September 21, 2025 - Philippians 3:15 - "As Many as be Perfect"

Philippians 3:15

 "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."

That word perfect is not about sinless flawlessness, but about being of full age spiritually—about maturity. It is possible to be justified before God, standing complete in Christ, and yet still be a newborn in understanding. Just as an infant has all his faculties from birth, yet grows into maturity, so in the new birth the children of God possess already all that Christ has accomplished for them —pardon, adoption, justification, sanctification, and forgiveness. Yet over time the Spirit continues to cause them to grow in their understanding of all that He accomplished for them as their Substitute in His obedience unto death in their place.

Growth is needed, and that growth is the gracious, ongoing work of the Spirit of God in them and through them. They grow in grace and the knowledge of the LORD (2 Peter 3:18). This is not any perfecting of the sinful flesh; otherwise, grace would not be needed. However, there is, by the continual working of the Spirit of God a growth in the need for grace, because of the ever sinful flesh, and the knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ, and what His righteousness earned, established, and imputed has already accomplished for them in the death of the LORD Jesus at the cross. The more any grow in grace, it is because the ever continual revelation of Christ in the heart causes that heart to yearn after Him, and not put any confidence in the flesh, (Philippians 3:3).

Christ Himself has obtained all things for His people. At the cross, He finished the work of redemption, and our standing before God is unchanging. Whether a believer has just been brought by the Spirit to Christ in faith or has walked for decades, the Righteousness of God imputed at Christ's death is ALL that the Father requires for their acceptance before Him. That is His sovereignty: salvation rests not in our grasp of Him, but in His work accomplished at the cross to the satisfaction of God the Father.

Paul, even as an apostle, confessed that he had not arrived. He pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). That attitude of humility is what he calls us to in verse 15—"be thus minded". It is a call to recognize that we have not apprehended perfection ourselves, nor can we by any amount of effort, but that we are still learners under the headship of Christ our Righteousness.

When the LORD Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” it was in the sense of maturity, being full of age in our dealings with others. And how does this maturity show itself? In love, in patience, in refusing to judge according to our own standard, but discerning according to the Word of God. For the Father makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good; He sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). If He has shown such mercy, then we who have tasted His grace will reflect that mercy toward others. This is Christ’s sovereign work in us. He continues to teach us by His Spirit, who continues to draw us and keep us looking to Christ alone, the Author and Finisher of our Faith (Hebrews 12:1,2) .

And so, the call is to humility—to rein in our thoughts, to not think of ourselves too highly, and to avoid the critical spirit that says “no one is right but me.” Rather, we are to be mindful of Christ’s sovereign hand in our lives and in the lives of others. Galatians 6 reminds us: "if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual—(those mature in Christ)—restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Maturity, then, is not pride but meekness. It is not presuming we have arrived, but pressing forward, hungering for the fresh Manna each day. Yesterday’s knowledge, yesterday’s experience, cannot sustain us today. The Spirit feeds us daily with Christ, that we might savor Him anew, (Titus 3:5,6)

Christ is the One Who saves, the One Who teaches, the One Who keeps. From beginning to end, salvation is of the LORD. We are to be thus minded—lowly in heart, teachable in spirit, patient with one another, and ever looking to the LORD Jesus. For He alone is the Prize. He alone is the Glory. And one thing is certain: in the end, we will never be guilty of giving too much glory to Christ.