NOBODY IS PERFECT Many have faulted the spirituality in this statement “nobody is perfect”; to which they quote scriptures that obliges men to embrace the perfect nature of Christ. Be ye holy as I am holy…, as He is so are we in this world… etc, are some of the verses they quote to ascertain their case. Further, in opposition some claim the phrase excites Christians to continue in sin, some see no virtue in it, others think it pollutes their saintship & to some it violates entirely their crave for perfection & challenges their pant & desire for holiness. But, “nobody is perfect” is truly a scriptural statement. In support of this statement I shall, (1)Show what is not intended when this phrase is used (what it does not mean) (2)Show what I understand to be intended when this phrase is used (what it means) (1) To be perfect, the dictionary says is to be without errors, flaws or fault; to be complete & whole; to be lacking nothing; to be excellent & ideal. I shud say here that when this statement is made, its deployment is not to be understood in such a sense that renders holiness impossible, or total obedience unattainable. It does not mean that Christian are wholly incapable of staying without sin –both in commission and omission( of cause they are many people leaving without sin, enjoying in total their death to sin & the flesh, they are many people living in total purity of mind & body). Many are example of people in the bible & even in our time that lived & are living in holiness & deep consecration. An aged woman once said to a preacher: “my son, for the past 30 years I have not known condemnation, in all these years I am not aware to have committed a known sin”. Our walk, our judgments, reactions, behavior, love, faith, volition, will, desire, consecration & such of all that will make us goodly, holy & without a spot of this perishing world are the only possible way that the word “perfection” is thus used in all circumstances of the above quoted scriptures. I concluding this section, I wil clearly say that holiness, death to sin & character, virtue & the likes are not the targeted objects to which “nobody is perfect” is deployed. Conformity to His image & likeness are possible obligations. 2: I shall now show the sense in which the phrase “nobody is perfect” is, to my understanding, often used. Since we have above shown that holiness, self & the likes are not the sense in which the statement is made; then one will ask, in what sense then it is statement true; I answer, in constituted natures, in constitution, in deity, in knowledge, in wisdom, in immutability, in purpose. In fact, when this phraseology is viewed in this wise, to say one attains this perfection were to be proud & insincere. To ever assume anyone is perfect in this context without provoking heavens is impossible! For who can boldly say they indeed carry the true nature of Christ as He is presently? Pick any person of your choosing, whom u so trust is perfect, then view such a person again in this context-such a one will immediately fall far below this perfection & wil, infact seem pitiful & in need of grace the most. Who can ever claim they have prayed just enuf as they wud have, or have acquired the exact knowledge that they wud have? For isnt it the limitations of this nature the major reason while a major prophet like Samuel wud choose Eliab instead of David? Are we to now assume that Samuels’s imperfection here is relative to sin or holiness? Nope! “Nobody is perfect” is never about sin or holiness. For everyone knows Samuel was a holy man. Strikingly, all confronters of this statement always admit that there are not yet “perfect” as at the time they so air their views, so, my question to them is this; do they mean they are not yet perfect in such a sense that they are still sinning? Or shud we understand them to mean that they are not yet perfect in the knowledge and fullness of God?-which to my understanding they will NEVER be till the Lord returns. The former will be sheer nonsense & a display of gross ignorance but the latter biblical. One might be tempted to attribute these imperfections & dependencies to the fall. But nay, it was evidently visible even bfor man fell from his first estate; that the LORD came down always to commune with man is another sign of man’s imperfection; his necessary dependency-it is not an imperfection in itself, but a sine quo non to perfection, without which the lORD will cease to be a moral governor, and His universe a moral government. Don’t we know that if God made us perfect small small systems in this manner, it wud promote our independencies & loose our dependencies? This will not be wise in God, “it will make Him a good mechanic instead of a true governor of the universe. “ Who wil boldy say, shud 100 more years be added to my days I will attain to this fullness & perfection, in both knowledge, wisdom, purpose & constitution? Isn’t Apostle Paul himself a promoter of this truth? “I have not attained neither am I yet perfect”-Phil 3:12-14. “Nobody is perfect “only amplifies our dependencies, not a confession to the presence of sin. Oh! Nobody is perfect is indeed a true statement. Aren’t our daily bible study, prayer & church meetings a testimony to this? Isn’t the reason the bible says we will be like Him when we see Him? To conclude I wil like to say that this matter is very simple “nobody is perfect” is wholly a scriptural statement when viewed relative to deity. It only looses it trueness when deployed to mean an impossibility of the absence of sin-self. Isaac Jootar (Mercy & Grace)
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 12:03:16 +0000
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