It seems to me that the concept of being perfect is ignored by Christianity. I’ve never heard a Christian even speak of being perfect or even desiring perfection. The concept is right there in the Bible, but never seems to be taken seriously.
Certainly, there are mixed messages.
On one hand, the Bible diminishes the status of humans to that of a worm- or a maggot, deceitful and deserving of hell.
The Bad and The Ugly Verses About Us
In the beginning, or darn near it, the god of the Bible, Yahweh, quickly saw that the humans he created were severely flawed.
Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
I won’t delve into the lack of foresight of Yahweh, the god of the Bible, in this post, but this is interesting. Humans were so bloody awful that Yahweh regretted making us.
Genesis 6:6-7 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
(Since he regretted making humans, he decided to destroy us all, along with the animals he made – with the exception of Noah and his family, along with some of the animals who could keep the human race, as well as various animals species alive.
This post is not about the lack of foresight of Yahweh. That is a future post. However, it should be mentioned that this attempt to purge evil from the flood was also a flawed idea. No sooner had the waters of the flood receded, one of the sons of Noah, Ham, committed evil against him.)
The Bible literally describes mortals as maggot and worm-like in two verses.
Job 25:6 How much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
a human being, who is only a worm!
Psalm 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
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It looks like, according to the god that takes credit for creating us, did so with deceitful hearts and desperately sick.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Here we are being compared to ‘filthy rags’.
Isaiah 46:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
I could easily go on quoting verses about how awful we humans are. There are many. We’re not supposed to feel good about ourselves.
I could also very easily go off on another tangent about how this god created us so very flawed, who also takes credit for creating evil and then punishes us forever due to his very own design flaw. However I will not do that in this post.
Instead let’s see the verses that show that we can be ‘perfect’.
Pssst! Hey You! You Wanna Be Perfect?
No one in Christian circles is shouting the idea that humans can be perfect from the rooftops. The narrative what we’re lowly and horrible humans is far more familiar, much more common and preached about far more often than any idea that shows us that humans can attain perfection.
The Overlooked Passages That Tell Us That Some Humans Were “Perfect”
Genesis 6:9 says that Noah was perfect. “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”
The Condoned Abuse Of Job, The Perfect Man
Job deserves a special mention. In no uncertain terms, we are told that Job was perfect. In fact, it was his perfection that made him a target – not so much from the devil, but from the god of the Bible himself.
Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”
Due to Job’s perfection, the god of the Bible, Yahweh, decided to initiate a contest with his enemy, the devil. Here is another verse, also mentioning Job’s perfection.
Job 1:8 “And the Lord said unto Satan, “Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who feareth God and escheweth evil?”
A brief synopsis of the story is that the god of the Bible allowed his enemy, the devil, to abuse Job in many various ways – taking his his assets, giving him painful body sores, killing his animals and finally killing his children.
Why did this god allow all of this abuse to Job? By all accounts, it looks like this god did this for bragging rights. He knew that no matter what kind of abuse was thrown at Job, that Job would remain faithful to this god. In this contest, Yahweh wins, the devil loses.
Jesus Told The Rich Man How To Be Perfect
It is strange how Christians ignore the verse where Jesus explains, quite simply, how to become perfect.
In fact, Jesus also tells the man that in order to gain eternal life, he should keep the commandments – specifically six of them. Here is the first part of that story.
Matthew 19:16-19
And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(The Contradiction – Incidentally, Jesus tells another man something somewhat different to the same question of how to inherit eternal life. In Luke 10:25-28 we see that Jesus tells the man he need only keep two of the commandments, not six.)
From the Matthew 19 account when the man told Jesus that he did, in fact, keep the commandments, Jesus went on to tell him how he could actually also, become perfect.
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
There you go. Sell possessions, follow Jesus and you will be perfect! In this story, since the man had a lot of earthly treasures, at that moment, he walked away, saddened that he was not prepared to sell off his possessions to become perfect.
Jesus Literally Prayed For Believers To Become Perfect
Jesus final prayer is pretty much ignored in Christian circles. He prayed that the believers have the same relationship to the Father that he had, and the same oneness he had experienced as well as that the believers be made ‘perfect’.
Here is the portion of that prayer that I am referencing.
John 17:20-23 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
(If you’re interested in more of the New Testament verses that are ignored by Christians today, check out this post.
Here is another scriptural reference is where Jesus is telling people to be perfect.
Matthew 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Conclusion
The logical conclusion is that the Bible truly gives mixed messages. It’s not perfect. It is confusion.
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