What is the meaning of perfection in the Bible?

This higher example is mentioned in the last verse of this paragraph, in which the Lord Jesus spoke of the false righteousness of the Pharisees and the more excellent practical righteousness of His true disciples. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." God is the perfect example of true love for one's enemies. As the heavenly Father He is not only our example in this but in all things. In the parallel reference in Luke 6:36 we read: "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful," and in 1 Peter 1:16 we find the reference to Leviticus 19:2: "Be ye holy; for I am holy." God is love and He is light (1 John 4:8, 16; 1:5). Mercy is an expression of love, and holiness is a characteristic of light. In our verse both are linked together in the words, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

The word "perfect" (Greek: teleios) in the Gospels only appears here and in chapter 19:21. It is stated of God in this verse in Matthew 5. It is no difficulty for the believer to see that God is perfect in every respect. But how can weak and by nature sinful men be as perfect as He is? The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us the wonderful fact that the Lord Jesus by one offering has perfected for ever every believer (Heb. 10:14). But this perfection which is based on the completed redemptive work of Christ is not talked about here. Neither is the perfection of growing faith considered (as we find it in 1 Corinthians 2:6 or in a different way in Philippians 3:15).

Therefore laying aside the word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to perfection" (Heb. 6:1). I have no doubt the apostle's expression "the beginning of Christ" alludes to Judaism as divinely set up, and Christ as the Messiah, the head and centre of it all; but Messiah, the head and centre, had been slain, and so Judaism was all over before God; and therefore he says you must leave the earthly thing, and go on to perfection, and by perfection in Hebrews he means Christ in heavenly glory. "Perfect" is used in several different ways in Scripture, and you must know the scope of the passage to understand how it is used in each one. Abraham, for example, is told to walk before God and be perfect, and his perfection was to be in absolute dependence on the God who had called him out to be a pilgrim. Israel's perfection again was to have nothing to do with idols — they were not perfect, they fell into idolatry. Our perfection in one way is to be always like our Father, always to show grace; for He makes His sun to rise upon the evil and upon the good (Matt. 5). Then in Philippians 3 we get perfect twice spoken of: first in verse 12, Paul says, "Not as though … I were already perfect," because perfect there means to be like Christ in glory, and Paul says, I am not there yet; but a few verses lower down, in verse 15, he says, "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect," there being perfect is as to the object, having the soul lifted to Christ where He now is in heaven; taken quite off from earth, and linked with Him where He is, and going on to conformity with Him there.

The disciples were exhorted to be perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect, for He sends His blessings on the evil and the good. Matt. 5:48. By one offering Christ hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. His work consecrates them for the priesthood, Heb. 10:14: cf. Col. 1:12. Being 'perfect' is also applied to being a 'full grown ' man. Eph. 4:13. The same word is translated 'of full age' in Heb. 5:14; and simply 'men' (of a ripe age) in 1 Cor. 14:20. The spirits of just men are made perfect. Heb. 12:23. Paul was not yet perfected, Phil. 3:12; yet in Phil. 3:15 he adds "as many as be perfect be thus minded." There are various applications of the term which can be gathered from the context of each occurrence, but in general it may be said to have reference either to the purging of conscience, which is indispensable to the service of God, or to intelligence of a true standard (dead and risen with Christ) as a necessity to testimony for Christ here.

The word perfection is employed with reference to the three great revelations of God. For He made Himself known to Abraham as "the Almighty," to the Jews as "the Lord [Jehovah]," and to Christians as "the Father." God said to Abraham, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. 17:1); which means, that he was to walk before God, always confiding in His almighty power. Abraham did not so, he failed in this respect; for he told a lie (Gen. 20:2), precisely because he did not confide in God's almighty power. Here, again, the passage has no reference to the sin which had descended to Abraham by nature; but it has to do with his acting in full confidence in the almighty power of God. In point of fact, Abraham still had sin, and therefore had a fall. It is said to the Israelites, "Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord [Jehovah] thy God," Deut. 18:13. Now this referred to their not imitating the abominations of the Canaanites in their idolatries; and not at all to the state of purification from all sin of this or that Israelite. The contrary is so true, that in the same book (Deut. 29:4) Moses tells them, "Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day." It referred, therefore, solely to their faithfulness towards God in rejecting every species of idolatry.

Perfection is simply, as used in respect of man, being of full growth, neither more nor less in Greek. It is the word used in Hebrews 5, "them that are of full age," and referred to in Hebrews 6: I. The question is, what is the perfection held out to us in the New Testament?

For the term "perfection," and that as applied to Christians, there is scripture, of course. The devil, in deceiving the people of God, will always, if he can, use scripture to accomplish his object. But the term there does not mean what in the dialect of the "higher life" it is made to mean. Take one of the strongest texts used, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" — the context shows decisively what is meant. We speak of a thing as perfect which has all its parts, without at all regarding the finish of its parts. So the Lord tells us that as children we must resemble our Father, and for this exhibit all the features of our Father's character. We must not only love those who love us, but as He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends His rain on the just and on the unjust, we must exhibit this feature of His character also: "Love your enemies, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 5:44-45.)

"Perfection" is also used for the mature Christian condition, as a glance at the margin of Heb. 5:14 will show. The term there — "of full age" — is in the margin rendered "perfect," just as in 1 Cor. 14:20, "be men" is in the margin rendered "be perfect," or "of a ripe age." It is used thus with two applications: in Hebrews, Christianity itself is perfection, or maturity, in contrast with Judaism, which was a state of childhood. But again, among Christians there are those perfect, or mature, in contrast with being babes; and the apostle Paul, in the third of Philippians, in which he disclaims the having attained, or being already perfect, (as a consummation which he would not reach until with Christ in glory,) classes himself immediately after among those who had in another sense "attained:" Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded."

Verses 47, 48. There ought to be a maturity about us to better show out that family character. There is no such thought here as sinless perfection. The context must always show the meaning of "perfect." God says to Abraham, "I am El Shaddai" — the all-sufficient One; all resources are in Me; now use them and be perfect. Paul says, "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect," there it is in contrast with a babe. The Lord Jesus says, "I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." Here He means resurrection. And it is used of us too — that they without us should not be made perfect that is, perfected in resurrection. In Phil. 3:12-15 the word is used in two senses. "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after," etc., i.e., he would not be perfect till he reached the Lord in glory. "Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded."

There are few thoughtful students of the New Testament who have not, at some time or another, felt a little perplexed as to the real force and application of the word "perfect," which is of frequent occurrence. This word is used in such a variety of connections that it is deeply important we should be clear as to what the Holy Ghost means by it in each particular case. We believe the context will, generally speaking, guide as to a right understanding of the just sense and application of the word in any given passage.

In considering the subject of Christian perfection, it might seem sufficient to say that the believer is perfect in a risen Christ: "Complete in Him which is the head of all principality and power." This, surely, comprehends everything. Nothing can be added to the completeness which we have in Christ. All this is blessedly true; but does it not still hold good that the inspired writers use the word "perfect" in various ways? And is it not important that we should understand the sense in which the word is used? This, we presume, will hardly be questioned. We cannot suppose for a moment that any thoughtful reader of Scripture would be satisfied to dismiss the matter without prayerfully seeking to understand the exact force and just application of the word in each particular passage in which it occurs. It is plain that the word "perfect" in Heb. 9:9 is not applied in the same way as it is in Phil. 3:15. And is it not right — is it not profitable — is it not due to our own souls and to the sacred volume — to seek, through grace, to understand the difference? For our part, we cannot question it; and in this confidence we can happily pursue our examination of the subject of Christian perfection by calling the reader's attention, in the third place, to perfection in the principle of our walk.

This is unfolded to us in Matt. 5:48: "Be ye therefore perfect (teleioi), even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." "How," it may be asked, "can we be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven? How can we reach to such an elevated point as this? How can we attain to so lofty a standard? We can understand our being perfect as to the conscience, inasmuch as this perfection is based upon what Christ has done for us. And we can also understand our being perfect as to the object of the heart, inasmuch as this perfection is based upon what Christ is to us. But to be perfect as our Father in Heaven seems entirely beyond us.”

A word on the expression "make [you] perfect." There are various senses, as we know, in which perfection is spoken of in the New Testament. There is perfection of standing, which is absolute, and the same for the humblest believer as for the apostle Paul, there is the sinless perfection that cannot obtain while we are here below, and there is at least one other perfection, that of full growth, which would seem to be alluded to in the passage we are considering. But the term perfect (teleios) or "full-grown," is really not used in our text. "Make perfect" is here but one word, and might be rendered "adjust." For that is the literal force of the word, shading off, as here, to the idea of makincY complete or perfect. The same word is found in Gal. 6:1, where it is rightly rendered "restore" (see Authorised and Revised Versions, and also J.N.D.'s). There is implied, as one has said, the supplying of whatever has been defective, the repairing of whatever has been decayed. And all this, of course, for the paramount reason that God's will must be accomplished in His children.