Being Made Perfect!

[whirlwind]

1 Corinthians 13:9-12 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Paul is teaching about the importance of charity. Not the act of giving money or goods to others but charity is rather about having "love, affection or benevolence," for others.

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
  
  14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

To prophesy is to "edifieth the church." It builds the church when one prophesies...which is to speak under Divine inspiration. We, as His church, are made stronger with deeper understandings of His Word which He reveals to us through Divine inspiration. So, we are to have charity....love for one another, before all things except our love for Him, and then we are to desire to prophesy.

As written above, when we prophesy, "we prophesy in part." No one is given full knowledge. When we are children in this walk with Him...we speak as children with what we know. When we mature, becoming the man child we....put away childish things! We are being made perfect. for "when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." When we are made perfect we will see face to face, we will no longer "prophesy in part" for "in part shall be done away." For then "shall I know even as also I am known!" He knows me...and you...fully. He knows our minds and hearts.

What does being made perfect entail ?

 

[Adullam]

I like that statement! Being made perfect. Being saved! We are to line up our lives with the plan and mission of God. Perfection is a process of surrender and growth to be conformed to Christ.

 

[whirlwind]

I like that statement! Being made perfect. Being saved! We are to line up our lives with the plan and mission of God. Perfection is a process of surrender and growth to be conformed to Christ.

I just gained another step on the ladder to that place. Instead of posting a snide remark...one I had already typed...I deleted it and was softer in tone. If I can just achieve that without the thought entering my mind I will be happy. But...it was a struggle. Surrendering the actual act of posting it was an accomplishment but surrendering the thought will show growth in this never ending process.

 

[whirlwind]

What does being made perfect entail ? Adullum said, "Perfection is a process of surrender and growth to be conformed to Christ." I agree.

To be perfect is to be complete, of full age...a man child!

• Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father Which is in heaven is perfect.
  
  Luke 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
  
  John 17:23 I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.
  
  Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
  
  Hebrews 6:1-3 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptism, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.

As we "go on unto perfection," go on unto becoming as He is...we are not to offer just the milk of the word, the "childish things," the teachings of "repentance, faith, baptism, resurrection and judgment." Those, the "principles of Christ" should be taught but as we mature...going on to be perfected, becoming a man child, we are to partake of and offer the meat of the word.

 

[Ret]

1 Corinthians 13:9-12 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Paul is teaching about the importance of charity. Not the act of giving money or goods to others but charity is rather about having "love, affection or benevolence," for others.

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
  
  14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

To prophesy is to "edifieth the church." It builds the church when one prophesies...which is to speak under Divine inspiration. We, as His church, are made stronger with deeper understandings of His Word which He reveals to us through Divine inspiration. So, we are to have charity....love for one another, before all things except our love for Him, and then we are to desire to prophesy.

As written above, when we prophesy, "we prophesy in part." No one is given full knowledge. When we are children in this walk with Him...we speak as children with what we know. When we mature, becoming the man child we....put away childish things! We are being made perfect. for "when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." When we are made perfect we will see face to face, we will no longer "prophesy in part" for "in part shall be done away." For then "shall I know even as also I am known!" He knows me...and you...fully. He knows our minds and hearts.

What does being made perfect entail ?

Isaiah gives us an example...

• Isaiah 40:6-8
  6 The voice said, Cry. And he [Isaiah] said, What shall I cry? [What shall I prophesy?]
  All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
  
  7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD
  bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
  
  8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. KJV

Another example comes from the sun and the moon....
The moon of itself has no light within rather, it reflects the light of the sun.
The moon will never become the sun because God has given it the job of reflecting the sun!

Children are like the grass that withers and fades, but as we/they mature
we are more like the moon and given to reflect the sun - therein is perfection!

 

[Joe67]

First: Conviction of sin with repentance

Second: Forgiveness/Justification/Imputation of Righteousness

Third: Sanctification

Fourth: Perfection

Command/ Blood/ Water/ Spirit

The living creature has four faces, in unity, whichever way it goes, it goes straight, forward.

Ezek 1:1-7
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. KJV

Ezek 1:9
9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. KJV

Ezek 1:12
12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. KJV

These are the four links in the chain that binds the dragon in the pit in Revelation 20 and Isaiah 24.

Joe

 

[unclejed]

Paul is talking to those who are already "saved". You say; "being made perfect" whereas the text states; "When we are made perfect". Note the word "when" indicating a future event which is when we are either "caught up in the air to meet Him" or if we go before the rapture and are "made perfect" because we are present with the Lord and we know there is no sin in heaven.

 

[whirlwind]

Paul is talking to those who are already "saved". You say; "being made perfect" whereas the text states; "When we are made perfect". Note the word "when" indicating a future event which is when we are either "caught up in the air to meet Him" or if we go before the rapture and are "made perfect" because we are present with the Lord and we know there is no sin in heaven.

I couldn't find your reference, "when we are made perfect." At least, not in the KJV (the only one I use). Please supply the verse. However, I see them as the same thing. We are "being made perfect" and will achieve that goal "when we are made perfect." It is ongoing.

• 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

The interesting part of this to me is that presently, in our unperfected state, "we know in part, and we prophesy in part," but once we are perfected..."then shall I know even as also I am known." To reach that perfected state of Him in us and us in Him...which is more than the Holy Spirit guiding us, then we will be perfected.

 

[unclejed]

Hi whirl, you got it no matter of the translation, nothing was lost. I usually read the Jerusalem Bible but in the Greek it reads; "when but comes the perfect thing". And, yes, it is a work in progress now while we are in the flesh but when we get "there" and we "come to the perfect thing" meaning totally Christ-like, the work of salvation will be fulfilled in you and I. We will once again be as Adam was before the fall and we will once again be perfect, even as Jesus is perfect and we will be (as Jesus exhorted) "be perfect even as the Father is perfect".

 

[GodspromisesRyes]

the bible does not specifiy that we cannot be made perfect now


Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

this is a command, not saying that later in heaven you will be perfect.

Luk 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

Jhn 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

here this has to be in this world because this is what will show the world that the Father sent Jesus and that He has loved us and we him.

1Cr 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

present tense.

2Cr 13:11 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.

present command

Phl 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is [one] of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Hbr 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Jam 1:4 But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

1Pe 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle [you].

 

[justvisiting]

I wish it was such an easy thing to see...being in the perfect will of God. I hate to say it...but if the early believers, which were being persecuted unto death, had a problem with following the will of God. We are probably going to have even a harder time. There is a lot of secularism in today's Christianity...not pointing any particular fingers.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
This is the Greek for "perfect" in this verse...
G5046
ÄέλειοÂ
teleios
Thayer Definition:
1) brought to its end, finished
2) wanting nothing necessary to completeness
3) perfect
4) that which is perfect
4a) consummate human integrity and virtue
4b) of men
4b1) full grown, adult, of full age, mature
Part of Speech: adjective
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G5056
Citing in TDNT: 8:67, 1161
1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
LOVE TOWARDS GOD IS WHERE PERFECTION STARTS...BUT WE WILL NOT BE PERFECT IN PRACTICE UNTIL WE ARE RESURRECTED. GOD LOOKS ON THE HEART FOR THAT PERFECTION.

 

[Godfrey]

God makes us perfect in a strange way.

A couple of months ago, I had occasion to go up in the loft; and when I came down I was in a pretty filthy condition. So I did what anyone would do: I took off my filthy clothes, then I put filthy me under a shower.

God works in the reverse way: He makes you clean inside your clothes, then he cleans your clothes up.

Here we are, each a spirit, soul and body; the spirit being the eternal bit, the real identity, and the soul usually defined as comprising the mind, will and emotions. When we were born again, that wonderful thing happened, He put a new spirit in us:

... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! - 2 Cor.5.17 NIV

And what is that new spirit if not already perfect, because it is "Christ in us"? But our soul is not renewed. We have an OT picture of this:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." - Zec.3.1-4 NIV

Jesus is just the Greek version of Joshua. Each of us has Jesus within us, but He is wearing our soul and our flesh. God is in the business of changing our clothes - and when Satan accuses us, the Lord rebukes him, because our sin is taken away and our essential identity is perfect.

At the resurrection, or the rapture, we will have new transformed bodies. But that is the icing on the cake. Our bodies will be made perfect. Our souls are being made perfect, as the Lord sanctifies us. But our spirits, our essential selves, have already been made perfect.

Which is why, I suppose, the epistles talk so much about what the Lord has done, rather than what He is doing or will do.

 

[unclejed]

the bible does not specify that we cannot be made perfect now


Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

this is a command, not saying that later in heaven you will be perfect.

.

No, not a command. In the Greek it is an exhortation. For the fallen creation it is impossible to be perfect while in the flesh. There are sins of omission which by definition means you don't even know you have sinned. Ah....what you say? I don't even know I sinned? How can that be a sin? Simple, for example, those who don't believe that rejecting Christ will put them in hell will still go there because of there sin of rejecting the savior. Gods' justice is perfect, in spite of what we think or believe. Another example; "Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind and soul", what human (in our fallen state) can even keep this one commandment? As I indicated, the perfection comes when we are in the presence of Christ and have put on immortality.

 

[justvisiting]

At the resurrection, or the rapture, we will have new transformed bodies. But that is the icing on the cake. Our bodies will be made perfect. Our souls are being made perfect, as the Lord sanctifies us. But our spirits, our essential selves, have already been made perfect.

I think generally I would agree with you. It is imputed righteousness. I am not once saved, always saved though. I believe there is such a thing as apostasy. When final redemption occurs (resurrection)...that is when final security is achieved...til then Peter says "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" and John says "perfect love casts out all fear".
It is great to think about the security in Christ though.
If David could sin a sin like he did with Bathsheba and God still accepted him (he did repent)...and the man that was having sex with his father's wife could be forgiven.(after having been rebuked by the Corinthian church)...It seems the grace and mercies of God go far...even after our backslidings.
Like I said...I still believe in imputed righteousness....but there is a place of no return (impossible to renew to repentance, those that have crucified to themselves the Son of God anew)...which I hope no one ever get's to.
I'll just try to stick to edifying lines, and say...I liked your post.

 

[Sparkey]

I see this is your first post, Godfrey.

W E L C O M E !

 

[Joe67]

Heb 10:12-14
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. KJV

Heb 10:9-10
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. KJV

Joe

 

[Godfrey]

... I am not once saved, always saved though.
Like I said...I still believe in imputed righteousness....but there is a place of no return (impossible to renew to repentance, those that have crucified to themselves the Son of God anew)...which I hope no one ever get's to.

Yes, amen to that. I lately read a book which points out how many of Jesus' warnings about hell are addressed to believers, not the unsaved.

I see this is your first post, Godfrey.

W E L C O M E !

Hi, and thanks for the welcome