firmly rooted and established in love), in order that you may be strong enough to grasp together with all the saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to the one who is able to do beyond all measure more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that is at work in us,
Now to the one who is able to do beyond all measure more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that is at work in us,
being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; one body and one Spirit (just as also you were called with one hope of your calling), read more. one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
being darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance [that] is in them, because of the hardness of their heart,
Therefore become imitators of God, as beloved children,
convinced of this same [thing], that the one who began a good work in you will finish [it] until the day of Christ Jesus,
For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God.
Not that I have already received [this], or [have] already been made perfect, but I press on if indeed I may lay hold of [that] for which also I was laid hold of by Christ.
Therefore as many as [are] perfect, {let us hold this opinion}, and if you think anything differently, God will reveal this also to you.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be made known to all people. The Lord [is] near. read more. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever [things] are true, whatever [things are] honorable, whatever [things are] right, whatever [things are] pure, whatever [things are] pleasing, whatever [things are] commendable, if [there is] any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these [things]. And [the things] which you have learned and received and heard about and seen in me, practice these [things], and the God of peace will be with you.
I am able [to do] all [things] by the one who strengthens me.
[who] also made clear to us your love in the Spirit. Because of this also we, from the day we heard about [it], did not cease praying for you, and asking that you may be filled [with] the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual insight,
Because of this also we, from the day we heard about [it], did not cease praying for you, and asking that you may be filled [with] the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual insight, so that you may live in a manner worthy of the Lord, {to please [him] in all respects}, bearing fruit in every good deed and increasing in the knowledge of God, read more. enabled with all power, according to his glorious might, for all steadfastness and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you for a share of the inheritance of the saints in light, who has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred [us] to the kingdom of the Son {he loves}, in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, because all [things] in the heavens and on the earth were created by him, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers, all [things] were created through him and for him, and he himself is before all [things], and in him all [things] are held together, and he himself is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in everything, because he was well pleased [for] all the fullness to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all [things] to himself, [by] making peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And {although you were formerly alienated} and enemies in attitude, because of your evil deeds, but now you have been reconciled by {his physical body} through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you remain in the faith, established and steadfast and not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
whom we proclaim, [by] admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, in order that we may present every person mature in Christ,
And to all these [things] [add] love, which is [the] bond of perfection.
Epaphras, who is [one] of you, greets you, a slave of Christ always struggling on behalf of you in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
For it was fitting for him for whom [are] all [things] and through whom [are] all [things] in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the originator of their salvation through sufferings.
and being perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey him,
Concerning this {we have much to say and it is difficult to explain}, since you have become sluggish in hearing.
Therefore, leaving behind the elementary message about Christ, let us move on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God,
Thus if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of it the people received the law, what further need [is there] for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not said to be according to the order of Aaron? For [when] the priesthood changes, of necessity there is a change of the law also. read more. For the one about whom these [things] are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has officiated at the altar. For [it is] evident that our Lord is a descendant of Judah, a tribe [with reference] to which Moses said nothing concerning priests. And it is still more clear, if another priest according to the likeness of Melchizedek arises, who has become [a priest] not according to a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is testified, "You [are] a priest {forever} according to the order of Melchizedek." For on the one hand a preceding commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law [made] nothing perfect), but on the other hand [there is] the introduction of a better hope through which we draw near to God.
For the law appoints men [as] high priests who have weakness, but the statement of the oath, after the law, [appoints] a Son, who is made perfect {forever}.
which [was] a symbol for the present time, in which both the gifts and sacrifices which were offered were not able to perfect the worshiper with respect to the conscience,
For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.
[because] God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.
and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous [people] made perfect,
equip you with every good [thing] to do his will, carrying out in us [what is] pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] the glory {forever}. Amen.
And let endurance have [its] perfect effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of change.
But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues [to do it], not being a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts, this one will be blessed {in what he does}.
For we all stumble [in] many [ways]. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he [is] a perfect individual, able to hold in check his whole body also.
whom, [although you] have not seen, you love; in whom now you believe, [although you] do not see [him], and you rejoice greatly with joy inexpressible and full of glory,