September 18

so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. — 2 Tim 3:17 BSB

What perfection is being referred to here? Certainly not perfection in the flesh—that is merely the fantasy of free will and Arminianism. The perfection spoken of here, and elsewhere, refers to being well-established and grounded in faith. As the Apostle says in Hebrews 5:14, “Solid food is for those who are mature” (or, as the margin reads, “perfect”), “who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Christian perfection, then, does not mean sinlessness in the flesh, but maturity in the divine life—being what we might call a spiritual adult, or as the Apostle terms it, “a man in Christ.”

When Paul says, “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect,” he means those who are no longer spiritual children, tossed about by every wind of doctrine, but who have been given a measure of Christian wisdom and strength. This maturity, called “perfection” in Scripture, is only obtained through suffering. It’s only in the furnace of affliction that the dross of self-righteousness is purged away, and the soul comes out “a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful to the Master.”

Even the Lord Jesus was made “perfect by suffering,” and there is no other way for his followers to be made spiritually perfect. Until someone has been led into suffering, they do not know the sweetness of the truth. We are filled with pride, presumption, and self-righteousness, but when the soul is baptized into suffering, it becomes established in the truth, strengthened in the things of God, and conformed to the image of Christ.