Colossians 1:28-29 (NIV)
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Paul’s goals had shifted over the years. At first, his goal was to announce Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, and to convince as many Jewish people as possible to receive Him for salvation. He was quite effective at this, in part because he himself had been widely known as a rabid anti-Christian in his earlier days.
Even as Paul continued to reach out to the Jews with the gospel, God had opened his heart to a new dimension of ministry: bringing the gospel to the gentiles throughout the Roman Empire. He was effective in this as well, still trying to keep the door to salvation open to the Jews, but now receiving warmly all the gentiles who wanted to come in. As his focus shifted mostly to working with the gentiles, he never lost his zeal for the salvation of his own people, the Jews.
Now that Paul was under house arrest, and had limited mobility, his focus was shifting further. Even though he was powerfully evangelistic whenever there were non-Christians around him, after having converted most or all of these who had regular contact with him, even those in Caesar’s household (Philippians 4:22), he was now more focused on discipling the Christians who came to see him, or to whom he could write.
His goal with them was lofty: to present them all perfect in Christ. The word Paul uses here is teleion which has a full range of meanings, including perfect, mature, and completely fulfilling the role for which something was made. And Paul had all of those in mind when he chose this word.
Paul intended for each Christian to be morally perfect, living out of a center of complete agape love. This God-imparted love would fill every part of them, moving them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, (Mark 12:30), eliminating any drive to rebel against God or His commands, and inspiring an absolute willingness to obey His every commandment. This agape love would move them to love their neighbor as themselves (Mark 12:31), thus doing away with any possibility of willingly or knowingly sinning against their fellow man, either relationally or in business. And it would move them to love their fellow Christians with the same sacrificial love which Jesus had demonstrated toward them (John 15:12-13), thus doing away with sin among the ranks of the Christians that could stem from self-interest, jealousy, or competition.
The second aspect of this perfection is maturity. The gold standard of Christian maturity is and always has been the life and character of Jesus Himself (Ephesians 4:11-16). This kind of Christlike maturity cannot be achieved through reformation, simply striving to do better. It can only come through transformation, allowing the Holy Spirit to chip away everything in our life that is not like Jesus, and to refine and purify everything else, until we are remade from the heart out into the spitting image of Jesus.
The final aspect of this perfection is completely fulfilling the role for which a person was made. A pen that writes well is a perfect pen in this sense because it is doing what it was designed to do. A bird that sings, flies, builds nests, lays eggs, and produces more birds in its own image is a perfect bird, because it is doing what God designed it to do.
Likewise, when a morally complete, Christ-like disciple responds to God’s calling on their life, and when they wholeheartedly fulfill the role God has called them to fill, they are perfect in this sense too, because they are faithfully and fully completing the role to which God has called them.
Paul had all three of these aspects in mind, and in each interaction with the Christians around him, he was working to help them to grow in all three areas, so that they were ready to stand before God’s throne, morally pure, Christlike in their character, and actively engaged in doing the work to which God had called them. Such a Christian has nothing to fear at the last judgment, because their life itself will testify to the reality of their faith in Jesus.
Father, we tend to shy away from the word “perfect”, even though you moved the writers of the New Testament to use it frequently. When we see these three aspects, it helps us to understand what You mean by it more completely. It’s still not attainable by mere human effort, but we can at least see why the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts is essential, not in a single “crisis” experience, but in every moment of every day, melting us, molding us, shaping us, and filling us in every area, so that in the end, we have only You to thank for what you have achieved in us. (As well as the work of our pastors, leaders, and mentors who urged us to keep ourselves continually open and available so You could do that work in us!) Thank you, Lord, for Your impossibly high standard, and for Your work in our lives that makes meeting that standard ultimately possible. Amen.
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Paul’s goals had shifted over the years. At first, his goal was to announce Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, and to convince as many Jewish people as possible to receive Him for salvation. He was quite effective at this, in part because he himself had been widely known as a rabid anti-Christian in his earlier days.
Even as Paul continued to reach out to the Jews with the gospel, God had opened his heart to a new dimension of ministry: bringing the gospel to the gentiles throughout the Roman Empire. He was effective in this as well, still trying to keep the door to salvation open to the Jews, but now receiving warmly all the gentiles who wanted to come in. As his focus shifted mostly to working with the gentiles, he never lost his zeal for the salvation of his own people, the Jews.
Now that Paul was under house arrest, and had limited mobility, his focus was shifting further. Even though he was powerfully evangelistic whenever there were non-Christians around him, after having converted most or all of these who had regular contact with him, even those in Caesar’s household (Philippians 4:22), he was now more focused on discipling the Christians who came to see him, or to whom he could write.
His goal with them was lofty: to present them all perfect in Christ. The word Paul uses here is teleion which has a full range of meanings, including perfect, mature, and completely fulfilling the role for which something was made. And Paul had all of those in mind when he chose this word.
Paul intended for each Christian to be morally perfect, living out of a center of complete agape love. This God-imparted love would fill every part of them, moving them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, (Mark 12:30), eliminating any drive to rebel against God or His commands, and inspiring an absolute willingness to obey His every commandment. This agape love would move them to love their neighbor as themselves (Mark 12:31), thus doing away with any possibility of willingly or knowingly sinning against their fellow man, either relationally or in business. And it would move them to love their fellow Christians with the same sacrificial love which Jesus had demonstrated toward them (John 15:12-13), thus doing away with sin among the ranks of the Christians that could stem from self-interest, jealousy, or competition.
The second aspect of this perfection is maturity. The gold standard of Christian maturity is and always has been the life and character of Jesus Himself (Ephesians 4:11-16). This kind of Christlike maturity cannot be achieved through reformation, simply striving to do better. It can only come through transformation, allowing the Holy Spirit to chip away everything in our life that is not like Jesus, and to refine and purify everything else, until we are remade from the heart out into the spitting image of Jesus.
The final aspect of this perfection is completely fulfilling the role for which a person was made. A pen that writes well is a perfect pen in this sense because it is doing what it was designed to do. A bird that sings, flies, builds nests, lays eggs, and produces more birds in its own image is a perfect bird, because it is doing what God designed it to do.
Likewise, when a morally complete, Christ-like disciple responds to God’s calling on their life, and when they wholeheartedly fulfill the role God has called them to fill, they are perfect in this sense too, because they are faithfully and fully completing the role to which God has called them.
Paul had all three of these aspects in mind, and in each interaction with the Christians around him, he was working to help them to grow in all three areas, so that they were ready to stand before God’s throne, morally pure, Christlike in their character, and actively engaged in doing the work to which God had called them. Such a Christian has nothing to fear at the last judgment, because their life itself will testify to the reality of their faith in Jesus.
Father, we tend to shy away from the word “perfect”, even though you moved the writers of the New Testament to use it frequently. When we see these three aspects, it helps us to understand what You mean by it more completely. It’s still not attainable by mere human effort, but we can at least see why the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts is essential, not in a single “crisis” experience, but in every moment of every day, melting us, molding us, shaping us, and filling us in every area, so that in the end, we have only You to thank for what you have achieved in us. (As well as the work of our pastors, leaders, and mentors who urged us to keep ourselves continually open and available so You could do that work in us!) Thank you, Lord, for Your impossibly high standard, and for Your work in our lives that makes meeting that standard ultimately possible. Amen.