Blameless or flawless?

Dear saints, I trust that the Lord has been watching over you. We all strive to be perfect in everything we do and say. Sometimes that desire to be perfect is satisfy others and at other times it’s to improve ourselves. It’s easy to get obsessed with perfection in that we’re constantly inward looking and neglect the real purpose of the Christian life, which is to serve God and others (Mark 12:30-31). That brings us to this fundamental question. Does God want us to be blameless or flawless? These aren’t entirely identical because blameless people do make mistakes (Genesis 12:18-20), while those that try to be faultless apart from Christ can end becoming Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-39).

I’d like for us to consider Genesis 17:1. These words were spoken by God Almighty when He assured the Prophet Abraham about how He was going to bless Him. We have to understand that Abraham was ninety nine when God commanded him to walk before Him. To walk before or with God is to fellowship with Him (Genesis 5:21-24). Fellowship with the Lord requires us to be penitent and humble in His Presence (1 John 1:7). Notice that God commanded Abraham to be blameless and not flawless. To be blameless in God’s sight is to be an open book in the Lord’s hand. There should be nothing in our lives that we hide from God as Adam and Eve did (Genesis 3:10). A child hides nothing from its parent and as children of God neither should we (1 John 1:8). God Almighty is merciful and knows the weakness and frailty of our fallen state (Matthew 26:41). That is precisely why He expects us to be regenerated and receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be victorious over sin (Acts 1:8, 1 John 3:9). However, God isn’t expecting sinless perfection from us as much as wants us to be blameless and repentant like King David (Psalm 51, 2 Samuel 12:13).

Let’s look at the life of the Lord Himself for better understanding. In John 18:19-23 we witness the encounter between the Lord Jesus and the High Priest. When questioned by the High Priest Christ replied that He was indeed the Messiah and the Son of God. This was deemed disrespectful as Jesus didn’t address the Priest as others would have but spoke with conviction and authority. However, He was innocent and blameless as He was speaking the truth and is the truth (John 18:22-23). The Lord wasn’t worried about pleasing men but God. Although, He fulfilled God’s law (Matthew 5:17) the Lord wasn’t seeking to legalistically flawless but holiness (1 Peter 1:19).

God’s call to holiness is not to a flawless life but a blameless and pure life. A saved and sanctified saint may sin but is forgiven upon repentance. A penitent saint is always blameless if not faultless. On the contrary, a Pharisee aims for legalistic flawlessness and while being dead inside (Matthew 23:27).

Dear friends, I trust that all of you are saved and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Should there be any among you who is yet to know the Lord, I pray that you’ll call on His Name today to be saved. Amen.