“To Be Perfect?” by Rev Khoo Ho Peng on 14th Oct 2018

Living in this physical world to many people, may seem impossible to be perfect. John Wesley says it is possible to be perfect spiritually in what the bible says as mentioned in Matthew 5:48. In spite of this, many people still say it is impossible to be perfect. According to John Wesley he says to be perfect we will not be free from error or flawless.

John Wesley says “The highest perfection which man can attain while the soul dwells in the body does not exclude ignorance, and error, and a thousand other infirmities”. We have to think about a perfect God, who is perfect love, perfectly Holy and an unblemished Grace. God demands Christian perfection in which “Perfect equals Love”. This is demonstrated in our daily dealings to live a life free from murder, adultery, divorce etc. We have to live a life of integrity in terms of keeping our oath, serve and a life of love. We may have heard that it was said that, “it is okay to erase some figures in your account book”, but on the other hand, God says “be perfect as the Father is perfect”. Perfect is not Perfectionism! Perfectionism is in accordance to a person’s own standard or own strength where their life cannot function well. To be perfect means to follow closely to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the Word of God. Be perfect is a journey of justification to sanctification i.e. a journey of “Grace upon Grace”.