Do you not feel, deep within your own soul, that perfection is not found in you? Does not each passing day teach you this truth? Every tear that falls from your eyes quietly confesses imperfection. Every careless or unkind word that escapes your lips declares the same. You have looked into your own heart too often to imagine, even for a moment, that perfection lives there.
Yet in the midst of this honest awareness of your weakness, here is strong and lasting comfort: you are “perfect in Christ Jesus.” In God’s sight, you are complete in Him. Even now, you are accepted in the Beloved. This perfection is not rooted in what you are, but in who Christ is for you.
But there is another perfection still ahead—one that is certain for every child of God. How joyful it is to look forward to the day when every trace of sin will be completely removed, and the believer will be presented before God’s throne without fault, without stain, without defect. The Church of Christ will then be so pure that even the all-seeing eye of God will find no blemish in her—so holy, so radiant, that the old hymn speaks truly:
“With my Saviour’s garments on,
Holy as the Holy One.”
Only then will we fully know, experience, and delight in the meaning of that short but mighty phrase: “Complete in Christ.” Not until then will we truly grasp the height, depth, and glory of Christ’s salvation. Does not your heart leap at the thought?
Dark as you are now, you will one day be pure. Defiled as you feel, you will be made completely clean. This is a wonderful salvation indeed. Christ takes a worm and transforms it into an angel. He takes what is stained and broken and makes it glorious—spotless, radiant, and fit for eternal fellowship with the holy ones of heaven.
O my soul, stand still and marvel at this blessed truth: perfection in Christ.