Help for the Perfectionist

1 John 1:5–9 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 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. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Prayer

Last week, we began looking at the reality that God is Light.

One implication of this we looked at the purity of God.

Specifically, we saw how since God is completely pure, we ought to walk in the Light of His presence.

We do so by taking off the mask of hypocrisy and coming into the reality of who we are.

John begins by turning our attention away from lesser matters and begins by describing God as He is.

This week we will turn the diamond of this statement and stare at another facet of it.

But before I do so, may I begin with a bit of a “pitstop”

Case Study - Biblical Counseling Journal

A young man came in for counseling, his brow tightly furled, the corners of his mouth drooping low, his facial muscles pulsating with tenseness.

Clearly he was in great distress.

As we talked, it became more and more evident that his face reflected an acute anxiety and that he was gripped in the downward spiral of depression.

All of the classic symptoms were there: worry, anger, bitterness, self-pity.

What do you think was going on with this young man?

Our culture would immediately place this young man on a barrage of medications.

Immediately place him through a regiment of counseling.

Where the basic message they would try and convince him is:

You’re enough.

You have what it takes.

You should try and achieve your goals.

The journal article went on to express what this young man was experiencing.

What was not so quickly apparent, however, was a major contributing factor lurking behind these symptoms.... This root factor was the sin of perfectionism.

He goes on the describe perfectionism as...

The Journal of Pastoral Practice: Volume 9, Number 1, 1987 (The Sin of Perfectionism (Stanley D. Gale))

Operationally speaking, perfectionism can be described as allegiance to and occupation with becoming perfect. Included in this definition are a heartfelt commitment and life investment in pursuit of a state of perfection. Here I have in mind a state of moral perfection. Perfection in respect to the revealed will of God.

“I am no where near having an allegiance to perfectionism”

Hear me out for a second, we would likely never call it that.

But what we do is place “standards” or “expectations” on ourselves, our children, our co-workers, and our spouses.

What these “standards” produce in us could be anything as follows.

It may just be a genuine anxiety.

Or maybe marked by extreme worry.

It may even be manifested in anger or frustration.

1 John 1:5 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

The Standard: God is Perfect

God is perfect.

I think we all intuitively know that.

I quoted from him last week, but I want to place it before you again because we will be looking at a different aspect of it today.

Louis Berkhof helpfully talked about God’s ethical holiness in this way....

This ethical holiness of God may be defined as that perfection of God, in virtue of which He eternally wills and maintains His own moral excellence, abhors sin, and demands purity in his moral creatures.

Basically what Berkhof is saying is that God is completely perfect in His ethical and moral excellence.

And there is not a trace of imperfection within Him.

What do we mean by God’s perfection?

I love what Berkhof goes on to say...

The infinity of God is that perfection of God by which He is free from all limitations. In ascribing it to God we deny that there are or can be any limitations to the divine Being or attributes. It implies that He is in no way limited by the universe, by this time-space world, or confined to the universe.

What Berkhof is saying is that God is in no way limited by the universe, by anything within the space-time world.

He has no limitations.

He has no boundaries.

He has no restrictions.

We mean by this that God is so perfectly perfect that He has no boundaries or limitations to any of His qualities.

The Standard: God is Perfect

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus raises the bar from what the people of that time thought.

He does it in statements like...

Matthew 5:20 ESV

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus even said this in Matthew 5:48

Matthew 5:48 ESV

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Since God is Perfect, You Should be Perfect.

We are going to look at today how we become perfect.

I hope you realize that I am speaking in hyperbole of sorts, and I am not going to give you some form of Christian perfectionism.

We are going to look at the next hypothetical person...

Claim

Reality

Truth

Listen to how John confronts the next hypothetical person...

1 John 1:8 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Now we need to remember who John was addressing in this epistle.

He was addressing the Gnostics who believed that they had arrived to “special knowledge”.

They had obtained a special access to God.

John is NOT addressing people who have believed they have never sinned.

He is addressing people who believe they have arrived to a sinless state.

Likely because of their “special knowledge”.

Their special knowledge has allowed them to “become sinless”

Perfectionism: The Deceived Sinner

These opponents of John have believed they arrived into a state of sinlessness.

1 John 1:8 (ESV)

8 If we say we have no sin...

Claim - “We Have No Sin”

Now sin here for John essentially means to miss the mark.

Like a hunter aiming at a target misses what he is aiming at.

These opponents of John are claiming that they haven’t missed the mark since becoming Christians.

They are claiming that since they have found this special knowledge, they are perfect.

John is saying that if a person believes that they are no longer sinning in this life, then they are deceived.

Reality - You’re Deceived

The word for deceived finds it roots in the same word that we get for the word planet.

Which comes from the meaning for wandering about aimlessly.

“Come on now, I have never heard someone say that they have no sin..”

There have been teachings and people throughout history who have believed in so called “Christian Perfectionism”

But rather than harping on that clearly false teaching,

I think we need to consider what this kind of false teaching would look like amongst us.

To do so, I am going to give us two examples.

Example #1 - The Rich Young Ruler

There was a man who came to Jesus with a similar question that John is addressing.

In Luke 18, Jesus addresses a man which we often refer to as the rich young ruler.

Luke 18:18 ESV

18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

This man was coming to Jesus to figure out what he needed to do to gain eternal life.

Jesus responds to him...

Luke 18:19 ESV

19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

You may wonder why Jesus addresses this man in this way and the reality was that Jesus knew what was in his heart.

He knew that this man was not actually seeking salvation.

He was seeking to gain something from Jesus.

Luke 18:20 ESV

20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ”

This man was essentially saying that he had never lusted after a woman.

He never hated a man in his heart.

He never took anything.

He never spoke in such a way that was misleading or concealing of the truth.

He never dishonored his parents in any way.

Luke 18:21 ESV

21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”

This man was saying that all of the commandments of God he kept.

This man was essentially asking for eternal life and yet all the while basically saying that he had obtained it.

This man had the same understanding of sin as many in our own culture.

Sin was just a whoopsie daisy.

Sin was just a small blemish that he could clean up.

Sin was something he could be sorry enough for.

Or it was something he could pay his way out of.

Or do good enough for.

And Jesus knew that this man was deceived.

He knew he was deceived because of the way he answered the question.

He knew what the real idols of this man’s heart was...

Luke 18:22 ESV

22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Now Jesus is not saying that we should all sell everything we have become poor in that sense.

Luke 18:23–25 ESV

23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus was saying to this man’s wealth had deceived him to believe that he had no need for God.

He had no need for anything else.

He had bought everything he ever needed.

Here’s the thing: Jesus used the Old Testament law the exact way we should.

He used it to show this man his utter need.

Unlike what our culture would want us to believe or what perfectionism puts out for us to obtain.

We can never cover our sin.

Luke 18:26–27 ESV

26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

What Jesus is saying is that he must be perfect.

And this isn’t a perfection according to worldly standards.

This man needed a perfection from outside of himself.

Example #2 - The Apostle Paul

Paul was a guy who had all of this stuff together.

Listen to his own understanding of himself in Philippians 3.

Philippians 3:4–6 (ESV)

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:

5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Paul is saying that he was the best of the best.

The best resume of anyone around.

Example - The image of Perfectionism

Do you know what John’s evaluation of the rich young ruler and the former life of the Apostle Paul would be?

1 John 1:8 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Truth - The Truth Is Not In Us

His evaluation of that man would be that he did not have any truth in him.

This man thought he was good enough.

He thought he could do good and that would somehow erase the bad.

He did not know what was true about himself because he did not acknowledge

At this point, I need to make a distinction...

Judicial Forgiveness

This is the kind of forgiveness that is granted to us when we first received Christ.

It is described in Romans 8, when Paul says.

Romans 8:1–2 ESV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

This is the kind of forgiveness that first grants entrance to the kingdom.

What we are talking about today is this second kind of forgiveness.

Parental Forgiveness

What we are talking about today is the kind of forgiveness that is between a father and his children.

These are children which have been received into the kingdom.

They are the ones who when they sin, they are grieved over their sin.

Matthew 6:9–15 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

It’s the kind of forgiveness that hinders our walk with our heavenly Father.

It’s the kind of forgiveness that needs confession for this restoration.

But again, John gives us a different pattern to look for.

Evidence

Reality

Truth

Again, like a good pastor, John gives us a way out of our perfectionism.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confession: The Way to Be Perfect

By that I do NOT mean that we must have perfect confession.

What I do mean is that when we confess our sin, the perfection of Jesus is credited to us by faith.

Evidence - Confessing Our Sins

Proverbs 28:13 ESV

13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

The writer of Proverbs even knows that the one who seeks to hide his sin will not prosper.

The one who refuses to conceal will not find life.

But the one who confesses and forsakes will find mercy.

What do we mean by confession?

Confession, much like what we saw last week begins with acknowledging our sin.

Psalm 32:5 ESV

5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

What parts of our being should we be confessing for?

Mind, Emotion, and Will

Mind

Isaiah 55:7 ESV

7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Emotion

There is a disdain toward our sin.

A hatred at an emotional level.

Will

An ultimately, there will be a hatred of our sin at a will level.

Which means our actions will be changed.

Who does John have in mind here for confession?

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Or listen to what he says in Psalm 51.

Psalm 51:3–4 ESV

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

How could David say that in Psalm 51?

He just killed Uriah, he commited adultery with Bathsheba, and he says that it’s against God alone that He sinned.

He is showing us something about the nature of our sin.

Our Sin is Against God

Our confession must always begin between us and God.

Notice what David says, “Against You, You Only, have I sinned..”

Psalm 51:4 (ESV)

so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Here is the reality for those who have trusted in Christ.

Reality - He is Faithful and Just

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When John says that God is faithful, he means that He is commited to do what He said He will do.

He will be faithful to His own Word.

Either one of these words on their own would not be good news.

The way that God can be both faithful and just is only found in the cross.

It is only found in the cross of Jesus Christ that men can be made right.

Those who repent and believe have been united with God in Christ and have been promised forgiveness of sins and cleansing. Because Christ has taken their punishment and has promised them his righteousness, this forgiveness and cleansing is the just and faithful thing for God to do.

Romans 8:31–32 ESV

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Romans says that He who did not spare His own Son, meaning that God has given us everything.

He has given us the Son of God crucified on behalf of sinners.

There is one final category of who we confess to..

The Offended

James 5:16 ESV

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Our confession to others should be as far as the sin took place.

This means that if we sin publicly, then we should confess our sin publicly.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Truth - We Are Cleansed

This image is what Christ is offering for the believer.

He is not offering a righteousness of our own, but one that is “by faith”.

Philippians 3:7–9 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

The Standard: God is Perfect

Perfectionism: The Deceived Sinner

Claim - “We Have No Sin”

Reality - You’re Deceived

Two Examples

Truth - The Truth Is Not In Us

Confession: The Way of the Blameless Man

Evidence - Confessing Our Sins

Reality - He is Faithful and Just

Truth - We Are Cleansed