Perfection

Philippians 3:12

"I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me."

I believe it was a guy by the name of Abelard who wrote a book on the ethics of Christianity. In it, he states that intention matters more than action, which sounds like a nice idea. Intend to do what is right and it's all good.

Doesn't it give you a nice sense of security?

Unfortunately it isn't quite as quaint or nice as it sounds. It can get much more thick and ugly than that.

Paul suffered terrible amounts for the good news of Jesus. He again and again states that suffering is what refines us into more devoted servants to Jesus.

I think we can safely say that if Paul had not reached perfection after suffering as much as he did, even if that perfection is confined only to his intention to do what is right, then we are likely even further from that perfection.

Maybe intending to do what is right is harder than it sounds.

Paul seems especially honest in the verse above, like he's letting us in on a secret or giving us some quiet encouragement.

I think he's admitting how difficult it is to follow Jesus perfectly and in the same breath encouraging us to press on toward doing so.

Jesus first possessed us, giving us that perfection, and in possessing us he continues to work in us to one day make us perfect.

If we're honest, we'll admit that our intentions are rarely as pure as we hope they are, but they're the most honest test we have for knowing how well we're following Jesus.

So we should press on and be honest with our intentions.

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