Be Perfect

In my last post, Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World, I mentioned that God’s Kingdom isn’t about outside standards and expectations.  Now you may be wondering, what about holiness?  How does that work?  After all, isn’t holiness moral perfection?  If it isn’t about adhering to a list of do’s and don’ts, then what is God asking for?

“Be holy, because I am holy.”

 Everyone knows... nobody is perfect.  How can He demand perfection?

It is helpful to understand that holy is part of God’s nature, it is who He is.  Holiness also interacts with all of His other characteristics.  It’s what makes Him perfectly loving, perfectly forgiving, and perfectly understanding.

“Be holy, because I am holy.”

It is also helpful to understand that holiness is, in essence, conformity to God’s character.  He calls us to be like Him!  You may not be hearing the good news in this, but this is actually a huge relief!!

There are so many different words the Bible uses to explain how this is possible.  I have written that when we believe God for salvation, Jesus takes our judgement and hands us His nature.  Although the Bible talks about this spiritual exchange using many different verbiage, let’s stick with the new nature idea.  We now take part of divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Ok, here’s the good news... wait for it...  WE ARE HOLY BECAUSE HE IS HOLY!  We have God’s nature in us by the resurrection of Christ.  This is how God can look at us and call us righteous.  This is how we can come close to a holy God.  This is the reason we can be in a relationship with Him!

Good to know.  How is this good news for us today?  I’m so glad you asked!

Instead of trying, failing, trying again, failing again... there is a new way for those who are in Christ.  If we direct all our faculties- all our effort, thoughts, emotions, desires- toward God, He’ll reveal more of Himself in us.  Yes, if we put our energy into getting to know Him, see Him, and recognize Him in this world, we will naturally become more like Him.  As we get to know His heart, our heart becomes more like His.  As we learn to live more and more in His nature, meeting standards and expectations just comes naturally!

The world sets standards and expectations and demands conformity.  There is nothing wrong with standards.  Just as the standards of the Old Testament law are perfect, the standards and expectations in this world are potentially good.  Except when we feel we can’t meet them :(  

What is different for those who follow Christ is that our gaze is not on the standard.  We are focussing on God’s glory in us.  We are focussing on obeying the Holy Spirit.  We are concentrating on learning from God how to do our work.  Reaching the standard is simply a bi-product of who we are rather than an end for our effort.  In this way, a job well done is not measured by reaching the standard, but by our relationship to God.

The difference in perspective causes a change in motivation.  When we are focussed on earthly expectations, we can be self-motivated and relying on ourselves to reach the goal.  This is why it can be so difficult to take when we miss the mark.  Many have feelings of failure, shame and embarrassment.  These feelings are not coming from God, but due to our own pride and expectation.

When our focus is God in all that we do, holiness, excellence, and perfection are just a natural result.  Our expectation relies on God to be holy.  Pursuing holiness is pursuing a relationship with God.  As He reveals his nature and character, we become more like Him.  We naturally live out holiness.