:: Christian Perfection ::

Inspired by John Wesley


I believe Christians can become perfect before they go to heaven.

No, i'm not talking about the perfect state of the angels in heaven or the perfect condition which Adam was in before he disobeyed God. No, because man is of sinful nature, we cannot avoid falling into innumerable mistakes, neither can he always speak, act and think right. Man cannot acheive angelic or adamic perfection.

Again, I believe Christians can be perfected in love before death. We as humans can never be free of our sinful nature, we cannot escape errors and mistakes but we can be complete in love of God, neighbour and self. No one is without sin in his lifetime but we can get rid of sin in our lifetime.


Hebrews 6:1 "......... let us go unto perfection........."

So, what is the highest level of perfection a christian can ever achieve?

1). If i can sum up perfection of our christian life with one word, it would be LOVE.

Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength"

And if you love God, you will also love your neighbour. Mark 12:31 "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"

Christ said this "On these 2 commandments hang the law of the prophets".

2). We become perfect when we have Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:24 "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Colossians 3:10 "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him"

We see that the moral image of God is righteousness and true holiness. And if God created man in His image, then we are perfect. Yet, our sin destroys this perfection.And we never can recover it, till we are "created anew in Christ Jesus." And this is perfection.

3). You know about the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5: 22 " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law"

What a glorious constellation of graces is here! Now, suppose all these to be knit together in one, to be united together in the soul of a believer, this is Christian perfection.


4). Perfection comes from a hunger and great desire to be like God and asking for perfection in prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it"


5). Perfection comes as we have a heart so consumed with God that we continously offer up every thought, word and work, as a spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God through Christ.

Romans 12:1 -2"I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God"


This is the doctrine preached by John Wesley in the early days of the methodist church. Indeed, by viewing it in every point of light, and comparing it again and again with the word of God on the one hand, and the experience of the children of God on the other, they saw farther into the nature and properties of Christian perfection.

Our first conception of it was, It is to have "the mind which was in Christ," and to "walk as He walked;" to have all the mind that was in Him, and always to walk as he walked: In other words, to be inwardly and outwardly devoted to God; all devoted in heart and life. And we have the same conception of it now, without either addition or diminution.


John Wesley: "Christian perfection is holiness of heart and life"