Let us return for a while to Psalm 138:8a: “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me;” We could ask: How will He do it?” In Psalm 139:23-24, David cries: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Let us now look closer at the perfection of man. The first man, whom the Lord declared perfect, was Noah. We should understand why. Genesis 6:9 says: “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” Noah was called perfect “in his generations” and we can find his perfection in verse 22: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” THIS was Noah’s perfection, in his faith and the deeds of his faith. How deeply Noah loved God is another question, but Noah did all what God commanded him, which certainly points also to his trust in and obedience to God. To that depth and to that measure he was judged by God as perfect.
Another man, who was judged as perfect was Job. The Book of Job 1:1 says: “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright…” And in verse 8: “And the Lord said unto Satan: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil?” The same is repeated in chapter 2 and verse 3.
Nobody else in the Scripture is specifically called perfect, though there existed more perfect people. But if we, who are a part of the Church, are commanded by the Lord to be perfect, then He must have done something similar to Abraham, who was the beginning of Israel and of the Church. We are being called the seed of Abraham since everyone, who lives by faith, is the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). Well, it is so. Christ, before His incarnation, appeared unto Abraham and commanded him to be perfect saying: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him: I Am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be thou perfect” (Gen. 17:1). This is the very first time that God had ever introduced Himself to any human creature as “Almighty God“ and commanded that creature to be perfect!
The Lord commands Israel to be perfect (Deut. 18:13). It is so called “song of Moses” in which the Spirit of God through Moses speaks to Israel: “Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.” And in verse 15: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken.” Of course, this Prophet is Christ. Here, the Lord prophesies about Himself and commands Israel to be perfect.
The Church is also commanded to be perfect where Apostle Paul speaks to the church in Corinth: “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2Cor. 13:11)
For believers to be perfect is not an alternative of their free will, but it is a commandment! When Paul speaks to the church in Corinth “be perfect”, he speaks to the multitudes, to the virgins without number and tells them to be perfect – but NOT AS THE FATHER, which is in Heaven! Here is the difference in the degree of perfection, which the Lord demands from the church in Corinth as opposed to what He demands from His disciples or servants or from His Bride.
Paul also says: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory. Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Whereunto I also labor striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily” (Col. 1:27-29).
We can read in Gal. 4:19: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” If Christ is formed in anybody, it means, that that man is getting perfected! 2Tim. 3:16-17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Let us notice that this perfecting talks about deeds. Here we can see the difference where a man may be educated by useful learning, may be corrected, may be perfected and thoroughly furnished unto all “good works”… and in the meantime, he may not love the Lord as Apostle John did!
In Col. 4:12 we read: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the Will of God.” He labors in prayers, maybe even in intercessions, so that they might become perfect and remain perfect fulfilling the Will of God in everything. In 1Thes. 3:10 we read: “Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.”
Above, Paul tells the believers about the perfecting of their faith. It is a spiritual work – to pray exceedingly, fight in prayers in the Spirit, which means, to labor in the Spirit on behalf of someone else. This is the way in which the perfection of saints comes. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Hence, preaching, teaching, talk, discussion, sharing with one another is important since faith usually comes through such forms of ministry, when we talk about the Word of God. But it is through prayer, through the work in spirit that the individual is then brought to perfection so that the faith, which he received through such preaching, teaching, discussion, sharing, may not only stand, but be strengthened and perfected so the believer may use it. And by using it, the believer keeps receiving Life and that Life is equal to perfection because the Life of Christ contains perfection. It thus brings perfection to those that are receiving it.
I have a question for you: When the Lord Jesus was born, was He perfect? Yes or no? The reality is that the Lord Jesus was born IMPERFECT! He was made imperfect! I want to repeat this to the whole Church: The Lord Jesus Christ was made imperfect for our sake! In the same way as He was made sin for our sake, so He could save us (2Cor. 5:21). And equally I say, that Jesus Christ was for our sake made imperfect, so that He might learn obedience and thus be made perfect through suffering: “For it became Him, for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto Glory, to MAKE the Captain of their Salvation PERFECT through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). It is further written: “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience* by the things which He suffered. And being made PERFECT (through sufferings), He became the Author of eternal Salvation unto all them that obey Him” (Heb. 5:8,9)(*God-the-Son did not have to learn obedience, but the Son of Man had to!)
If, therefore, the Son of Man was made sin for our sake so that He might save us, and we are saved and enjoy our salvation, then it is one of the greatest teachings and truths of Christianity! And when He was similarly made imperfect for our sake, then the question of perfection and of the perfecting of the believers is not any less important for the believers than the question of their own salvation! Matthew 5:48 was never preached, nobody preached about the perfecting of believers because it simply goes far beyond our imagination and all our reasonings and if it brought anything into our hearts, then it was fear and chaos and not faith and Life.
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To be continued next week
brother Hanola
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