PERFECTION IN CHRIST There is a sense--a God-ordained sense--in which we are already perfect. This perfection has to do with the New Covenant and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This devotion will focus on the New Covenant. A proper understanding of the covenants is essential for every child of God. The Old Covenant, though marked by discipline and rigid routines, did not make anything or anyone perfect. As it is written, "For the Law made nothing PERFECT, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Heb 7:19). That "better hope" is nothing less than the New Covenant. The perfection of reference is more precisely described in the ninth chapter of Hebrews. It was not moral perfection, but the perfection, or cleansing, of the conscience. Thus it is written, "Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service PERFECT, as pertaining to the CONSCIENCE" (Heb 9:9).
Devotion 7 of 15
Christ's death and the New Covenant are indissolubly put together. They are like Siamese twins with a common vertebrate and heart, and cannot be separated.
In instituting the Lord's supper, Jesus referred to His blood, which stands for His vicarious death, as the "blood of the New Testament," or "covenant" (Matt 26:28). Paul confirmed this to be a central consideration in our participation in that supper. "After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:25).
The book of Hebrews elaborates on the association of Christ's blood with the New Covenant. It is called "the blood of the covenant" (Heb 10:29), and "the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Heb 13:20). By this God means that the New Covenant is founded upon the effectiveness of Christ's blood. To put it another way, Christ's blood ratified, or confirmed, the New Covenant. That confirmation made it right for God to confer the promised benefits of that covenant upon all who are in Christ Jesus. Briefly summarized, those benefits are:
(1) God would put His laws into their minds.
(2) He would write His laws on their hearts.
(3) He would be their God.
(4) They would be His people.
(5) He would personally be known by them all, from the least to the greatest.
(6) He would be merciful to their unrighteousness.
(7) He would remember their sins no more.
Those marvelous benefits are now realized in Christ Jesus, and bring the perfection now being discussed.
The word "nothing" includes everything related to approaching the Living God--both the individual and the means of approach. Everything had been defiled by sin, and not one of those things, including the most disciplined worshiper, was purified or made perfect by the Law. That Law was nothing less then "the words of the covenant" Ex 34:28; Deut 29:1).
The meaning is that the disciplined and frequent sacrifices of the Law could never make a person welcome in the presence of the Lord. The vivid awareness of personal sin so defiled the conscience that a sense of condemnation swept over the one attempting to approach God--even though he approached in a Divinely prescribed manner. Thus, when standing before the Lord, Isaiah cried out, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts" (Isa 6:5).
This perspective is again declared in the tenth chapter of Hebrews. "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto PERFECT" (Heb 10:1). The "comers" were those approaching God--"those who draw near to worship" (NIV). They came near in a prescribed manner, and with Divinely appointed sacrifices. Yet they remained condemned by their own consciousness of sin.
This condition is further declared in the third verse of the tenth chapter. "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year" (Heb 10:3). Thus, instead of a sense of cleansing and acceptance accompanying the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, or law, a sense of defilement and condemnation overwhelmed the one approaching God to worship. The reason for this condition is simply this: "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Heb 10:4).
How different it is under the New Covenant. Now, the conscience is perfected through "faith in His blood" (Rom 3:25). How marvelously this is stated in the ninth chapter of Hebrews. "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb 9:14).
A purged conscience is a perfected one. It is what makes the present "comers" perfect, allowing them to come confidently into the presence of the Lord, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. This is a perfection that we may have now, and it is glorious beyond description! While some choose to haggle about whether or not we can be perfect, let the redeemed of the Lord enjoy the perfection of conscience that can be theirs through the blood of Christ.
This is aspect of the Gospel that is required for the "full assurance of understanding" (Col 2:2), the "full assurance of hope" (Heb 6:11), and the "full assurance of faith" (Heb 10:22). No child of God can afford to be deficient in understanding, hope, or faith--and "full assurance" delivers abundant fruit in all three areas. Comprehension (understanding), anticipation (hope), and persuasion (faith) are required to complete the race that is set before you.
These cannot be developed by the wisdom of this world. They cannot be received miraculously without the engagement of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The persuasion of your perfection in Christ NOW will bring required assurance to your heart.
-- Tomorrow: PERFECTED BY ONE SACRIFICE --