Perfect in Christ

(Hebrews 10:11-14 – Perfect in Christ)

There are many Christians in the world, in fact most of them I would suggest, who do not believe you can be perfect. But that is not what the scripture says. In fact it says the very opposite of that. We are told that we not only need to be perfect, but we MUST be perfect if we are to come into the presence of God (See: Matthew 5:48).

But no man can make himself perfect. It is not possible for something that is imperfect to make itself perfect. The only way any imperfect thing can become perfect is through the intervention of one who knows what perfection is. And in the case of mankind, the only way we can be perfect is through the intervention of God, who gave His only Son to bring us to a place of perfection in Him.

Apart from Christ, no-one can become perfect. But in Christ through the grace of God and by faith we can become perfect in Christ. And as mentioned, we not only can, but we must be perfect.

You must be perfect in Christ

We are told in Matthew 5: 48 that we must be perfect. This is what it says:

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

It’s not just a desirable thing to have. We are told in no uncertain terms that we MUST be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Now this presents a challenge for all mankind. Mankind is imperfect and for the most part they do not know what it is to be perfect. People talk about different people as being a “perfect specimen,” usually with respect to their physical appearance, attributes, or skills. But that is not perfection in God’s eyes.

God does not see people as we look at ourselves. He looks into the heart. It is in the depths of our heart and who we are that God seeks perfection. It is in our spirits that we are to learn to be perfect.

The curse of imperfection

There is no other way to come into the eternal kingdom of God unless we are perfect as He originally intended when He first created mankind. Recall that Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden until they sinned. When that happened, the man and woman were thrust from the presence of God, kicked out of the Garden of Eden, and unable to return to walk in the presence of God again in the garden.

But God did not curse them to destruction. He condemned them to death and to die, but He did not curse them. Consider these words:

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:14-19)

Note that in verse 14, God cursed the serpent, that is, the devil who caused mankind to fall into sin. And again in verse 17 we see God cursed the ground, that is, the creation that God had made, and He subjected this Creation to futility. He subjected the Creation to wear out and decay.

But God did not curse mankind. He condemned mankind to death, and he condemned women to suffer great pain in childbirth, and condemned man to work to live, but God did not curse man. From the very beginning, even after the first sin occurred that led to death for all, God had a plan to return man to a state of perfection.

And we must be perfect if we are to live with God. We must be in that state of perfection in which God first created mankind.

What is perfection in Christ?

When it comes to being perfect in Christ, we need to understand a few things. What is it that makes man less than perfect? The answer to that is quite clear. It was evident from the scriptures above when God kicked man out of the garden.

The thing that prevents man from being perfect was and is sin. As the scripture says:

”…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Perfection is to be in the image of God and of Jesus Christ who are without sin. Sin separates us from the presence of God, so it becomes immediately apparent that to be perfect in God’s eyes is to be without sin.

What is sin?

The next point to understand and realise is to answer the question: What is sin? This is a both a more complex and at the same time simple thing to understand. It is complex for imperfect beings to do, but it is not complex to understand.

There are two things that are sin. The first is to break the laws of God as given to Moses. We see this defined in this scripture.

“Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)

This verse tells us that sin is lawlessness. Lawlessness is the rejection of and the breaking of the law, specifically, the law of God.

But what about all of those people who died before the giving of the law to Moses? Adam and Eve had one law they were required to keep, which was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When they did eat the fruit of that tree, they failed to keep the law and they broke it. Yes, they were tempted by the serpent, who is the devil, but they still broke God’s law. They sinned because they rejected the voice of God and chose instead to listen to the voice of the devil.

Those who came after Adam and Eve who did not have the laws of Moses and also did not have the same law that Adam and Eve were given also died because of sin. Their sins were of this second type. They rejected God and chose to do what was evil in His sight, and so paid the ultimate penalty.

These people were led by the passions, lusts and desires of their flesh and chose to follow those things rather than listen to God. And it is clear that God would and did help those who chose His ways rather than following the desires of the flesh. Consider Enoch, seven generations after Adam of whom it was testified that he walked with God. Enoch did not die but was taken by God straight into Paradise. Consider also the likes of Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Noah, and the other great men of faith in the Bible who lived prior to the law being given to Moses. All of these were attested as men of great faith who chose to follow God.

How to be perfect in Christ

So, coming back to the scripture under review today, we see that it is necessary to be perfect in Christ to come to God. This is what the scriptures say.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 then to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:11-14)

Under the law of Moses the people could receive forgiveness of sins by the blood offerings and animal sacrifices. A death had to occur to effect this forgiveness and the people were allowed to provide an animal in place of their own death.

But the offerings were only valid for the most recent sins. When the person went away and sinned again, another sacrifice was required. The offerings under the law were not perfect. And so as the scriptures here say, the priests had to stand at the altar day after day offering the same sacrifices for sin, but which could never take away the sins of the people.

Removing your sins to be Perfect in Christ

By contrast, Jesus came to take away sins, once and for all. As the scripture says in John 1:29,

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

Jesus did not come to just offer forgiveness for sins, but to take them away. He completely, utterly, and totally removed sin. And not just past sins, He also removed present and future sins. Think about it. If Jesus only removed past sins, then anyone who sinned after Jesus had died, and that’s you and I, would never be set free from sin. ALL sin has been removed.

Note also that the verse says He did not come to be repeatedly offered up day after day like those animal sacrifices. He came to die ONCE and only once to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. And we see in verse 14 in the above section that “…by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

He has perfected us and everyone else who comes to Him. We are perfect in Christ by receiving His sacrifice through faith, and by being baptised into Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, believing He died for our sins and was raised for our justification, or to be made righteous. And if we have no sin and God declares us righteous, then we are perfect in the sight of God.

But we only have this by faith. The next step in this process is important as we need to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit. The process of transformation to take control of the passions, lusts, and desires of the flesh that lead people to sin is a life-long journey. When it is complete, we will be perfect in Christ by faith, and by the transformation of our lives, having been perfectly changed into the image of Jesus Christ.

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