Perfection

In my devotional reading the other day, I came across this passage, from “God’s Way Day by Day,” By Charles F. Stanley:

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,” Hebrews 12:2

“You are a work in progress. God is molding and fashioning you into a person with whom He wants to live forever. Because of this, you have the hope that you are not going to be the same person tomorrow that you are today. If you are opening your life to God’s love, and you desire to have God’s love work in you and through you, then you are going to be more like Christ tomorrow than you are right now. Next week, you will be even more like Christ. Next year, you will be even more like Him. And so on.”

This really got the wheels in my mind spinning! On the one hand, I completely agree. I know that God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, transforms us, and I have seen much evidence of the kind of growth that Dr. Stanley is describing in my own life, as well as in the lives of almost every Christian that I know.

The apostle Paul puts it this way, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.” Phil 3:12, NLT. I can relate to this. I am a type-A personality. I want to be in control, and it is easy for me to set a goal and to work really hard to achieve it. Jesus even says, in Matthew 5:48, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” But when I read verses like these, it is so easy for me to assume that God started a work in making me perfect, and it is up to me to keep at it, as if to earn my own righteousness.

And herein lies the problem: I can’t do it! That revelation leads to feelings of failure and unworthiness and keeps me from seeking God’s presence. Like so many, I feel rejected, like I don’t measure up. But I am missing the point.

The apostle Paul tells us, “In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you,” (Col 3:10, NLT). Jesus starts the process, and He finishes it. We can’t do it. We can’t develop our own character, and we can’t achieve perfection through our own works! We need to come to Him and allow Him to make the changes, to mold us and shape us in His way.

And that leads me to the other “hand” that I referred to earlier. While we are so focused on the process of becoming more perfect and working for our own salvation, we miss the point that when we accept Jesus as our savior, we take on His perfection. Paul again tells us, “…by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy,” Hebrews 10:14, NIV. He has made us perfect but he is working on making us holy. “What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17, NLT). God sees Jesus when He looks at those that come to Him in Jesus’ name. Jesus said, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are—I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one….” John 17:22, 23, NLT.

So what are your thoughts on this renewal process? Do we actually grow up into Christ, or are we made perfect by accepting His sacrifice and taking on His perfection? Is our perfection even God’s goal in the first place? Can we expect to attain perfection through Christ this side of eternity? Does this line of reasoning come from our worldly perspective of trying to earn our salvation? Does it help you to know that Jesus accepts you where you are, but he doesn’t leave you there? Or does the idea of His changing you and helping you grow make you feel like maybe you will not be able to do it and leave you feeling helpless and rejected?