Being and Doing
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the October 25, 2014
Sabbath School Lesson
“Peter replied, ‘Even if all fall
away on account of you, I never will.’”
“‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus
answered, ‘this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three
times.’”
“But Peter declared,
‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the other
disciples said the same.” Matthew 26:33-35, NIV
Have you
ever been approached by someone who maintains that Christians don’t sin? That
their relationship to Christ prevents them from doing what others might be
tempted to do? Does that make you feel uneasy when you know that has not been
the experience of your own life since surrendering to Christ and being
baptized? Do you question whether or not you are genuinely saved? Does your
sense of self-worth begin plummeting to new lows when you are around such a
person? Perhaps you are not the problem. Maybe they have gone astray and not
you. The heresy of perfectionism has afflicted the church for a very long time,
and in all its forms it can be destructive to fellowship and unity.
Perfectionism
is based on two fallacious theological perspectives. The first is that our
obedience in any way contributes to our salvation. If this were true, we might
need to admit that Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross was an incomplete offering.
Yet, Jesus died once for all sins.[i]
If this were not so, He would need to die repeatedly for those sins yet
unconfessed. But that He is now at the right hand of God is evidence this is
not the case. Does this mean we are “once saved, always saved?” No, for we can
still choose to reject Christ even after we have received Him. He does not
constrain our free will. If we reject Him, no sacrifice can save us. However,
no works of obedience may accomplish that either, for if they could not
accomplish it when we were in relationship with Jesus, hardly can they do so
without that relationship.
Some people
feel that this rejection is the unforgivable sin, but that would imply again
that Jesus’ sacrifice was insufficient. The only truly unforgivable sin is the
one we do not confess to Jesus, for we are promised He will forgive us of every
confessed sin.[ii]
Apparently it is we and not Jesus that chooses to make any of our sins
unforgivable. This continual process of confession and forgiveness will
continue until the Parousia, for we continue to dwell in our bodies with all
their carnal desires. This is why our bodies continue to die even though we may
have given ourselves to Christ.[iii]
As we drag this unrighteous weight through life, it continually attempts to
draw us toward death through sin, but because we cannot free ourselves from its
embrace, we are instead given the promise of forgiveness through recognition of
our sad state and subsequent confession of our failings.
Perhaps those
who advocate perfectionism simply wish to cover this struggle up and ignore the
ever-present miasma of our sinful, diseased flesh. But no amount of
self-righteousness is an adequate deodorizer to drive away the stench of death
that attends us. The perfectionist may wish us to only listen to his or her
words, but our nostrils bring us a different story. That story tells us that
this person is no different than us, and the only thing they may have developed
to a higher degree is the ability to convince themselves that their sins are
gone, when in fact they may only be hidden, not only from our view but perhaps theirs
as well. As in the example in the verses at the top of this commentary, Peter
could not even see his own failings and assured Jesus that he would never fall
away. However, Jesus, who knew that Peter’s profession of the perfection of his
faith was self-deceiving, gave him a revelation that would open his heart and
mind to his true condition when the time was right. Ultimately, the cock did
crow, and Peter’s prideful self-righteousness was placed in the dust, leaving
him broken-hearted and teachable.
The second
theological fallacy is that there are two classes of Christians, those who have
achieved perfection and those who have not. This false assumption may create a
Christian “elite” who feel it is their responsibility to play Holy Spirit for
the rest and direct them into perfect obedience. But this is a case of the
blind leading the blind. Those who themselves are not sinless (only Christ is)
are attempting to lead others to be perfectly obedient, a euphemism for sinless.
But righteousness, even the righteousness of ongoing sanctification of our
characters, (Remember our bodies are definitely not sanctified in this life.) cannot
be accomplished through our efforts, for the Bible tells us it is all God’s
work, not ours.[iv]
The desire is God’s; the actual doing is God’s. Apparently we cannot even will
ourselves to be obedient. So where does this pernicious heresy of perfectionism
come from? Perhaps we can discover the answer to that by examining the fruit of
that tree.[v]
These
perfectionists seem to take a perverse delight in pointing out to other
Christians how their disobedience means they do not have a real relationship
with Jesus. Such accusations and condemnations are far from the ministry of
Jesus who did not come to condemn anyone.[vi]
Instead, His purpose was to offer hope and salvation to all. There is only one
in the Bible who is known as the Accuser, and it is not Jesus. We are told that
the Devil is the Accuser of the brethren.[vii]
In the Greek, he is called diabolos,
one who thrusts through with his spear. Those who have been pierced with the
spear of accusation know how painful that can be. Whether the accusation is
true or false, it has little bearing on its effectiveness as a weapon against
the church. It unravels unity and destroys the peace of Christ. The message of
Christ is not about judgment, but salvation. We are not to trumpet one another’s
failings, but rather encourage one another with the hope of a Savior who has made
possible a new future that will one day dawn without those failings.
Perhaps the
perfectionist’s appeal arises from our desire to be free of our corruptible
bodies. But if it is repugnant to our sanctified senses, imagine how it must
have been for Christ, who took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh.[viii]
It must have been much more horrible for him than for us. After all, we have
known nothing else. But He knew the purity of heaven, yet chose to put on the
same corruptible flesh we all carry about with us. Because of that choice, that
flesh tempted Him in all ways like it tempts us.[ix]
In spite of that constant presence of the temptation to corruption, He
persisted for over thirty-three years to the cross. We must also persist, in
spite of our corruptible bodies, to the day of our eventual glorification when
we shall see replaced what is corruptible with incorruption and what is mortal with
immortality.[x]
Perhaps
those who wish to urge perfectionism are driven by the passage in the Sermon on
the Mount, where we are told to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.[xi]
On the surface this may seem like a straight forward call to perfect obedience.
However, contextually, it is all about being perfect in love. The verse is
prefaced with a presentation on the need for us to love. That this is related
to being like God becomes clear when we consider that “God is love.”[xii]
This is all the more reason then for us to shy away from accusations and
self-righteousness.
Perhaps we should
understand that when it comes to our sanctification it is not dependent upon
the opinion or timetable of others. God is well able to accomplish His complete
work according to His timetable. He does not expect us to turn over the
completion of that work to someone other than Him.
The Protestant
Reformation took place because those reformers held that it was wrong for us to
transfer the responsibility for our salvation to any man. Instead they felt
that each should be able to stand before God with the Bible alone as guide (sola scriptura) with the Holy Spirit
leading each into the truth necessary for salvation. For any man or woman to
usurp the work of the Holy Spirit and serve as arbiter between God and man is
to overthrow that reformation. If we allow others to play Holy Spirit for us,
we are abetting that overthrow. We should not give up control over our
salvation to any man or woman. In as much as a church is a fellowship of sinful
men and women, we should not yield the control of our salvation to the church
either. Only in our own understanding are we able to stand before the judgment
seat of God, and only in our own confession are we able to find the forgiveness
that is the surety we seek. Our willing surrender is to God and God alone.
