Every year the church concentrates its attention on understanding God’s awesome plan of salvation by keeping His Holy Days.
From the Passover through the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day, Christians have been made aware that God, indeed, has a plan of salvation, and that each Holy Day is a milestone in His countdown to Christ’s return. God shows His concern for His people by carefully insuring that much physical and spiritual pleasure is provided for them.
God wants Christians to know His plan of salvation. That is why on each Holy Day we ask the question “Why are we here?” This year’s cycle of Holy Days is over, following one of the most challenging years the Church has faced and one of the most productive and stirring Feasts ever. The question to be asked—with all of the Holy Days behind us—what does a Christian do now?
It does not take long for Christians to realize they are back from the Feast. The world makes itself known very quickly. It is the same old job, the same old people on the job, the same old schoolmates and teachers—the carnal world and its overwhelming influence. Often, one can hardly even remember the Feast, if it were not for the photos one took. There are five more months before it all starts again with the Passover. So the question is, just what do Christians do until then?
Paul gives us a strong exhortation in the book of Hebrews. “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” (Hebrews 6:1). We must go on to perfection. The Apostle Paul is saying Christians cannot just simply rest, they must move forward in a positive manner.
God has given specialized doses of His word on each Holy Day and a concentrated dose during the Feast. It is almost as if He is allowing Christians to be alone for five months to see how they will do—testing their spiritual abilities. Throughout the Holy Days, God has fed His people. But He wants to know what they are going to do with this food during the next five months when they will have opportunity to bear fruit.
There is a need to take a closer look at this word “perfection.” The Random House dictionary says: “It is the state or quality of being perfect... excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement.” A much better definition is in the translation of the Greek word, teleiotes, having to do with intelligent, moral and spiritual perfection. To understand this we must look at the root word, teleios, defined as “a thing brought to its end, finished, wanting nothing necessary to completeness, full grown, adult, of full age, mature.”
Jesus Christ said that perfection is absolutely necessary for a Christian and He provides an attainable standard for mankind. “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This concept is central to the Father’s love of all of mankind; a love Christians must cultivate if they are to be perfect as He is (vv. 43–45).
Perfection has one major component without which man cannot be complete. “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:12–14). The same Greek word teleiotes is used, but notice that it is expressed in the fruit of love. In fact Paul uses the word “bond,” meaning the uniting principle of perfection. Without love there can be no perfection!
One of the main reasons this world is in its current condition is that, outside of the Church of God, there is very little Godly love in it. This world disobeys God, and ignores His word, and therefore cannot rightly love and therefore cannot be perfect. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:3–5).
Why is God’s Church different? It is different because it keeps His word and faithfully expresses it by keeping His Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath. But it is not just a Christian’s effort alone. Christians must yield to Jesus Christ and His spirit in them (Hebrews 13:20–21). The Apostle Peter speaks of a balance of our effort and God’s careful love. “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter. 5:10). Suffering speaks of the Christians’ part in the perfection process. They must experience life that is contrary to what they know is God’s way, to experience that only God’s way produces love, joy and peace.
Peter used a different Greek word for perfect, but it has much the same effect. It is katartizo: “to mend (what has been broken or rent), ethically: to strengthen, perfect, complete, make one what he ought to be.” Man apart from God is broken. He is rent (torn) from God’s initial plan at creation because of sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23–24). God taught Adam and Eve everything they needed to know about His plan for them (Genesis 2:15–17), much as Christians today are taught by observing the plan of salvation depicted by the Holy Days. Then God left them alone for a period of time, testing them. Satan, as a serpent, convinced them that disobeying God was no problem.
Attaining perfection may look a bit daunting at first glance. Both God and Jesus Christ know that if Christians want to attain perfection it is going to be a challenging battle. But it is a necessary one, which they can win. They must overcome Satan, who is a hater of perfection. Remember he was perfect before he sinned and he is going to oppose anyone who attempts to attain perfection. “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:15).
Christians need to remain focused on what God has prepared for them. The Apostle Paul wrote. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected (teleios); but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature (teleios), have this mind: and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you” (Philippians 3:13–15).
To be perfected or mature, in this sense, means to understand God’s plan for man and to work as hard as one can to be in harmony with it, to walk with God and Christ and follow those He uses as they follow Christ (vv. 16–17). Christ is the center of this process (vv. 20–21). But Christ said that there is a work involved in attaining perfection, a work that a Christian must perform. “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come follow me” (Matthew 19:21).
Many Christians today underplay the importance of the church and its ministry in helping to mold that perfection and maturity. But ministerial examples have an important bearing on a Christian’s life. The ministry’s special calling is a major focal point helping brethren develop spiritually (Ephesians 4:11–16).
In a similar vein, Christians, as they work towards perfection, need to keep current with the truth that God reveals through His word by the Church, which is “the pillar and ground of truth” (2 Timothy 3:14–17). The Bible is a handbook on perfection. Church members need to study the handbook diligently. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Why is this important? The example of Philip and the Ethiopian makes it clear. The Spirit moved Philip to reveal the truth to someone seeking it diligently. “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him” (Acts 8:30–31). This does not mean someone cannot understand truth apart from the Church, but those striving for perfection do need those whom God has inspired to understand.
How does knowing and studying God’s Word help one to go on to perfection? It provides practical formulas connecting God’s laws to everyday relationships with others. Christ amplified the Ten Commandments while He was living on the earth and He inspired the epistle-writers to define them further for even more practical applications.
As an example, Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians is one of the most specific letters on perfecting individual character. Paul encourages fellow Christians by outlining their walk with Jesus Christ as they live their day-by-day lives. A Christian should walk in unity (Ephesians 4:1–16), walk in love (Ephesians 5: 1–7), walk in light (vv. 8–14) and walk in wisdom (vv. 15–21). Paul also introduces some of the most moving descriptions in the Bible of how to achieve the ideal marriage (vv. 22–33). Paul concludes his epistle with one of the best formulas for attaining Christian perfection found in the Bible (Ephesians 6:10–17).
For practicing Christians, enduring trials and tests as they pursue righteousness helps to develop perfection. But it takes time, and there is a need for patience. What God has in store for us will take time to develop. “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:7–11)! Those God has used throughout history displayed extreme patience in the face of heavy trials, and Christians are to emulate their approach (vv. 10–11).
These examples are listed as a permanent monument in what is called the faith chapter of the Bible, Hebrews 11. They were men and women of faith: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the harlot Rahab, and many others, whom Paul calls a “cloud of witnesses” to enduring faith (Hebrews 12:1). Christians—who likewise faithfully endure going on to perfection—are linked with them in the promises. “…God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us” (Hebrews 11:40).
The trials Christians face relate to the perfection being sought. Paul likens them to being trained in warfare “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:1–3).
Some assume that personal striving for perfection is an attempt to gain salvation by works. Others claim it is an exercise in selfishness. Both positions are mistaken. God commands Christians to work at being overcomers. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13).
But is all this work toward perfection only for a selfish cause? To believe so is to miss the real purpose of God’s plan of salvation and what the individual Feast days really represent. A Christian strives for perfection for one of the most unselfish reasons imaginable. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:18–21).
Christians are the hope of the world! God and Christ desire us to join their family. If a Christian desires that too—to be finished, lacking nothing necessary to completeness, to be full grown, adult, of full age, mature, and wanting it enough to “...go on to perfection...” then it will be a very short and profitable winter ahead!