“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” (Hebrews 6:1)
There is an urgency in the writer’s voice from our passage in Hebrews as he exhorts believers: “Let us go on unto perfection.” The perfection spoken of here is a level of spiritual maturity where the inward man is being continually renewed with the graces of the Spirit and the knowledge of God. Because for the believer to remain at the level of initial repentance and faith, “laying the same foundation” again and again, is to be like a builder who never constructs a house but instead continually digs trenches in order to do so.
Hebrews 5:12 rebukes believers for requiring spiritual milk (as infants do) when they should be spiritually mature enough for solid food. Having been in the faith long enough to become teachers, they remained spiritual infants. The call to go on to perfection is to build on what God has already begun. It is a call to maturity, to depth, to holiness. As justification is the legal declaration of righteousness, sanctification is the inward experience of growing into it—and this sanctification is what this text calls perfection.
The idea of “perfection” may seem lofty or even intimidating, but rightly understood, it is the ordinary duty of every believer. It is a heart that longs to please God and strives to put sin to death. It is a will conformed more and more to Christ’s will. It is a walk that seeks not only to avoid evil, but to delight in what is good, pure, and true. “When the inward man,” said Robert Leigh, “is filled up with acts of graces, and every grace with acts proper for its object,” there is true progress toward perfection.
This spiritual growth is not achieved by our efforts but rather by God’s Spirit working in us and through us.[1] “For it is God which worketh in You both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). God not only commands us to pursue holiness; He empowers us to do so. By the Spirit’s help, the soul progresses from infancy to maturity. There is no static Christian life—one is either pressing forward or slipping back.
To seek perfection is to engage in the lifelong pursuit of holiness. It is the consistent practice of examining oneself, repenting of sin, obeying the Word, seeking Christ, and loving Him above all else. It is to see that the graces of faith, hope, and love not only exist in the soul but abound and flourish. Such pursuit yields fruit here and prepares for the full harvest of glory to come.
To be perfect in God’s sight, then, is to be found in Christ—clothed in His righteousness, shaped by His Spirit, and walking in His light day by day. The one who truly knows Christ will desire nothing less.
Contemplations:
- The pursuit of holiness. Lord, I believe the perfection which Scripture says Your children should strive to attain is to be understood in three ways: 1) the pursuit of holiness by the saints who are being sanctified by Your Spirit in both soul and body, 2) the sincerity and uprightness of life which flows from a singularly devoted and upright heart, and 3) those who are spiritually weak in need of growth and maturity. And I know that I must pursue perfection in order to truly know You and grow in You.
- Restoration through Christ. Because of the fall, all creation is out of joint. And yet You, Lord, have joined those You have chosen to Your Son through divine redemption. You have reversed the fall in us. You have restored and set things in their proper place again (Gal. 6:1). You have handled us tenderly, setting that which is broken, so that it may become as strong and sound as it ever was to this end – that we be more and more perfected and established in that same estate to which we were restored by the power, merit, and work of Christ in our salvation and sanctification.
- A heart that pursues more for You. Lord, I know that spiritual maturity cannot be faked. It requires Your grace, Your discipline, and my daily dying to self. Help me desire to grow and pursue a heart that is more stable, more joyful, more obedient, and more surrendered to Christ.
- A desire for holiness. Lord, if I stall in my spiritual progress or grow content with half-measures, remind me of Your command: “Go on unto perfection.” Let me not merely admire holiness in others but seek it for myself. Fill me with a hunger to be mature in faith, steadfast in love, and bold in truth.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come before You with a heart that longs to be shaped and matured by Your hand. I confess that I have too often been content with spiritual infancy, content with what I already know and do, rather than pressing forward toward the fullness of Christ. But You have called me not to remain on the foundation alone, but to build upon it with zeal, love, and truth.
Lord, give me grace to grow. Help me leave behind childish things and take on the maturity that comes by walking daily with Christ. Let the Word dwell in me richly. Let Your Spirit stir me to greater obedience and fuller understanding. I want to be ripened in holiness, inwardly full of Your truth, wisdom, and grace.
Forgive me for every delay in obedience, for every hour wasted, and for every moment I have failed to pursue You as I ought. Restore to me a right hunger for righteousness. Teach me to love what You love, hate what You hate, and rejoice in what pleases You. Work in me that which is well pleasing in Your sight, and sanctify me wholly, that I might be presented blameless before Your throne.
Strengthen me by Your Spirit, keep me fixed on Your Son, and carry me through every trial as You shape me into His likeness.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Further Scripture References:
Hebrews 9:14; Philippians 3:12; Colossians 1:28; Deuteronomy 18:13
[1] “Therefore the Spirit of grace never gives over, but perfects his work of regeneration, instruction, testification, consolation, preservation from evil, corroboration in good, intercession for our good, and will you hinder him, (as much as in you lies, Zechariah 12:10; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 1:4; Philippians 2:13; John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10, 11:12)?” Hannibal Gammon, God’s Desertion of the Unjust and Other Works, (Crossville, TN: Puritan Publications, 2016) eBook, Sermon 1.
