“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:12-14‬ ‭NLT
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Perfection, by definition, means to be faultless, flawless, ideal, and having all of the desired qualities.
God is perfect in every way!!! We, as humans, are flawed by sin. Only through a relationship with God, in Christ Jesus, can we be made perfect. There are two perfections: 1. Positional - righteous 2. Practical - right living. The first is not achieved, it is received. We stand right with God through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:18-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬ None of us can be made perfect by good deeds. “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:20‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:22‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The second is a growth process to become more like Christ as we mature in our relationship with Him. This enables us to learn how to live righteously in our conduct practically. “Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.” ‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,” ‭‭Titus‬ ‭2:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Yes, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ! That is a Biblical fact! The issue is this: Do we understand why He had created us and re-created (saved) us? We are called to become more like Jesus as we live here in this world. This means that we must strive to please Him in our daily behavior. This will continue until we die or until Christ returns.