Perfection
“‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.’”
Today’s Text: Matthew 23:25-39 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
I wonder if the only real difference between the teachers of the law and Pharisees and me is that I acknowledge that on the inside I am “full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” And for that I confess and repent in the name of Christ.
Also, my fear of the LORD is such that I do not assume that I fully comprehend the depth of my hypocrisy and wickedness, either. I wonder if my assessment of my own sinfulness is way more lenient than it actually deserves. And for that I confess and repent in the name of Christ, too.
One of the mantras of my life is to “strive for holiness with the unlimited grace I have through faith in Christ Jesus.” It is a mantra that is biblical.
If I am not striving for holiness, then I am in direct disobedience to Jesus Christ, who said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
At the same time, I must never think that whatever degree of holiness that I attain is credited to my account as righteousness. I must never even think that my striving for holiness is to be credited to my account, either.
First of all, the degree of holiness in me goes up and down with more volatility than the stock market. Second of all, whatever holiness I attain to can never fully offset or the hypocrisy and wickedness that lingers in my heart. Even the tiniest trace is not “perfection.” Third of all, I can never be the judge of such things, because my judgment will always be biased. Besides which, I didn’t create this world, and, therefore, I don’t make the rules.
And finally, to take any credit at all for any degree of holiness that I attain to spits in the face of the sacrifice that Christ made for me on the cross.
There is only one thing that makes me righteous. Christ in me. And that through faith alone by grace alone in Christ Jesus alone.
At the same time, I must never forget:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
— Ephesians 2:10
And we must never forget:
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
— James 2:26
Dead faith is not the faith that saves us. Because we must never forget:
“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
— Luke 20:38
Father, You alone are good. You alone are perfect. Yet it is Your desire to share Your perfection with us because of Your great love. I confess that I fall short of Your goodness even on my best days, because another minute always comes when I stumble. My hope is You alone. Thank You for Your faithfulness and persistence in loving me. I would be dead without Your kindness, no matter how perfect I tried to be. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
