Christian Perfection

Early on in my faith journey I was fortunate to have many good Christian men and women come alongside me and help me become more of the man God wanted me to be. I found out quickly that Christians were not perfect, they were just people who loved Jesus and wanted to follow Him. This made a huge impact on me and quite frankly took a lot of pressure off of me as I tried to become the man He has called me to be rather than trying to be perfect.

Then one day I came across the Methodist doctrine of Entire Sanctification or what many refer to as Christian Perfection. I was shocked and confused when I first heard of this because only Jesus was sinless and perfect. What I didn’t understand was what exactly Christian Perfection was all about. I want you to know that today you can “Be perfect…as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 NIV)

Webster defines sanctification as “the action or process of being freed from sin or purified”. Sanctification is a process. For instance, the moment you gave your life to Jesus you were forgiven for your sins and became a new creature in Christ, but not a finished product. You still need to keep working to be purified to live the life God intends you to live. John Wesley called this lifelong process becoming "perfected in love."

In Matthew 22:36 Jesus was asked by some religious leaders “which is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-38). Has there ever been a time, even for a brief moment where you loved God with all of your heart? Perhaps during a worship service or during prayer, or maybe there was a time when God simply gave you peace in a hectic situation? Has there ever been a time when you loved someone else more than you loved yourself? Maybe the first time you looked into your child’s eyes, or the love you felt for your spouse on your wedding day. If the answer is yes then you have been perfect, even if only for a moment.

Our job now until the day we leave this world is to make those moments become more frequent and last longer to the point where we become perfect in love just like Jesus. Christian perfection is NOT absolute purity, angelic behavior, sinless conduct, flawless performance, being a superior Christian, or immunity from life’s problems. You and I may not be perfect now but with dedication to living our lives as much like Christ as possible, and through God’s sanctifying grace, we will move on to perfection.

Peace be with you!