The Goal of the Gospel

William M. Greathouse

“That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
(Colossians 1:28)

SCRIPTURE LESSON:

Colossians 1:21-28

Paul’s thought here is bold. He sees his own sufferings for Christ as filling up or completing the sufferings of the Saviour himself. Jesus died to save the Church; but if that atoning sacrifice is to be efficacious in converting others and building them up in Christ, if the Church is to be enlarged as His body, then to Christ’s passion must be added the sufferings of those who are his servants and ministers. “I, Paul, am made a minister” he writes, “who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” Again he reminds another church, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).

And how does Paul envision his task as the suffering servant of the suffering Saviour? To make known to all men the secret counsel of God which was hidden before the advent of Christ, but which is now revealed in the Church—“Christ in you, the hope of glory”—for every human being. “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (italics mine).

“Every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” What a vision! What a commission! “Every man” means there is no limit in the scope of our commission as Christ’s ministers. “There are no heights of Christian attainment which are not within the reach of all, by the power of divine grace” (F. F. Bruce). Moreover, every one may be “perfect.” This means there is no limit in the potential, which every believer may realize. A present perfection is God’s requirement and provision for all Christians, and a final perfection is assured us by Christ’s return in glory. “In Christ Jesus” is the key phrase. Our perfection is not in ourselves; it is “in Christ Jesus.” This assures there is no limit in the resources that are available to those who receive the good news of salvation through Christ.

“Every Man”—No Limit in Scope

Paul is absolutely sure that “every man” may be made perfect in Christ. The repetition of “every man” in this passage is a challenge to the idea put forward by some teachers in the Early Church, that perfection is the exclusive privilege of an elite group within the community of believers. The apostle is challenging this snobbish idea. The gospel reserves no such exclusive privileges for the select few. Perfection is within the reach of all, by the power of Christ!

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commands us to be perfect. “You have heard that it used to be said ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy,’ but I tell you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Heavenly Father. For he makes his sun rise upon evil men as well as good, and he sends his rain upon honest and dishonest men alike.”

“For if you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even tax collectors do that! And if you exchange greetings only with your own circle are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do that much. No, you are to be perfect, like your Heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:43-48, Phillips). Every disciple must be perfect! Christ’s ethic is an ethic of perfection—perfection in love. It is this forgiving, merciful love, this Godlike caring for all men, which is the very badge of our discipleship. Christ makes no exclusions when he commands, “You are to be perfect, like your Heavenly Father.” The law of Christ requires perfect love.

But what about the gospel of Christ? The gospel of Christ promises perfection. This is clearly Paul’s argument in the third chapter of Second Corinthians, where he is showing the superiority of the new covenant over the old covenant given at Sinai. As the mediator of the old covenant, Moses ascended Mount Sinai, where he enjoyed face-to-face communion with the Lord. Coming down from the mount, he put a veil on his face to hide the glory that shone on his countenance. Moses represents a select company of Old Testament worthies who were granted the exceptional privilege of a sanctifying communion with God. Paul vividly contrasts this privileged holiness of the Old Testament with the universal holiness now available to those who worship God through Christ. “But we all,” he assures us who know God under the terms of the new covenant, “WE ALL, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18, emphasis mine).

In Old Testament times there was spiritual aristocracy; a few were permitted to ascend the mount of spiritual transfiguration—Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah. But in the gospel dispensation we enjoy a spiritual democracy; “we all” may climb that mount of face-to-face communion and be transfigured into the likeness of Christ.

Furthermore, in contrast to the fading glory that eventually disappeared from Moses’ countenance, we may know a progressively increasing glory. “We are not like Moses, who veiled his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing its fading glory . . . But all of us who are Christians have no veils on our faces, but reflect like mirrors the glory of the Lord. We are transfigured by the Spirit of the Lord in ever-increasing splendor into his own image” (2 Corinthians 3:13, 18, Phillips). Or as the Revised Standard Version renders verse 18, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another.”

The heights of Christian perfection are within the reach of every believer, by the power of the Spirit of Christ!

“Perfect”—No Limit in Potential

Paul is convinced that his commission from God is to present “every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” The law commands and the gospel promises nothing less than perfection.

The Greek word for perfect suggests two ideas: (1) attaining to an end, (2) completeness. These ideas are interrelated in this passage. They are also intertwined in Christian experience.

Now what is the end, the standard or norm, the Heavenly Father has in mind for His children through Christ Jesus? We have already seen this: that we shall be perfect in love. Christ does not impose absolute perfection; we are not to be as perfect as the Heavenly Father. No. We are rather to be perfect like our Father. These two ideas are quite different. We are to love all men the way God loves them. That is the sum and substance of Christian perfection.

Now this was precisely Paul’s concern for his churches. “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:” he wrote the Romans, “for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10, kjv).

John Wesley rightly says, “The whole law under which we now are, is fulfilled by love. Faith working or animated by love is all that God now requires of man. He has substituted (not sincerity, but) love, in the room of angelic perfection.” You see, God does not command us to be perfect angels, but perfect men. Love, not angelic or absolute perfection, is “the just requirement of the law” (Romans 8:4, rsv).

Wesley goes on to say, “Love is the end of the commandment” (1 Timothy 1:5). “It is the end of every commandment of God. It is the point aimed at by the whole and every part of the Christian institution. The foundation is faith, purifying the heart; and the end love, preserving a good conscience.” Such love is a possibility in grace for every Christian; God does not require the impossible. His very commandment, as Wesley says, is a “covered promise.” What the law requires the gospel provides. You can be perfect in love.

Thus perfected in love, you are a complete Christian. You are “complete in him” (Colossians 2:10). Every grace needed is yours through the indwelling Spirit of Christ. Moreover, you are a complete person when you are perfected in love. Then, and not until then, you are genuinely human, fulfilling the purpose for which you were created, “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

Many translators render the Greek word teleioi, used here, “mature.” We see justification for this. Wesley spoke of the fully sanctified as “full grown men in Christ,” “fathers,” or “adult sons of God.” Paul uses teleioi in this sense in First Corinthians. “In malice be ye children, but in understanding be men,” he urged those who were making a toy out of the gift of tongues (1 Corinthians 14:20, kjv). When we are made perfect in love, we “put away childish things” like that (1 Corinthians 13:11), along with the other carnal and immature attitudes and actions of “babes in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).

This does not mean, however, that we grow into perfection. It is not a matter of time, but of faith. As P. T. Forsyth says in his little volume on Christian Perfection, “Faith is the condition of spiritual maturity in the sense of adultness, of entering on the real heritage of the soul. It is the soul coming to itself, coming of age, feeling its feet, and entering on its native powers. Faith is perfection in this sense. It is not ceasing to grow, but entering on the normal region of growth.” He continues, “Our perfection, therefore, is not to be flawless, but to be in tune with our redeemed destiny in Christ.”

“In tune with our redeemed destiny in Christ”! That destiny is to be finally perfected in Christ likeness—glorified with Christ. In this sense every Christian must confess with Paul, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected” (Philippians 3:12, Wesley). When we think of our final destiny in Christ, we know we are but “Christians in the making.” “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect (or mature), be thus minded” (Philippians 3:15). Let each of us say,
I’m a person God is making,
Like a statue God is shaping;
God is changing me, correcting;
God’s intent on my perfecting!

Cleansed from the inner antagonisms occasioned by double-mindedness, and filled with the Holy Spirit, I say, “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Thus cleansed from sin and filled with the Sprit, I am in tune with my redeemed destiny in Christ!

“In Christ Jesus”—No Limit in Resources

“There are no heights of Christian attainment which are not within reach of all, by the power of divine grace.” The possibilities of perfection are resident “in Christ Jesus,” and in Him alone. Immediately after penning our text, Paul exhorts the Colossians:

“May your spiritual experience become richer as you see more and more fully God’s great secret, Christ himself! For it is in him, and in him alone, that men will find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I write like this to prevent you from being led astray by someone or other’s attractive arguments . . . Just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on living in him—in simple faith. Grow out of him as a plant grows out of the soil it is planted in, becoming more and more sure of the faith as you were taught it, and your lives will overflow with joy and thankfulness.

“Be careful that nobody spoils your faith through intellectualism or high-sounding nonsense. Such stuff is at best founded on men’s ideas of the nature of the world, and disregards Christ! Yet it is in him that God gives a full and complete expression of himself (within the physical limits that he set himself in Christ). Moreover, your own completeness is only realized in him, who is the authority over all authorities, and the supreme power over all powers” (Colossians 2:2-4, 6-10, Phillips).

You need not live a defeated, unfulfilled life. “In Christ Jesus” you may realize your completeness, be fulfilled! “In Christ Jesus” you were “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands,” so that you may now love God with all your heart (Colossians 2:11; cf. Deuteronomy 30:6). “In Christ Jesus” you have the promise of the outpoured Holy Spirit. To you He says, “Come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38, rsv).

“In Christ Jesus” we have heart-circumcision! “In Christ Jesus” we have the fullness of the Spirit! “In Christ Jesus” we may be made perfect in love and completed in grace! “In Christ Jesus,” and in Him alone, we realize fulfillment. All the riches of God’s grace are now resident “in Christ Jesus.” We do not go beyond Christ to be made perfect; we go deeper in Him.

Dr. Charles Trumbull attended the first world missionary conference in Edinburgh. He was quite intrigued by the subject announced by a Sunday afternoon preacher: “The Resources of the Christian Life.” He went to the service expecting to get some sound, practical advice. But when the preacher stood, he paused a moment and then said, “The resources of the Christian life, my friends, are simply—Jesus Christ.” As F. E. Marsh puts it, “We have no inherent holiness. We are holy as we are possessed by the Holy Presence. We are holy in His holiness, loving in His love, strong in His strength, tender in His tenderness, patient in His patience, calm in His peace, and consecrated in His consecration.”

Jesus Christ is made to me
All I need, all I need . . .
Wisdom, Righteousness, and Power,
Holiness forevermore,
My Redemption full and sure—
He is all I need!

“There are no heights of Christian attainment which are not within the reach of all, by the power of divine grace.” Possess your possessions now!

William M. Greathouse served the Church of the Nazarene as pastor, educator, seminary president, and general superintendent.