– a final note to the Higher Calling series –

Ever heard someone say we cannot be perfect or that we will always war with this flesh and won’t be freed of this battle until death takes it away? I was told that. I believed it. Until recently.

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Why was God fond of Job?

While we did touch on God’s description of Job, it was brief. The name Job means hated, to be an enemy of. Job was blameless in the sight of the Lord. We see this throughout the book when Job responds to the trials, tests, and hardships thrown at him. Never does he curse God. The farthest he goes is to ask God, why me? Haven’t I been righteous for you? Often, we ask the same thing in our sufferings and persecutions – although most of what we call persecution is really just an inconvenience. We shake our fists at Heaven the moment we disagree with the plan. We call Him up and ask, “Why am I on the suffering plan? Isn’t this supposed to be an easy, peaceful, rose garden?”. But Job never asked that. He only said I came into this world naked and poor, and so shall I depart. That’s a man of faith and perseverance – one who embodied the perfection that comes with complete surrender to Christ by crucifying the flesh and walking in the Spirit.

I have said before that life is like a tug of war. I’d like to clarify. It is only a tug of war when you let it be. If you feed one wolf more, he will eventually overpower and starve the other. That is what happened to the seed that is choked out by the thorns (Matthew 13:6-7). The seed was planted, but it didn’t dive deep. It fed the surrounding plants, and the wild weeds took over. It is possible to feed just one seed and starve the weeds out. It just takes diligence and discipline, that which only comes when we surrender our life to Christ. When we realize we do not have the strength to weed the old flesh out we can surrender and be strengthened by the only One who can.

Mentions of “Blameless” in the Bible

The Bible never contradicts itself. It is complete and whole. Breathed and inspired by God, it is active. It is line upon line and precept upon precept (Isaiah 28:10). Job sets an example for the rest of those who are hated by the enemy. Those who follow Christ unashamedly will encounter friction with others who do not agree. It is inevitable, and by it, we know we are doing right. We know that we are on the path to completion in Christ Jesus.

• 2 Samuel 22:24
• Psalm 18:23
• Colossians 1:19-23
• 1 Thessalonians 3:11-12; 5:23
• 1 Timothy 3:10; 6:14
• Titus 1:6,7
• 2 Peter 3:14-16

Now, what do these verses have in common? They all have the words blameless in them, but the catch is which one? Our English language is limited, but the Hebrew and Greek are not. Putting these scriptures into categories, we get the following:

• tām/tāmîm – Job; Psalms 18:23; 2 Samuel 22:24
• anegklētos – 1 Timothy 3:10 & Titus 1:6,7
• amōmos – Colossians 1:22
• amemptōs – 1 Thessalonians 3:11; 5:23
• amōmētos – 1 Peter 3:14
• anepilēmptos – 1 Timothy 6:14

Now that’s confusing so let’s define each of them.

• tām/tāmîm – complete, morally innocent, having integrity/ sound, wholesome, unimpaired, innocent, having integrity
  • root word is tāmam – to be complete, be finished
• anegklētos – that cannot be called into to account, unreproveable, unaccused, blameless
• amōmos – without blemish
• amemptōs - blameless, deserving no censure, free from fault or defect
• amōmētos – that cannot be censured, blameless
• anepilēmptos – not open to censure, irreproachable

Putting those together, we are to live a life patterned after Christ, like Daniel.

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

Daniel 6:4-5

Let’s put it together.

Breaking it down

Job was seen as a man of integrity with a righteous record who hadn’t done anything wrong. He was finished and complete in his Maker. This is not to say he was perfect. It means He was walking in the Lord. You see, it is not possible to be perfect in this life because we are born of the fleshly nature and born again of the Spirit. Nonetheless, as Paul says in Romans 6:1-4,

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

He doesn’t stop there either.

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. – Romans 6:5-14 (bold added)

The message isn’t that we can do it ourselves because that doesn’t match the Gospel. Jesus is the only One who lived a sinless life and died a criminal’s death for us so that we may live free. He paid our debt, and now we are to live debt-free. However, someone who has been in debt does not easily stay out. This is what happens with us. We think we can compromise and feed both natures at the same time.

We died to the flesh, yet we resurrect it in our minds and way of living. We miss the way of life in our former Egypt, just as the Israelites did in their Exodus. While it is possible to fully lean on Christ and walk in an upright manner, it takes discipline. King David was a messed up man, yet he consistently asked for forgiveness, and God forgave him each time, although sometimes the consequences were more than guilt. Abraham was not perfect either, nor Samson, yet they both make it into the chapter of faith in the book of Hebrews.

Complete perfection, as I understand it, is impossible without being glorified and resurrected into an incorruptible body with Christ. However, in the words of Paul, should we sin without guilt because we know we can ask for forgiveness? The question is not, “How many times can I get away with this through grace?”, but “How can I better serve my King while living in that grace?”.

A Heady Topic

One last thing for the brave souls reading this. If you wish to skip, feel free. But this may break the seatbelt of your comfort zone.

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. – John 10:31-39 (Bold text added)

Jesus is in danger of blasphemy with the Jewish religious leaders. The bold is crucial. If we do the works of the Father, we know Him. We can only know the Father by coming through Jesus Christ. Jesus references the 82^nd Psalm when He says, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods?”‘? Here’s the reasoning.

Christ is the head of the church, the body of those who believe in Him. If He is the head and we are the body, we are one in Christ. If Christ is one with the Father and seated at the right hand of the throne, so are we. By saying, “You are gods.” He isn’t saying we can become perfect enough and become like gods (like the Mormons believe, if I’m not mistaken), but that we are one in Christ, so we do the works of our Father. We can only do those things if we are walking in the Spirit and abiding in the Vine, Jesus.

The aim, therefore, of the Christian life is not perfection on earth but a relationship with the Living God. Relationships can get messy, often, communication falters. Our prayer life dwindles, and we don’t read His Word as much as we used to. But, if we kindle that relationship again and spend time with the One who loves our souls regardless, it will show in our lives.

We can live a life that points to the one we love. We are the Bride of Christ; let us not have a secret love but embrace the wild abandon of His love. He has created you. He called you. He chose you. When you accepted His love, you entered into a relationship with Him. Live life with Him, and you will not worry about being perfect, for you will be conformed to His image. You only must spend time with Him.

This fleshly nature will be with us, but we can live as though it is dead. We will always slip, but we can reduce the amount and gravity of each fall.

What is the purpose of our life?

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8:30

If we love Him, we will keep His commands. You cannot abide in two vines. You cannot have two root systems. He is calling us to higher ground, that of purity and sincerity. Will we fall at His feet and surrender, knowing He has a marvelous journey for us as our Creator, or will we run and clutch our dreams with sticky, childlike fingers? (Thank you @k.e.stanton for that visual.)