You are PERFECT! If you have put your faith in Jesus you are perfect, you are righteous, you have been justified, you have been declared innocent, not guilty, you are perfect...kind of. Scripture also teaches that you are a work in progress. Scripture teaches that after you put your faith in Jesus you are not perfect, you still sin, and that you will not be perfect on this side of eternity. Two beautiful truths are standing together here, not as contradictions, but as a picture of what the cross has done and is doing.
Hebrews 10:14, "For by a single offering He (Jesus) has perfected for all times those who are being sanctified." We see both of these truths in this passage. You have been (notice the past tense) made perfect because of what Jesus did on the cross. On the cross Jesus made an exchange with you once you put your faith in Him. The exchange is that He took your sin, your ugliness, your consequences, your punishment. Jesus took all of that upon Himself. He took on your sin and he took upon himself the wrath of God against your sin. He paid the penalty of death that you and I owed because of our sin. In exchange for our sin, Jesus gave us His perfection, His righteousness. Jesus made you and I perfect by taking our sins upon Himself. Hebrews 10:14 made that clear Jesus perfected us! Jesus perfected all who would put their faith in Him!
Understanding our perfection in Christ is important for us to grasp. It frees us from trying to earn God's love. When we understand our perfect standing with God we are released from the roller coaster of trying to earn God's love and approval. We stand firmly on the truth that because of what Jesus did on the cross that it is not possible for God to love us more or less than He does right now. He sees the perfection and righteousness of Christ on us ALL the time! Some of us believe that if we just read our Bible's more, if we just prayed more, if we just shared our faith more, if we just ___________, than God would love us more. That is a lie. God cannot love you more than He does right now! Rest in that glorious truth. The opposite is also true, God cannot love you less than He does right now. When we sin, when we fail to spend regular time with him, when we don't exhibit His love in our relationships, when we fail to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, God's love for us does not lessen. Rest in that glorious truth. You are perfect......
Kind of. In Hebrews 10:14 after talking about Jesus perfecting for all times it says for those who are being sanctified. You are (notice the present tense) being sanctified. It is a process that takes place over time. The definition of sanctification is, "being made holy." The word holy in the Bible when referring to God's people means being "set apart for God." Sanctification is the process by which over time we are being "set apart" for God. The process by which we are becoming more like Jesus. Our need for sanctification reveals that we have not attained moral perfection. It reveals that we still struggle with sin, we still fall short of the glory of God. This truth teaches us about our moment by moment dependence upon God to make us Holy. To make us more like Jesus. It shows us our need for God's grace in a moment by moment basis and not only His grace to forgive, but also His grace to help us rely upon Him. The truth that we don't reach perfection on this side of earth is a constant reminder of our need for God and that is a good thing. When we are impatient we are reminded how much we need God's patience. When we struggle with un-forgiveness we are reminded how much we need God to help us forgive. When we struggle to love those who are hard to love we cry out to God to help us, and He does. The beauty of sanctification is that although it is a process over time we will look back on our lives and we can see God working in us to make us more like Jesus. The result? We praise God! We trust Him more! We depend on Him more! We ask Him to change us even more, and that is a good thing!
You are perfect.... kind of.
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