The Three Kinds of Perfection (Rewritten)

When the Bible talks about “perfection” in relation to human beings, it doesn’t mean just one thing. In fact, much of the confusion around the idea of Christian perfection comes from blending together three very different meanings. Once we separate them, the picture becomes much clearer.

"Rest" in Matthew 11:28, 29

QUESTION: Says Jesus in Matt. 11:28, 29, "I will give you rest... and ye shall find rest." Is the "rest'" in both verses the same?

ANSWER: Some so teach. They are supported by the authority of Olshausen, a noted German exegete, who makes the rest given by Jesus the release from the burden of guilt by conscious forgiveness, and rest found under the yoke of guidance and discipline imposed by Christ, "the cessation of discord in man which is not immediately removed after his entering into the element of the good" — the state of the regenerate. It is a curious fact that the clause denoting the second rest is quoted from Jeremiah 6:16, "Ask for the old paths, where is the way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." This is the way the Hebrew reads, but if the quotation had been made from the LXX the Greek version quoted very often in the N.T. (ninety-nine times being in Matthew's Gospel), it would have been, "and ye shall find purification to your souls." This is the way the Hebrew reads, but it is the quotation from the Septuagist, because the word ἁγνισμός (hagnismos),  "purification," is used in the N. T. only once (Acts 21:26), and that is in a ceremonial sense descriptive of Paul's unwise attempt to conciliate the angry Jews by purifying himself in the Temple. Words in the course of centuries take on different shades of meaning. Christ kept as far as possible from teaching that mere ritualism can give soul rest. This comes only by crucifying "the flesh which lusteth against the Spirit," or by spiritual purification.

— Steele's Answers pp. 168, 169.

Crucifixion with Christ

Love made perfect requires as its antecedent that perfect surrender which, in the strong language of St. Paul, is crucifixion with Christ. The difficulty with average Christians is, that they faint beneath the cross on the via dolorosa, the way of grief, and never reach their Calvary. They do not by faith gird on strength for the hour when they must be stretched upon the cross. They shrink from the torturing spike, and from the spear aimed at the heart of their self-life. This betokens weakness of faith. But when the promise is grasped with the grip of a giant, no terrors, no agonies, can daunt the soul. In confidence that there will be after the crucifixion a glorious resurrection to spiritual life and blessedness, the believer yields his hand to the nail, and his head to the thorn crown. That flinty center of the personality, the will, which has up to this hour stood forth in resistance to the complete will of God, suddenly flows down, a molten stream under the furnace blast of divine love, melted into oneness with "the sweet will of God." After such a death there is always a resurrection unto life. An interval of hours or even of days may take place before the angels shall descend and roll away the stone from the sepulchre of the crucified soul, and the pulsations of a new and blissful life be felt through every fiber and atom of the being. It is not the old life that rises, but a new life is breathed forth by the Holy Ghost. "I am crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me." (R. V. Am. Committee.) "Dead indeed unto sin," "but alive unto God through Jesus Christ."

"He walks in glorious liberty,
To sin entirely dead:
The Truth, the Son, hath made him free,
And he is free indeed.
"Throughout his Soul Thy glories shine;
His soul is all renewed,
And deck'd in righteousness divine,
And clothed and filled with God."

He who enjoys this repose is brought so intimately into sympathy with Jesus Christ that he is all aflame with zeal, and aroused to the utmost activity to save lost men. As a venerable preacher, widely known, quaintly expressed it, "I enjoy the rest of faith that keeps me in perpetual motion."

— Half-Hours with St. Paul, Chapter 10.

The Way of Faith

Faith is the point of contact between that battery and human souls. Whatever be the form of our religious activity, it is faith that is at the bottom, whether it be prayer, praise, watchfulness, resistance to sin, or efforts for the salvation of others. When St. Paul has enumerated the weapons which constitute the Christian's offensive and defensive armor, he adds, "above (or, over) all," as a protection to every other part of the armor itself, "take the shield of faith" — continually exercise a strong and lively faith. The ancient shield covered the whole soldier. Hence the motto for all Christians, whatever their attainments, is "Looking unto Jesus."

Spiritual Crucifixion

The difficulty with average Christians is that they faint beneath the cross on the via dolorosa, the way of grief, and never reach their Calvary. They do not by faith gird on strength for the hour when they must be stretched upon the cross. They shrink from the torturing spike and from the spear aimed at the heart of their self-life. This betokens weakness of faith.

But when the promise is grasped with the grip of a giant — no terrors, no agonies, can daunt the soul. In confidence that there will be, after the crucifixion, a glorious resurrection to spiritual life and blessedness, the believer yields his hand to the nail, and his head to the thorn crown. That flinty center of the personality, the will, which has up to this hour stood forth in resistance to the complete will of God, suddenly flows down, a molten stream under the furnace blast of Divine love, melted into oneness with the "sweet will of God." After such a death there is always a resurrection unto life. An interval of hours, or even of days, may take place before the angel shall descend and roll away the stone from the sepulchre of the crucified soul, and the pulsations of a new and blissful life be felt through every fiber and atom of the being. It is not the old life that rises, but a new life is breathed forth by the Holy Ghost. The believer can then truly say that he is "dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ."

A Most Marvelous Manifestation

I have experienced a most marvelous manifestation of the love of Christ to me. O the unsearchable riches of Christ! Do you know how unspeakably precious Jesus is when you trust him fully? My experience was never marked. I never could tell the day of my conversion. My evidence was chiefly an inference, rarely the direct testimony of the Spirit. Hence my utterances have been feeble and destitute of power. But all this is gone by. God has so certified this blessed Gospel to my soul, that I shall no more blow the trumpet with an uncertain sound.