Jesus summarized the life God is purposing to take the believer into, and at the same time set a very high bar for us to look toward, saying, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Of course, perfection does not mean exact consistency with others – as though we were all clones of each other, acting in unison. Rather, it means flawless “right-ness”.
Right-ness (aka perfection) is a condition. Like our physical condition, it must be worked on to be gained. Like our physical condition, it must be also be maintained. Even Adam and Eve, who had rightness/perfection, and who lived in a perfect place in perfect peace, needed to work on their condition. In fact, God had warned them to be mindful that they could lose that condition, “…you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Unfortunately they were not so mindful, and they lost it. That fact is a sobering reminder that our spiritual condition is not a level we get to attain and then keep forever, like a war medal. It is far more a condition like physical fitness.
When an Olympian wins a gold medal, the different muscles, organs and tissues in their body work together – each stretches or contracts as needed, different kinds doing various kinds of ‘works’. Some pump blood, some pump air. Some contain the flowing blood and air. Some move instructions along nerves, some gather information, and some protect others from damage. But each kind does its part exactly as it was both designed and trained to do. It must do its part flawlessly for the athlete to perform well. In fact, if you think about it, you realize it must do its part very, very well for the body to do most anything at all.
If the heart were to start pumping as hard as it can whenever it wanted – as though to impress the rest of the body – the athlete would be in very sad shape when not competing. They would be in even worse shape if the heart (or any organ for that matter) decided that they wanted to slack off and stopped working altogether. Likewise, perfection (or ‘right-ness’) in the body of Christ means we all become all God meant for us to become, and we all do all that He wants us to do – when and how He wants us to do it.
For us who are individually members of His body, doing so is exhilarating and meaningful, and when the body as a whole works together with God’s purposes in mind, it is truly beautiful. It accomplishes tremendous good and literally does the work of God’s Kingdom. But it cannot be so if we as individuals only work when and as we wish, instead of entirely on His impulse. In short, there is a right way and a wrong way to work in “right-ness”. It depends entirely on our obedience in timing and action as well as on our own personal sanctification.
It is true of course that confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness in Jesus’ Name allows that we are washed completely clean of unrighteousness. For the Word says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Yet a lack of unrighteousness does not automatically mean a full storehouse of righteousness. Not only can you lose your right-ness through disobedience, trying to gain right-ness the wrong way can result in no gain at all.
Physically exercising the wrong way results in strains, pulled muscles and injuries. That hurts rather than helps. It restricts future movement, often for a significant period of time. In the same way, so also does doing the right things for the wrong reason or at the wrong time. As His body, we must pay heed to what the Head of the Church told us. For He warned us of the dangers of inappropriate spiritual exercise, saying, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
God made humans for a purpose: not simply for themselves, not simply so that they could be in relationship with him, but so that through them, as his image-bearers, he could bring his wise, glad, fruitful order to the world.
Tom Wright
APPLICATION: Intentionality
How are you practicing your righteousness?