CHRISTIAN PERFECTION (2:1-6)

NOTES ON THE PASSAGE

Having shed light on the reality of sin in Christians’ lives, John now moves from from sin to righteousness, from negative to positive. His aim in writing, is 'that you may not sin'.

[N.B. We tend to use 'holiness' and 'righteousness' as synonyms, but there is a difference: righteousness is a lifestyle that reflects God's character, whereas holiness is the indwelling Presence of God in us that manifests in righteousness.]

Keeping Christ's commands

John’s first test of genuine Christian experience had to do with ongoing repentance. His second is the moral test of whether we are practicing Christ's commands. We can apply this to others, if we’re not sure whether their teaching is true. But more importantly, we should apply it to ourselves: both as a means of growth in righteousness, and as reassurance when doubts about our salvation attack us.

It's important first to point out, that keeping His commands isn't the same as studying them, or preserving them, or even loving them. Paul says, "I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members ... So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." (Rom 7:21-25) Having studied Torah under Rabbi Gamaliel, Paul loved the law of God profoundly in his inner man; but found the law of sin, the tendency towards sin inbuilt in his flesh, impossibkle to keep. His peer-group the Pharisees "sat in Moses' seat" - they were the keepers of the Mosaic Law in one sense - but they could not keep its spirit of heart obedience to God.

Equally, John cannot be talking about willed obedience through gritted teeth and iron self-discipline. For John quotes this 'keeping His commands' as proof to ourselves that we do know God; in the Jewish, relational sense of knowledge. We may be able to control our actions by sheer willpower; but we can't overcome our flesh nature by mind-control.

For this kind of obedience to be evidence to ourselves of knowing God, and of loving Him, it must come from some inner source, an unconscious change in our mindset. 'The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh ....' (Rom 8:7-9). Paul goes on to make clear that it's only by the indwelling Spirit of God that our mortal bodies are enabled to walk in holiness.

John doesn't say that whoever keeps Christ's word (logos) - the whole teaching and example of the Word of God - has achieved perfection in loving God; nor that he has reached moral perfection in terms of sinlesness. Rather, the love of God - his realisation and experience of the love of God - has been perfected in him. Not by him, but in him. He has received the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, to 'know the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of Christ, which is beyond human comprehension' (Eph 3:14-19).

(N.B. Note that the fact Paul prays this for the Ephesian saints, implies that he saw it as a blessing distinct from justification.)

Abiding in Christ should be evidenced by 'walking just as He walked'. As we live in this state of being yoked to Christ, being just like Him not in some future heavenly state but in the here-and-now (4:17), we have boldness and fearlessness to approach God.

As evangelicals we emphasise that we have been set free from the Law, and the words ‘obedience’ and ‘love’ don’t easily go together. But when asked which was the greatest commandment, Jesus said to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength’; and its corollary which was ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. In the sermon on the mount, He said, “Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven’. And at the last supper He said, ‘A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another’. He did not come to do away with the Law, but to demonstrate its true meaning.

When a man and a woman fall in love, their only thought is how to please each other. Each listens for the slightest hint of what will delight their beloved. Though John never actually uses the word holiness, the idea that true love for God always manifests in obedience to His commands runs right through this letter. In fact he defines love as obedience; ‘This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments’ (5:3)

How many commandments of Christ are there? I was taken aback to realise I didn’t know! In fact the Sermon on the Mount includes twenty-six direct imperatives, never mind all its other implied commands. Though they're important, they are not a manual of how to establish our own righteousness. Their purpose, says John, is so that we can know that we know God; and know that we are in Christ (2:3-6).

Becoming a rabbi’s disciple was referred to as ‘taking his yoke’. (In farming, a young ox would be yoked with an older one, to learn to pull the plough. The yoke was heavy, and any waywardness caused it to chafe.) Jesus condemned the Pharisees for binding heavy burdens for others to carry. In contrast, He said to His disciples, ‘Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light’ (Matt 11:28-30).

The moral law is simply the expression of God’s holy and loving character, as it is outworked in human experience. Righteousness is a lifestyle that reflects God's holiness, indwelling in us. Before we’re saved, the Thou shalt not’s of the Ten Commandments show us our sin. But after we’re saved, the Thou shalt’s of Christ become our guide to holy living and loving. Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom 13:8), and Christ came ‘that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit’ (Rom 8:4).

Righteousness: imputed, then imparted

Another difficulty we have in truly hearing these words, is the concept of righteousness. Because legalism and self-righteousness are so contrary to the gospel of grace, we have thrown out the baby with the bath water. When we read of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ, we imagine picking up His seamless robe and slipping it on, just in time to enter the marriage-feast! But Jesus said unless our righteousness is far greater than that of the Pharisees, there’s no way we will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Hebrews says, “Without holiness, no-one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14).

When Paul talks about discarding his previous Judaistic righteousness in favour of the righteousness which is through faith in Christ, he is not talking about abandoning the Ten Commandments. He's talking about the righteousness Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: the righteousness which by faith forgives enemies and prays for one's persecutors, for example.

Jesus talks about the blessedness of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, not those who have already found imputed righteousness in Him.

We are so focussed on imputed righteousness that we ignore the scriptures about imparted righteousness, or holy living. Righteousness's core meaning has to do with purity, uprightness, moral rectitiude: in other words, a lifestyle which reflects the character of God. By extension it also means that we are in right standing with God - that He sees us as righteous. Paul calls the Ephesian believers saints (‘holy ones’); and indeed we are justified (made righteous in God’s sight) by faith, from day one. Yet some of these saints to whom Paul wrote, were lying to each other, holding grudges, even stealing from each other: and the same is true of us! The second half of Ephesians is all about teaching them about imparted righteousness.

John says that though God already calls us His children, anyone who hopes to see Christ starts getting ready now, for ‘He that has this hope in him, purifies himself as he is pure’ (3:3). The true light is already shining in us, but the darkness has not yet fully passed away from our lives. Our calling and destiny, is ‘to be holy and blameless before God in love’ (Eph 1:4): but is this only true in the hereafter, or should we should expect to experience it in this life?

Complete sanctification

John now introduces the idea of complete sanctification (1 Thess 5:23) or Christian perfection: ‘whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in Him’ (2:5). And later, he says that we can know that the love of God has been perfected in us, if we love one another (4:12). Such perfected love makes us bold to face the Day of Judgement; because ‘as He is, so are we in this world’ (4:17). Perfect love casts out all fear of death and torment; whereas if we are still afraid of death, it shows that our love of God hasn’t yet been perfected (4:18).

This doctrine, variously called 'complete sanctification', 'perfect love', 'Christian perfection', or sometimes 'scriptural holiness', was absolutely central in Wesley's preaching. He believed that where it was not preached, there was little hope of any revival. He required new preachers to testify either that they had already experienced it, or that they were earnestly seeking it. And he disqualified anyone who did not believe it, from the ministry.  He saw it as the central distinctive of Methodism, and said his mission was to 'spread scriptural holiness throughout the nation'.

Wesley kept a file of letters from folk who'd experienced Christian perfection, which he sometimes read out instead of preaching. The letters usually had a narrative form:

- The beginning expressed the spiritual state of a person after conversion, with an increasing awareness of sin.

- The middle showed the gradual growth in grace or sanctification marked at the climax with an ecstatic experience of God, received by faith. Sometimes it took the form of a vision, sometimes a verse of scripture became deeply personal, sometimes there was deep emotion or even passing out.

- The end of the narrative showed the transformed life lived after the ecstatic perfection experience, yet still growing in grace even until faithful death.

[For more on Wesley's teaching, look up his sermon on Christian Perfection, or read Samuel Chadwick's little book, 'The Call to Christian Perfection' - available for Kindle]

This doctrine that Christians should seek perfection, caused uproar. Wesley was ostracised by most of his fellow Anglican ministers, who thought he was teaching sinless perfection, and that he had become a heretic. Yet if you look up Christian perfection on Wikipedia, there are fourteen A4 pages about the doctrine - which is taught as orthodoxy not only historically by the Church Fathers but to this day amongst Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anabaptists, Methodists and Pentecostals!

It seems that the doctrine was somehow lost, in the Reformation. To this day, Lutherans and Reformed theologians of various denominations, deny it as heresy; even though, as we shall see shortly, there are numerous references to it in scripture. In fifty years of sitting under preaching of various Protestant denominations in UK, I have never heard it taught.

Most of us will have a vague awareness of people such as St Francis of Assissi, Thomas à Kempis and others, who reputedly lived in continuous communion with God. I once met an Anglican bishop who was deeply holy, and I have a long-term friend who is living in the bliss of the love of God. The theme of this whole study is about 'fellowship with the Father and the Son'. John who wrote this letter, obviously also experienced such bliss: its opening lines express his desire to share that 'fellowship with the Father and His Son' with us, his readers. Nearing ninety, his heart is still effervescent with joy at knowing Christ!

Whilst Free Methodism still considers itself a 'holiness movement', its doctrinal statement on sanctification doesn't mention Christian perfection explicitly. But it concludes thus:-

"Accepting the promise of God by faith, believers enter into a deepened relationship with Christ (2 Cor 7:1; Gal 2:20; Rom 8:14-17; Gal 4:6-7). They are enabled to love God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind, and their neighbour as themselves (Matt 22:37-40; Gal 5:25-26). They know an inner surrender to all the will of God, and their lives are transformed from inner conflict with sin to glad obedience (Rom 12:1-2; Gal 5:16-25). Sanctification cleanses Christians from sin and delivers from the idolatry of self (1 Pet 3:2-3; 1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:15-20). When they are cleansed, they are not made perfect in performance, but in love (Heb 6:1; 12:14; Matt 5:43-48; 1 Jn 4:12-13)." (FM Book of discipline, §3108)

What speaks to me especially in this, is the thought that focussing on ourselves and our 'old man' or sinfulness, is a form of narcissism or 'idolatry of self'. We are to 'consider Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith' - not ourselves.

Setting aside historical and experiential evidence, what does the Bible teach?

The biblical meaning of the word 'perfect'

The Greek adjective translated ‘perfect’ is teleios, which meant finished, complete, or mature. As a noun, it referred to a goal or an end. As a verb, it referred to something being completed or finished - such as when Jesus cried 'tetelesthai', "It is finished!".

In the English of King James’s time, perfect was the nearest English equivalent. So a perfect human being was one fully grown into adulthood - no longer a child. And a perfect disciple was one who had learnt everything his rabbi could teach him.

In concept, it is close to the Hebrew word 'shalom'. Someone who has received fullness of blessing from God. It overlaps to an extent with the Greek word 'pleroma', or fullness.

The word, and the concept of Christian perfection, is scattered throughout the New Testament and the Old:

- Jesus said we should love our enemies - those who curse, hate, abuse and persecute us - so as to 'be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect' (Matt 5:43-48). He said that a perfect disciple would be like his teacher (Lk 6:40).

- Paul talks of Christians becoming perfect men through the ministry of apostles, prophets, pastors etc; perfect here meaning measuring up to Christ’s standard of holiness (Eph 4:11-15). And he speaks of cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor 7:1). Whilst not claiming to yet be perfect (Phil 3:12), he gives himself fully to pursuing the righteousness of Christ: and he urges ‘Let us, as many of us as are mature’, (perfect, in Greek), ‘have this attitude’ (Phil 3:15). His aim was ‘to present every man perfect’ (Col 1:28, 4:23), through teaching the whole counsel of God. In First Thessalonians he writes, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess 5:23)

- Hebrews speaks repeatedly about Christ being made perfect by what He suffered. Obviously the word cannot mean He became sinless, for He always was! The context makes clear that His suffering is part of what makes Him a perfect High Priest, because He has 'been tempted in every respect like we are'. By His once-for-all sacrifice, He has made us perfect: we will never need any other sacrifice, or any repetition. He is able to save 'to the uttermost'; untile we are perfected. We are urged to 'enter into His rest' and 'go on to perfection'. And so on. In every case, the Greek word is derived from the same root as teleios.

- James talks about how when facing trials we should 'let patience complete its work of making us perfect' (Jas 1:3,4).

- John talks about the love of God being perfected, when we obey Christ's commands (2:5); when we love one another (4:12); and when we can face death and the Day of Judgement without fear (4:17,18)

- In the Old Testament, Noah is described as perfect (Gen 6:9). Abraham was called to ‘walk before Me and be perfect’ (Gen 17:1) when God changed his name. Job was described as perfect (Job 1:1, 1:8, 2:3). And there are numerous mentions of people with ‘a perfect heart’, meaning they are wholehearted in their pursuit of godliness.

we see that John is not creating a new doctrine out of nothing, but simply expressing Jesus's own teaching which had already been expounded and applied by the other apostles.

The marks of Christian perfection

How can we know whether we have reached mature Christian manhood, or perfection?

Wesley's definition was this:- “By Christian Perfection I mean—(1) Loving God with all our heart; (2) A heart and life all devoted to God; (3) Regaining the whole image of God; (4) Having all the mind that was in Christ; (5) Walking uniformly as Christ walked. If anyone means anything more or anything less by perfection, I have no concern with it.”

As we’ve seen, there are numerous New Testament reference, which refer to

- knowing the length, breadth, height and depth of God's love,

- resting completely in Christ's grace rather than striving in our own strength,

- doctrinal depth and stability,

- measuring up to Christ in our character, and so on.

But John’s letter lists the following:-

• active obedience to Christ’s commands; wholeheartedly pursuing His righteousness

• especially loving our brothers and sisters genuinely and sacrificially, as He loved us

• becoming like Him in purity, in this life: restoration of the image of God in us

• relying so totally on grace that our fear of death evaporates

Let us forget what is past, and like Paul 'press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus'! Hungering and thirsting after righteousness, but most of all, seekng continuous fellowship with the Father and the Son. Believing that sanctification, like salvation, is by grace through faith: and that Christ can 'save to the uttermost' and 'completely sanctify' us.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• Is righteousness a lifestyle, a legal status, or both? Is the 'righteousness of faith' purely imputed? If there is such a thing as imparted righteousness, how can it be 'by faith'?

• How many commandments of Christ can you recall? What's their role? How do they differ from the Law of Moses? How can we keep Christ's law without legalism?

• What's the biblical meaning of 'perfect'? 
Are there other biblical synonyms for the same truth? What synonyms might we use nowadays?

• Is 'Christian perfection' a mirage, a heresy, or a biblical truth? 
Can a Christian be biblically ‘perfect’ this side of heaven? If so, what characterises such a state?

• Is sanctification just a gradual progression, a 'second blessing’, or a combination of slopes and steps?

Some relevant scriptures:

• Gen 6:9; 17:1. Job 1:1,8

• Matt 5:48

• Heb 4:1,11; 6:1

• 1 Cor 2:6; 3:1,2

• Eph 1:4; 4:13

• Phil 3:12-15

• Col 1:28

• Heb 5:8,9; Jas 1:2-4

• 1 John 3:6,9; 4:12,17