We Are Imperfect, He Is Perfect
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Ephesians 4:13 says that the spiritual gifts are given to build up the body of Christ “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Some translations say that we will become “perfect” (instead of “mature”), and from this some people have mistakenly thought that we can reach sinless perfection in this life. The Bible teaches that, while we are in the flesh, we will always struggle with a sin nature (see Romans 7:14–24). No one will be “perfect” (sinless) until we reach heaven.
The word translated “mature” in Ephesians 4:13 is the Greek word teleios. It is used throughout the New Testament to mean “perfect,” “complete,” “full-grown,” and “mature.” What Ephesians 4:13 teaches is that, the more we grow in Christ, the stronger and more unified we will be as a church. The verse does not teach that we will stop sinning. …
True perfection will not come until the rapture of the church, when we rise to meet Jesus in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At that time the dead in Christ will be resurrected, and the bodies of the living will be changed (Philippians 3:20–21; 1 Corinthians 15:54). … Our redemption will be complete, and our sin will be gone forever. We will live and reign with Christ in sinless perfection forever.—GotQuestions.org1
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I was ten years old when I first heard of Albert Schweitzer, and I was really impressed by his dedication—to the point that I started contemplating becoming a doctor and following in his footsteps in Africa. Those were the days when in order to know more about something or somebody, you had to look through books, encyclopedias, and most of the time, go to the library. In other words, curiosity didn’t find immediate satisfaction, and there was a certain amount of serendipity and mystery involved.
I was a bookworm, and I started reading about people who had been missionaries, explorers, freedom fighters, and so on. Albert was the first in a long series, followed by Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, Gandhi, Florence Nightingale, and many others. I realized that besides the many awful villains I had to read about in history books at school, this earth has also seen some pretty amazing people!
So at a young age I determined to belong to the category of world-changers. Now, many years later, I’m glad to say that came to pass. I was able to follow my heart and spend years on challenging mission fields, and I still dedicate most of my time to the needy and various worthwhile causes.
It hasn’t been without a price and without mistakes, but here comes the best part. Talking about mistakes, one of the side effects of this new age of “immediately accessible information” was that I got to read more about my many heroes and found out that they weren’t as perfect and sinless as I’d imagined. All of them had feet of clay, and some of the stuff they believed in, said, or did, could be disappointing initially.
But later, it was precisely their “imperfections” and human frailties that encouraged me when I too happened to fall off my pedestal.
The good these world-changers did is proof that you don’t need to be perfect to change your part of the world. After all, none of them were, but they changed their world!—Anna Perlini
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1 John 1:6 says: “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” In other words, how we walk testifies to whether we really have a relationship with God.
He goes on to say, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). So he is saying that walking in the light is essential to show that we are being cleansed from our sins by the blood of Jesus.
Now 1 John 1:8: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” So he says, “Walking in the light cannot mean sinlessness”—let that sink in. Walking in the light cannot mean sinlessness because he just said, “You have to walk in the light,” and he just said, “If you say you’re sinless, you’re dead wrong.” Well, what then does walking in the light mean?
So he goes on in one more verse, 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So here is John’s description of the imperfect Christian. The imperfect Christian does not claim perfection, but he does claim to walk in the light—because if you don’t walk in the light, you don’t have fellowship with God, and the blood of Jesus doesn’t cleanse or cover you from sin.
What then does “walk in the light” mean if it doesn’t mean sinlessness (1 John 1:7)? His answer is that it means a pattern of obedience that involves regular, sincere confession of sin. The person who walks in the light has enough light to see sin for what it is, to hate it, to confess it, to receive forgiveness for it with thankfulness and humility, and to press on with fresh resolve to love God and people better. ... Now we need to pray that God would work the miracle of this biblical pattern into our lives.—John Piper2
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Think about it: If I were perfect, I wouldn’t need Jesus. The whole reason Jesus came to earth and died for me is because I am not able to achieve perfection.
As Colossians 2:13–14 says, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
When I read this verse, I feel such deep gratitude. Christ’s finished work on the cross has canceled the record of our debt. He took upon Himself the punishment we deserved for our sins.
He paid our debt in full. Not because of who we are or what we have done but because of who He is and how much He loves us. Because of this, when God looks at us, He sees Jesus. This is the gospel. This is the Good News!
His death on my behalf allows me to live with freedom and joy—free from having to live life chasing after pleasing other people, being perfect, or managing my reputation.
Whether it’s parenting, marriage, working at our job, or just living life with others, we will never do it all right. And that’s not the goal. Let’s be people who are honest enough to admit our mistakes and imperfections and our need for Jesus each and every minute of the day!—Crystal Paine3
Published on Anchor March 2025. Read by Lenore Welsh. Music by Michael Dooley.
