Flawless Perfection

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Monday, August 22, 2005

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. —Colossians 1:28

God is looking for perfection! Yes—absolute, flawless perfection. Jesus said, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). But who among us can claim to be perfect? No one.
The apostle Paul reminded us there is no one who is righteous, no one who does good (Romans 3:10–12). We all stand judged before a holy God, no matter how good we are. Some people struggle with this. What does it mean? What is the Bible saying?

Let's understand the context of what Paul is saying. He is not saying there are no good people out there who do good things. He is talking about our goodness before God. I think there are good people in this world. I think there are good people who are not believers. But the issue is whether there are any people who are good enough in their own goodness to please God, good enough to meet God's standards. And the answer is a resounding no.

This is the bad news: your heart is dark. You are separated from God. All of us have sinned out of ignorance, but also intentionally and willfully. The good news is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He went to Calvary and took the full weight of our sins upon himself and paid that price. The flawless, perfect Lamb of God paid our price, and He presents us to God, perfect in Him.

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