Previously Featured Article
The Illusion Of Perfection
by JJ Dewey
If you talk to any standard religious person and say anything else about Jesus but that he is "the greatest, most perfect creator God of the universe." they will think you are speaking blasphemy.
Actually it is far from blasphemy for nowhere in the Bible is Jesus called perfect. All mentions of his perfection are a mistranslation. One of the main scriptures speaking of the perfection of Jesus is as follows:
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." (Heb 5:8-9)
Before we go on and discuss perfection it is important that we understand the word as it is used in the Bible. There are three basic Greek words that are translated as "perfect" or "perfection" in the King James Version. The first and most popular is TELEIOO and the corresponding TELEIOS. This word does not really mean perfection as we think of the word today, but more literally means "to finish, accomplish, or complete."
The second word is KATARTIZO. This word means to complete or finish, but in a different sense. TELEIOO has the implication of finishing a new work or effort one has taken on whereas KATARTIZO implies a restoration to something as it was in the past. Both words imply wholeness, but the first through a new task, the second through a restoration.
The third word is AKRIBELA and derivatives thereof. This is the closest Greek word to our modern word "perfect." It means: "to do a thing precisely and exactly correct." Paul used this word in reference to the way the Jews taught the law:
"I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the PERFECT (exact) manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as YE ALL ARE this day." (Acts 22:3)
When the Bible believing people of today talk about Jesus being perfect they usually use the word in the same sense that AKRIBELA was used. That is they think that Jesus obeyed all the laws "exactly." They think of his perfection in the sense that he never made one mistake, that he never broke one commandment and exactly obeyed every injunction from the Bible. He was beyond reproach.
Actually, AKRIBELA was never used in the Bible in association with Jesus. The ones who were seeking for perfection, exactness, or AKRIBELA were the ones he continually called "hypocrites." The Pharisees, Sadducees, the Doctors of the Law, Scribes, in other words, the basic religious people of the day were continually accusing Jesus of not being AKRIBELA or perfect enough in obeying the law.
The scripture says:
"THE LAW MADE NOTHING PERFECT, but the bringing in of a better hope (Christ) did; by which we draw nigh unto God." (Heb 7:19)
The word for perfect here is TELEIOO and is the one used in connection with the perfection of Jesus and has nothing to do with obeying the law thus the law cannot create TELEIOO, or the perfection of Christ.
Why do orthodox Christians say that Jesus was perfect because he obeyed all the laws when the Bible says "The law made NOTHING perfect"? Why do people worship Jesus and revere him as God because he exactly obeyed every law and scriptural injunction when the Bible says:
"That NO MAN is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. And the law is NOT of faith: but, the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." (Gal 3:11-13)
Here Paul boldly states that Jesus was not perfect (or AKRIBELA) because he broke the law by his very death. The Old Testament which Paul quoted stated that anyone who was hung on a tree (or cross) was "accursed of God." (See Deut 21:23) Therefore Paul explains that if righteousness comes by the law then Jesus was cursed because he was crucified on a cross made from a tree.
Why do you suppose it was in the plan of God that Jesus violated the law of perfection (AKRIBELA) to the extent that he was to be "accursed of God" by his very death? After all he permitted it to happen. Was it so we would look forward to something else besides a black and white interpretation for our salvation? If this is so, why do we put Jesus on a pedestal by saying he never broke a law? Why do we think of him as AKRIBELA (perfect) when he was not?
One of the main reasons that Jesus was rejected by the Jews is because he was not perfect or exacting enough for them in keeping the laws of God given through Moses. He did not have the black and white attitude of the typical pious person. He realized that there is a time and season for "every purpose under heaven" (Eccl 3:1) He knew that no carnal law could be written that was correct in every circumstance and taught that on the principle of love "hang ALL THE LAW and the prophets." (Matt 22:37-40)
Paul reinforced this and said: "For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." (Rom 13:8) He also taught us not to be concerned with "the letter (of the law), but the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." (Rom 3:6)
Now we will quote the whole scripture about the perfection of Jesus again so the reader can see the correct context:
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and BEING MADE PERFECT (he finished this task of learning obedience), he became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him." (Heb 5:8-9)
Amazingly, this scripture by itself clearly tells us that Jesus was not perfect throughout his entire life -- as the religious world defines perfection. It says: "Yet LEARNED he obedience by the things which he suffered." This tells us that there was a time in his life when he had not yet learned obedience and that he suffered for it. This reference tells us that Jesus came closer to perfection (as we use the word today) after he suffered. If he was perfect (AKRIBELA) from start to finish then why did he have to suffer to learn obedience?
Many Christians today have the idea that Jesus was so perfect that he never made one mistake, that he did not have to learn obedience but it was automatic with him because he was God. Why should God have to learn obedience from God? They think that he completely and literally obeyed every injunction in the Bible, and that he was a rigid lawkeeper. As we can see, this has no basis in the Bible. The Bible does, however, show us that he was the most perfect expression of love that ever walked the earth.
Another common misconception concerns Jesus being The Creator. The creative force of the Universe is the Son or Christ principle. The Christ principle is that mediating energy between spirit and matter called soul. The Christ is a position occupied by one individual who is a master of balancing spirit and matter on each inhabited planet. There are millions of Christ positions throughout the Universe, but only one principle that is manifest everywhere and creates all there is. In addition all of us who become one with the inner Christ become one in Spirit with the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God. We become part of the body of Christ.
--End Of Article--
Read thousands of articles just like this at JJ Dewey's website: FreeRead.Com