So You Think You've 'Arrived'?

Be ye therefore perfect, 

even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. 

Matthew 5:48

It is indeed a sad commentary when Christians dress themselves up on the outside and present themselves as having the perfect relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, despite the fact that they have not as yet been endued in or absorbed the fruit of His spirit or dressed in the armour of God.  By now, we all know that it is not about what we look like on the outside, it's not about our position or our title within the church and it's not even about our gifting or calling in God.  Until we reach that place of ne thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:13-14

What is on the inside is what comes forth no matter how you dress the outside:

Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.   Matthew 12:33-35

We should all be aware that there are some requirements of God that we must all strive for: 

→      if you are not demonstrating love, 
→      if you're not striving for peace, 
→      if you are not a reconciler or a mediator for reconciliation, 
→       if you sit on the word of God and do not share it wherever you go, 
→      if you are sitting on your gift or talent, 
→      if you're not regularly assembling with your Christian brothers and sisters, 
→      if you are not studying the word of God and
→      if you are not meditating on it, and  
→      if you are not having a conversation with God everyday, 

 - you have not arrived!  Just think, that little list is just the basics of Christian living!

Jesus calls His followers to perfection (maturity).  This perfection reflects the presence of God:

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one.  John 17:23

It results in spiritual maturity (perfection):

Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.   1 Corinthians 14:20

Perfection (maturity) was a goal of the early church as it should also be today. Apostle Paul wrote:

For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.    2 Corinthians 13:9, 11

Divisions in the Body of Christ are a result of spiritual immaturity.  Individual perfection (maturity) results in us being perfectly joined together with other believers in the Body of Christ:

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.   1 Corinthians 1:10

Jesus is the best and therefore the only example of perfection for believers:

For even hereunto were ye called: Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.   1 Peter 2:21

For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many
sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  

Hebrews 2:10

And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.  Hebrews 5:9

God planned believers to be conformed [be made like] Jesus who is our example of perfection:

For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Romans 8:29

The standard of perfection by which believers are measured is God's Word. 

Jesus is the example of perfection and conformed perfectly to the Word.  

He is the visible revelation of God's Word. 

God has set standards in His Word which are to govern our lives. The first standards He gave man were called the "law" and are recorded in the first five books of the Old Testament.  Much of the history of the Old Testament records the inability of man to keep God's laws. God knew man would not be able to keep the law through their own efforts. But God had some specific purposes for giving the law. One of the purposes of the law was to show men their sinful condition. Another purpose was to show them that they could not become righteous by their own efforts:

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: For the law is the knowledge of sin.  Romans 3:20

God did not leave us in this hopeless condition. Through the law He promised the Messiah:

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which He shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.   Deuteronomy 18:18-19

 These same words are quoted by the Apostle Peter and applied to the Lord Jesus Christ:

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.  Acts 3:22-26

Man could not keep the standards of a righteous God through self-effort. 

Apostle Paul understood that following in Jesus way is the only way to win the prize of the high calling of God through Christ Jesus.

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12

The law showed the need for a Savior and led man to Jesus Christ. 

It is through Christ, not self-effort, that we are perfected. 

It is through Him that we are conformed to His example of perfection 

and to the standard of the Word of God.

For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope [Christ] did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.  Hebrews 7:19

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