Our Perfection.
I. Perfection is now given to all who believe God Himself is our salvation. Jehovah Himself is our righteousness. Christ's inheritance is our inheritance. The source is eternal love, self-moved, infinite, ocean without shore; the channel is free, abounding grace; the gift is eternal life, even life by the Holy Ghost in oneness with Jesus. The foundation is the obedience of Christ, eternal in its origin, infinite in its value, and unspeakably God-pleasing in its character.
II. The word "perfected" falls with a strange sound on those who are experiencing daily their sad imperfections.. But the Christian is a strange paradox. You may be caught up into the third heaven, and yet the abundance of this revelation will not burn up the dross that is in you, or kill the old man, the flesh which warreth against the spirit. On the contrary, there is the danger, imminent and great, lest you be exalted above measure, and dream of victory and enjoyment while you are still on the battlefield. We have died once with Christ, and with Christ are accepted and perfect; but our old nature is not dead, the flesh in us is not annihilated; there is still within us that which has no pleasure in the will and ways of God. We sin, we fall, we carry about with us a mind resisting God's will, criticising it, and rebelling, and we shall experience to the very last breath we draw on earth that there is a conflict, and that we must strive and suffer in order to be faithful unto death. So we confess daily our errors and our sins, and condemn ourselves whenever we appear before God; yet are we perfect in Christ Jesus. Deeper than all our grief is the melody of the heart, and always can we rejoice in God.
A. Saphir, Lectures on Hebrews,vol. ii., p. 187.