Does God Expect You to be Perfect?

When I have asked this question where I preach, I always give a "trick question" disclaimer...and most everyone still gets it wrong. So I will ask you, Does God expect you to be perfect? Yes He does. I will even take it a step further...He DEMANDS that you be perfect! By God's very nature he does not allow sin in His presence. In the sermon on the mount Jesus commands His hearers, "therefore you are to be perfect because your heavenly Father is perfect." (Now, Hold on before you label me as self-righteous and arrogant and keep reading).

A problem comes to mind, we know we are not perfect. The Bible clearly acknowledges we, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."(Romans 3:23) So how can we say that God demands perfection? There needs to be a perspective change. When I think of perfection, I tend to think it is attained by my own doing or merit. If I achieve perfection in my Job, it is by my own discipline and attention to details. If I am flawless in my performance of a particular sport, it is a result of practice that one achieves perfection. It is easy to think that this is how perfection comes in our spiritual lives as well. It is not! We cannot attain moral or spiritual perfection by our own doing. We are human. Ephesians 2 tells us, "we are saved by Grace through faith and that not of ourselves it is the gift of God; not as a result of works!" Even if you were to reach a level of perfection from this point forward in your life, there are already imperfections and sin that have taken us away from God. 

So how then can we say that God expects us to be perfect? The answer is shown in scripture, God has provided the way to make us perfected through Christ! "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:14) It is by the blood of Jesus that we are perfected. Nothing more nothing less. After we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus now we are called to live a life for God  and no longer for the world. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 that he disciplines His body as an athlete does for a race so that he does not become disqualified. My encouragement to us is that we continue to strive to live conformed to the image of Christ! 

The blood of Jesus is the only way one can be perfected in the eyes of God. My question to you is have you been perfected by the blood of Jesus? If no, why not obey the Gospel of Jesus and become a new and living Creature being buried and raised with Christ in Baptism (Romans 6:2)? If yes, are you continually responding to the sacrifice that was made by becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ who has cleansed you with his bloodshed? 

Blessings,
Jeremy

"Encourage one another, build up one another."