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
Do not imagine I have come to destroy the Law or the prophets; I have not come to destroy but to fulfil. (I tell you truly, till heaven and earth pass away not an iota, not a comma, will pass from the Law until it is all in force. read more. Therefore whoever relaxes a single one of these commands, were it even one of the least, and teaches men so, he will be ranked least in the Realm of heaven; but whoever obeys them and teaches them, he will be ranked great in the Realm of heaven.) For I tell you, unless your goodness excels that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the Realm of heaven. You have heard how the men of old were told, 'Murder not: whoever murders must come up for sentence, whoever maligns his brother must come before the San hedrin, whoever curses his brother must go to the fire of Gehenna.' But I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother [without cause] will be sentenced by God. So if you remember, even when offering your gift at the altar, that your brother has any grievance against you, leave your gift at the very altar and go away; first be reconciled to your brother, then come back and offer your gift. Be quick and make terms with your opponent, so long as you and he are on the way to court, in case he hands you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer, and you are thrown into prison; truly I tell you, you will never get out till you pay the last halfpenny of your debt. You have heard how it used to be said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, any one who even looks with lust at a woman has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye is a hindrance to you, pluck it out and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand is a hindrance to you, cut it off and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna. It used to be said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a divorce-certificate. But I tell you, anyone who divorces his wife for any reason except unchastity makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Once again, you have heard how the men of old were told, 'You must not forswear yourself but discharge your vows to the Lord'. But I tell you, you must not swear any oath, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, nor by earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'yes' or 'no'; whatever exceeds that springs from evil. You have heard the saying, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, you are not to resist an injury: whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well; whoever wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well; whoever forces you to go one mile, go two miles with him; give to the man who begs from you, and turn not away from him who wants to borrow. You have heard the saying, 'You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven: he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you get for that? do not the very taxgatherers do as much? and if you only salute your friends, what is special about that? do not the very pagans do as much? You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Well then, whatever you would like men to do to you, do just the same to them; that is the meaning of the Law and the prophets.
Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often is my brother to sin against me and be forgiven? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Seven times? I say, seventy times seven!
Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell your property, give the money to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me."
As he went out on the road a man ran up and knelt down before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit life eternal?" Jesus said to him, "Why call me 'good'? No one is good, no one but God. read more. You know the commands: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honour your father and mother." "Teacher," he said, "I have observed all these commands from my youth." Jesus looked at him and loved him. "There is one thing you want," he said; "go and sell all you have; give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, take up the cross, and follow me." But his face fell at that, and he went sadly away, for he had great possessions. Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have money to get into the Realm of God!" The disciples were amazed at what he said; so he repeated, "My sons, how difficult it is [for those who rely on money] to get into the Realm of God! It is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Realm of God." They were more astounded than ever; they said to themselves, "Then who ever can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For men it is impossible, but not for God: anything is possible for God." Peter began, "Well, we have left our all and followed you." Jesus said, "I tell you truly, no one has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who does not get a hundred times as much ??in this present world homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and lands, together with persecutions, and in the world to come life eternal. Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
Then a ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what am I to do to inherit life eternal?" Jesus said to him, "Why call me 'good'? No one is good, no one but God. read more. You know the commands: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour your father and mother." He said, "I have observed all these commands from my youth." When Jesus heard this he said to him, "You lack one thing more; sell all you have, distribute the money among the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me." But when he heard that, he was vexed, for he was extremely rich. So Jesus looked at him and said, "How difficult it is for those who have money to enter the Realm of God! Why, it is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Realm of God." His hearers said, "Then whoever can be saved?" He said, "What is impossible for men is possible for God." Peter said, "Well, we have left our homes and followed you!" He said to them, "I tell you truly, no one has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Realm of God, who does not receive ever so much more in this present world, and in the world to come life eternal."
Thus, then, sin came into the world by one man, and death came in by sin; and so death spread to all men, inasmuch as all men sinned. Sin was indeed in the world before the Law, but sin is never counted in the absence of law. read more. Nevertheless, from Adam to Moses death reigned even over those whose sins were not like Adam's transgression. Adam prefigured Him who was to come, but the gift is very different from the trespass. For while the rest of men died by the trespass of one man, the grace of God and the free gift which comes by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed far more richly upon the rest of men. Nor is the free gift like the effect of the one man's sin; for while the sentence ensuing on a single sin resulted in doom, the free gift ensuing on many trespasses issues in acquittal. For if the trespass of one man allowed death to reign through that one man, much more shall those who receive the overflowing grace and free gift of righteousness reign in life through One, through Jesus Christ. Well then, as one man's trespass issued in doom for all, so one man's act of redress issues in acquittal and life for all. Just as one man's disobedience made all the rest sinners, so one man's obedience will make all the rest righteous. Law slipped in to aggravate the trespass; sin increased, but grace surpassed it far, so that, while sin had reigned the reign of death, grace might also reign with a righteousness that ends in life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now what are we to infer from this? That we are to 'remain on in sin, so that there may be all the more grace'? Never! How can we live in sin any longer, when we died to sin? read more. Surely you know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death! Our baptism in his death made us share his burial, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live and move in the new sphere of Life. For if we have grown into him by a death like his, we shall grow into him by a resurrection like his, knowing as we do that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin (for once dead, a man is absolved from the claims of sin). We believe that as we have died with Christ we shall also live with him; for we know that Christ never dies after his resurrection from the dead ??death has no more hold over him; the death he died was for sin, once for all, but the life he lives is for God. So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Miserable wretch that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? God will! Thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord! [Move second part of this vers to follow vs 23] (Thus, left to myself, I serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.)
But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells within you. Anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.
Instead of being moulded to this world, have your mind renewed, and so be transformed in nature, able to make out what the will of God is, namely, what is good and acceptable to him and perfect.
Let your love be a real thing, with a loathing for evil and a bent for what is good.
Be in debt to no man ??apart from the debt of love one to another. He who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law. You must not commit adultery, you must not kill, you must not steal, you must not covet ??these and any other command are summed up in a single word, You must love your neighbour as yourself. read more. Love never wrongs a neighbour; that is why love is the fulfilment of the law. And then you know what this Crisis means, you know it is high time to waken up; for Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. It is far on in the night, the day is almost here; so let us drop the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of the light; let us live decorously as in the open light of day ??no revelry or bouts of drinking, no debauchery or sensuality, no quarrelling or jealousy. No, put on the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, and never think how to gratify the cravings of the flesh.
Brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ I beg of you all to drop these party-cries. There must be no cliques among you; you must regain your common temper and attitude.
We do discuss 'wisdom' with those who are mature; only it is not the wisdom of this world or of the dethroned Powers who rule this world,
But I could not discuss things with you, my brothers, as spiritual persons; I had to address you as worldlings, as mere babes in Christ.
Brothers, do not be children in the sphere of intelligence; in evil be mere infants, but be mature in your intelligence.
But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, good temper, kindliness, generosity, fidelity,
Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its emotions and passions. As we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit;
For this reason, then, I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name and nature, read more. praying Him out of the wealth of his glory to grant you a mighty increase of strength by his Spirit in the inner man. May Christ dwell in your hearts as you have faith! May you be so fixed and founded in love that you can grasp with all the saints what is the meaning of 'the Breadth,' 'the Length,' 'the Depth' and 'the Height,' by knowing the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge! May you be filled with the entire fulness of God! Now to him who by the action of his power within us can do all things, aye far more than we ever ask or imagine,
Now to him who by the action of his power within us can do all things, aye far more than we ever ask or imagine,
to preserve the unity of the Spirit by binding peace upon yourselves. For there is one Body and one Spirit ??as you were called for the one hope that belongs to your call ??5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
their intelligence is darkened, they are estranged from the life of God by the ignorance which their dulness of heart has produced in them ??19 men who have recklessly abandoned themselves to sensuality, with a lust for the business of impurity in every shape and form.
Copy God, then, as his beloved children,
of this I am confident, that he who has begun the good work in you will go on completing it until the day of Jesus Christ.
for it is God who in his goodwill enables you to will this and to achieve it.
Not that I have already attained this or am already perfect, but I press forward to appropriate it, because I have been appropriated myself by Christ Jesus.
For all those of our number who are mature, this must be the point of view; God will reveal that to any of you who look at things differently.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, 'rejoice.' Let your forbearance be known to everyone; the Lord is at hand. read more. Never be anxious, but always make your requests known to God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving; so shall God's peace, that surpasses all our dreams, keep guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, keep in mind whatever is true, whatever is worthy, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is attractive, whatever is high-toned, all excellence, all merit. Practise also what you have learned and received from me, what you heard me say and what you saw me do; then the God of peace will be with you.
In him who strengthens me I am able for anything.
and it is he who has informed us of your love in the Spirit. Hence, from the day we heard of it, we have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and insight,
Hence, from the day we heard of it, we have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and insight, so that you may lead a life that is worthy of the Lord and give him entire satisfaction. May you be fruitful and increase in the doing of all good, as you thus know God! read more. May his glorious might nerve you with full power to endure and to be patient cheerfully, whatever comes, thanking the Father who has qualified us to share the lot of the saints in the Light, rescuing us from the power of the Darkness and transferring us to the realm of his beloved Son! In him we enjoy our redemption, that is, the forgiveness of sins. He is the likeness of the unseen God, born first before all the creation ??16 for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him;
he is prior to all, and all coheres in him. Also, he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead ??that gives him pre-eminence over all. read more. For it was in him that the divine Fulness willed to settle without limit, and by him it willed to reconcile in his own person all on earth and in heaven alike, in a peace made by the blood of his cross. Once you were estranged yourselves, your hearts hostile to him in evildoing; but now he has reconciled you by dying in his mortal body, so as to set you consecrated and unblemished and irreproachable in his presence ??23 that is, if you adhere to the foundations and stability of the faith, instead of moving away from the hope you have learned in the gospel, that gospel which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I Paul was made a minister.
This is the Christ we proclaim; we train everyone and teach everyone the full scope of this knowledge, in order to set everyone before God mature in Christ;
And above all you must be loving, for love is the link of the perfect life.
Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, salutes you ??a servant of Christ Jesus who is always earnest in prayer for you, that you may stand firm like mature and convinced Christians, whatever be the will of God for you.
In bringing many sons to glory, it was befitting that He for whom and by whom the universe exists, should perfect the Pioneer of their salvation by suffering.
and by being thus perfected he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
On this point I have a great deal to say, which it is hard to make intelligible to you. For you have grown dull of hearing.
Let us pass on then to what is mature, leaving elementary Christian doctrine behind, instead of laying the foundation over again with repentance from dead works, with faith in God,
Further, if the Levitical priesthood had been the means of reaching perfection (for it was on the basis of that priesthood that the Law was enacted for the People), why was it still necessary for another sort of priest to emerge with the rank of Melchizedek, instead of simply with the rank of Aaron (for when the priesthood is changed, a change of law necessarily follows)? read more. He who is thus described belongs to another tribe, no member of which ever devoted himself to the altar; for it is evident that our Lord sprang from Judah, and Moses never mentioned priesthood in connexion with that tribe. This becomes all the more plain when another priest emerges resembling Melchizedek, one who has become a priest by the power of an indissoluble Life and not by the law of an external command; for the witness to him is, Thou art priest for ever, with the rank of Melchizedek. A previous command is set aside on account of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and there is introduced a better Hope, by means of which we can draw near to God.
For the Law appoints human beings in their weakness to the priesthood; but the word of the Oath appoints a Son who is made perfect for ever.
(which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper perfect,
For by a single offering he has made the sanctified perfect for all time.
God had something better in store for us; he would not have them perfected apart from us.
to the assembly of the first-born registered in heaven, to the God of all as judge, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
furnish you with everything for the doing of his will, creating in your lives by Jesus Christ what is acceptable in his own sight! To him be glory for ever and ever: Amen.
only, let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.
all we are given is good, and all our endowments are faultless, descending from above, from the Father of the heavenly lights, who knows no change of rising and setting, who casts no shadow on the earth.
Whereas he who gazes into the faultless law of freedom and remains in that position, proving himself to be no forgetful listener but an active agent, he will be blessed in his activity.
We all make many a slip, but whoever avoids slips of speech is a perfect man; he can bridle the whole of the body as well as the tongue.
You never knew him, but you love him; for the moment you do not see him, but you believe in him, and you will thrill with an unspeakable and glorious joy