| October 15, 2000 |
Vol. III, No. 24
|
The Bible says, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins” (Eccl. 7:20, NASB).
“Nobody’s perfect” is a very common expression. It is often used, and very often abused. Let’s look a little closer at this observation.
CORRECT USES OF THE EXPRESSION. There are, as our text indicates, some correct applications of this common phrase. Obviously, nobody is sinlessly perfect. All have sinned (past tense) and all fall short (present tense) of the glory of God, Rom. 3:10, 23. Jesus, of course, was an exception, for He never sinned at all, 1 Pet. 2:21-22; 2 Cor. 5:21.
But strange as it may sound to our ears, the Bible does not use the term “perfect” to mean sinlessness. We will have more to say about this later, but for now, note that Heb. 9:11 uses the expression “more perfect.”
The phrase, “nobody’s perfect” is sometimes used as a means of encouragement and consolation for those who have erred. It can be reassuring to remind ourselves that we are not alone in having blundered into sin. Abraham, Moses, David, Peter -- and all other saints of Old and New Testament times have sometimes erred and had to make corrections in their lives. Nobody’s perfect.
ABUSES OF THE PHRASE. And yet the phrase, “nobody’s perfect” is often abused. The enemies of the Bible use this expression to claim that the Bible contradicts itself. After all, the Bible clearly teaches that none of us are sinless, yet Noah is described in Gen. 6:9 as “a just man and perfect in his generations.” Job is described as “perfect and upright and one that feareth God and escheweth evil” (Job 1:1). Jesus commands His disciples to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48), and Paul suggests in Phil. 3:15 that some to whom he was writing were perfect. (All these verses are being viewed in the KJV).
Note, as we have already suggested that the word “perfect,” in the Bible, is not used to discuss sinlessness. The Hebrew word describing Noah means “sound.” Noah was not sinless, but he was sound in his faith toward God. The word used to describe Job suggests “moral uprightness.” Job’s life was not flawless, but he was morally upright. The Greek word that is translated “perfect” in the New Testament Scriptures carries the idea of completeness or maturity. Disciples should seek to be complete in their love -- including enemies as well as friends -- just as God is complete in His love. The people that Paul referred to in Phil. 3:5 were spiritually mature. The New King James translations renders it thus.
Sometimes the phrase “nobody’s perfect” is used to excuse or dismiss sin -- sort of a half-hearted “apology” for failure. “So what? Nobody’s perfect.” Note that the popularity of sin, even the universality of it, does not excuse it nor justify it, Rom. 1:20.
Sometimes the phrase “nobody’s perfect” is used to deny a need for church discipline -- or at least to deny our right to practice it. There were numerous problems in the church at Corinth, yet Paul clearly admonished them to withdraw from the person who was guilty of such fornication as even pagans would not have condoned. Their own mistakes and shortcomings were no excuse for their tolerance of gross immorality. For his own good, and for the good of others, they needed to withdraw from the fornicator in their presence, 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 11.
“NOBODY’S PERFECT.” That is why Jesus came to die for us. We have all sinned, and the wages of sin is death, Rom. 6:23. The soul that sins will die, Ezek. 18:20. No man can pay for his own sins and survive the penalty. But Jesus, who had no sin, gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ was made to be sin for us -- that is, a sacrifice for our sin -- so that we could become “righteous,” justified, forgiven. This blessing takes place “in Him.” But how do we get into Him?
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27). When the gospel is preached to honest and good hearts, it produces faith which leads to obedience and the forgiveness of sin. “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).
--CRJ
In Matt. 18:1-4, we learn that Jesus’ disciples came to Him and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
It is not uncommon for people to want to attain greatness. This was most likely not the first sign of rivalry among the apostles as to who would be the greatest. It certainly was not the last occasion that Jesus had to deal with this problem. See Matt. 20:20-28; 23:8-11, and John 13:5-17.
It might help us to understand the apostles’ plight if we remind ourselves that they viewed Jesus as the potential King who would free Israel from Roman domination and lead them back to glory as a nation as in the days of Solomon. Their concept of His kingdom was physical, political, outward. They expected to receive places of high authority is such a government -- secretary of state, secretary of war, prime minister, etc. They wanted to be the ones to sit at His right and His left hand in His kingdom.
They did not yet understand that Jesus did not come to earth to challenge the political power of Caesar. Make no mistake about it, He could have and would have fought and conquered Caesar if that had been what He came to do. He had no such desired goal.
On at least one occasion, Jesus’ followers tried to persuade, even to “force” Him to become a political military ruler, John 6:15. He resisted and refused their offer.
Even as Jesus ended His earthly ministry, His closest followers still expected Him to take some kind of steps to seize the reins of government. And after His resurrection, they were looking for Him to restore political power to the Jews, Acts 1:6. In a few days, the Holy Spirit would come upon them and guide them into all truth. But until then, they still did not understand.
Strange as it may seem, Pilate appears to have understood the true nature of Christ’s kingdom better at the time of the crucifixion than any of the Lord’s disciples did. After examining Christ as to the charges brought against Him -- after Jesus explained, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) -- Pilate spoke, “I find no fault in him at all” (John 18:40). Pilate clearly understood that Jesus did not claim to be a rival to the throne of Caesar. Jesus’ kingdom was not worldly but spiritual. And His followers needed to become converted to the humility of little children in order to fully experience and benefit from His spiritual reign.
–CRJ
Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain and gathering them around Him, He taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, blessed are they that mourn, blessed are the merciful, blessed are they that thirst for justice, blessed are you when persecuted, blessed are you when you suffer. Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven.
Then Simon Peter said, Are we supposed to know this?
And Andrew said, Do we have to write this down?
And James said, Will we have a test on this?
And Philip said, I don’t have any paper.
And Bartholomew said, Do we have to turn this in?
And John said, The other disciples didn’t have to learn this.
And Matthew said, May I go to the boys’ room?
And Judas said, What does this have to do with real life?
Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan and inquired of Jesus, Where is your anticipatory set and your objectives in the cognitive domain?
And Jesus wept.
--author unknown
If you don’t say it, they can’t repeat it.