Perfection and perseverance are at the heart of today's discussion. I explore the biblical command to "be perfect" as stated in Matthew 5:48, emphasizing that this call is not an unattainable standard but a journey toward completeness in Christ. Drawing insights from C.S. Lewis, I highlight that this process is often lengthy and can be painful, yet it is essential for spiritual growth. We also reflect on the importance of resilience, using scripture to remind us that falling short is part of the journey, and God's grace is always available to help us rise again. Join me as we consider how to embrace this path of becoming more like Jesus through perseverance and faith.
Takeaways:
Perfection in our spiritual journey is a command, not just an ideal we strive for.
Understanding biblical perfection means being complete and maturing into the likeness of Jesus.
Our spiritual growth will involve struggles, but we must persevere despite setbacks and weariness.
God's grace ensures that our efforts and struggles in faith are never in vain or wasted.
We are encouraged to remove the weights and sins that hinder our progress in our faith journey.
Living a life worthy of the gospel requires daily effort and reflection on our actions as believers.
Welcome to the Hobo Soul podcast of Road Advice from the Bible and from me, Yvon Prehn, someone who's a little further down the road of life. I'll talk to you every Tuesday and Thursday for about 10 minutes.
And if you'd like more in depth information on walking with Jesus, you can find that at my www.bible805.com website. For now, let's get started on our topic for today, which is
Episode number 73 On perfection and perseverance
Our verse for today is Matthew 5:48 where it says be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And then CS Lewis had a quote on this verse where he says in Mere Christianity,
"When he [Jesus] said be perfect, he meant it.He meant we must go in for the full treatment. The process will be long and in parts very painful. But that is what we are in for. Nothing less."
When we hear the word perfect, we usually think of some sort of impossible standard of holy kind of weirdness. A goal for special saints perhaps, but probably not for us regular people.
And yet it's a command and repeated more than once in the Bible, God told Abraham when he was 99 years old to walk before God and be perfect. Job is described as perfect. And here we have Jesus commanding that we be that way also.
But still, Abraham obviously wasn't without sin, and Job certainly did complain a lot. And Jesus knows we're going to mess up in our pilgrimage, which is why he provides continual forgiveness when we confess our sins.
In the light of this, what sort of perfection are we talking about here?
It helped me a lot to understand the command better when I explored with the original meaning of the word Perfect is in the original languages in the Old Testament.
In the passages talking about Abraham and Job, it's the Hebrew word taim, which means complete, full, perfect, sincerely, sound, without spot, undefiled and whole. In the New Testament it's the Greek word teleos and it means complete also.
And the definition goes on to say in various applications of growth, mental and moral character brought to its end, finished, lacking nothing necessary to completeness. Now that made lots more sense to me, especially the emphasis on perfect meaning complete.
And the completeness of course is referring to becoming like Jesus. To do that is what the command is all about. To bring that about in our lives is what CS Lewis Lewis was talking about.
And to repeat his comment from Mere Christianity, he says when he Jesus said be perfect, he meant it. He meant we must go in for the full treatment. The process will be long and in parts very painful. But that is what we are in for nothing less.
When we became a Christian, whether we were aware of it or not, and most likely we weren't, we signed up for a training process that makes CrossFit pale in comparison.
Because it isn't only our bodies that are being trained and bodily training, taking care of our bodies and the disciplines required to do that are very important. But it's our eternal souls also that are being shaped into the likeness of the Son of God. I get tired just thinking about it.
If you're like me, and I imagine many are, I want to share some verses that will help us all persevere in this process of growing to completeness in Jesus. I'm going to share the verses and then I'll make a comment or two after each one of them.
The first One is Proverbs:
Sometimes we feel we're progressing in the faith only to fall behind after making a little bit of progress. It's two steps forward, three steps back, two steps forward, maybe only one step back. That's to be expected.
But God helps us pick ourselves up and move forward. Remember also that in the Bible, seven oftentimes is sort of an unlimited number.
Like in the passage where Jesus says to forgive 70 times 70, he means unlimited. Now, this verse doesn't mean when it says, so a righteous man falls seven times. You're only allowed to fail seven times, and then you're done.
God's done. He's tired of you. It's all over. No, no matter how many times you fall, Jesus will pick you up, dust you off, and send you back out on your journey.
In Galatians 6:9 going on, it says, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up weariness. Oh, that is the great enemy. Resisting temptation, doing good things, changing our way of life to please the Lord. All that can be very tiring.
But a harvest time is coming.
In many areas of life, it takes time to get over a besetting sin or a habit you have to keep saying no to one more day at a time, one more temptation after another, one more weary, weary resistance. Until suddenly one day, you look at that substance or habit that bound you and you realize you are free.
In First Corinthians:
For as much as you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord, nothing, nothing, nothing you do for Jesus, no matter what it seems like in the eyes of this world, it's wasted. Your struggles are never in vain.
One of the convicted former participants in the Watergate scandal many years ago said after he'd become a Christian, he looked back at his previous years and he said, I spent my life working so hard to climb the ladder of success, only to realize it was leaning against the wrong wall. How wonderful to know we will never have that kind of regret. All the hard work we do is not in vain.
And then in Hebrews 12:1 2, it says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress, and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends. From start to finish, sin slows us down, keeps us from progressing.
You know exactly what sin right now that Jesus wants you to get rid of, how much easier your race will be once you take care of it. Then Philippians 1:27 says, you must live in a manner worthy of the good news about Christ.
As citizens of heaven, walking, worthy of Jesus, reflecting in all we do that we're citizens of heaven. May that be our daily prayer, and may we work every day to live like it.
And then these last two verses remind us of the glorious end of our struggles. In 1st Peter 1:13, it says, Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be self controlled.
Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. And then finally, Jesus says, I'm coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown.
So hang in there, determined to cooperate in the process of becoming perfect, becoming complete in Jesus. And as Winston Churchill said when he was encouraging the English people in their struggles during World War II, never give up. Never give up.
Never, ever give up.
That's all for this podcast, for transcripts, links to related material, and much more to help you learn to know, trust, apply and teach the Bible, go to www.bible805.com. For now, let me end with this benediction and prayer.
May you walk each day surrounded by the gracious love of the Father, guided by the gentle wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and conscious of the astoundingly real presence of Jesus, who will walk with you until you're no more a hobo soul, no more a transient wandering heart, but at home in the kingdom prepared for you with your God forever. Amen.
