“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
These words penned by the apostle Paul echo sentiments written centuries before by the prophet (“Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the LORD as his counselor? Isaiah 40:13), and Job (“Who has a claim against me that I must pay?” Job 41:11).
What all three men are referring to is the utter and complete perfection of God. But what, exactly, is perfection when it comes to God? A.W. Tozer writes in his Attributes of God, Vol. 1, “According to Webster, perfection means ‘the highest possible degree of excellence.’ That which is perfect lacks nothing it should have and has nothing it should not.”[1] The Topical Encyclopedia at biblehub.com further explains:
“In Christian theology, God’s perfection signifies that He is without flaw, lacking nothing, and is the ultimate standard of goodness and righteousness. This perfection is intrinsic to His being and is reflected in all His attributes, including His holiness, love, justice, and wisdom.
“God’s perfection implies His immutability, meaning He does not change or evolve over time [see James 1:17]…. This immutability assures believers of God’s consistent character and unchanging promises.”[2]
It should already be clear that God’s perfection applies not only to Himself, to His nature, but also to every attribute which He has revealed to us. Each attribute, separately and as a whole, must be, and is, absolutely perfect—whole, complete. Matthew Barrett says this:
“Each great-making attribute is essential; subtract one and we no longer have a perfect divine being. Nonetheless, while each perfection is key, the infinite nature of God cannot be stressed enough. Without it, the other perfections would make little sense. But most significantly, for God to be something than which nothing greater can be thought, he must be infinite. Infinitude is the very makeup of a perfect being…. no matter what divine perfection we describe, it is true of God in infinite measure.”[3]
And Stephen Charnock asserts, “No perfection is wanting to God; but an unbounded essence is a perfection; a limited one is an imperfection.”[4]
Here are just a few verses from the Bible that speak to God’s perfection:
But God’s perfection isn’t just a theological exercise, i.e., interesting but not particularly relevant. Hardly! J.I. Packer warns, “We shall have to deal with the perfections of God, the aspect of his moral character which are manifested in his words and deeds—his holiness, his love and mercy, his truthfulness, his faithfulness, his goodness, his patience, his justice.”[5]
And, “Part of God’s moral perfection is his perfection in judgment. Would a God who did not care about the difference between right and wrong be a good and admirable Being?... The final proof that God is a perfect moral being… is the fact that he has committed himself to judge the world.”[6]
You see, one of God’s perfections is His absolute and utter holiness. He cannot and will not ignore sin and evil. He can and will judge justly and administer punishment to those who earn it. As Tony Evans says, “Every time we think an evil thought or do an evil deed, God’s anger is kindled because He is so perfect that He must react to unrighteousness.”[7]
Stephen Charnock warns, “Every sin invades the rights of God, and strips him of one or other of his perfections. It is such a vilifying of God as if he were not God; as if he were not the supreme Creator and Benefactor of the world; as if we had not our being from him; as if the air we breathed in, the food we lived by, were our own by right of supremacy, not of donation.”[8]
Still, there is an aspect of God’s perfection that is such good news for us. Robert Shaw explains:
“nothing affords such a striking demonstration of God’s hatred of sin as the sufferings and death of his own Son. God must be of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, since, when our guilt was transferred to his own Son, he spared him not. Could he have overlooked sin in any case, he would certainly have done it in the case of his dear Son. But, though he was the object of his Father's ineffable delight, and though he was personally innocent, yet, when he stood charged with the sins of his people, he could not be excused from suffering and dying. ‘It pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief.’ – Isa. 53:10.”[9]
What remains to be discussed, then, is our response to God’s perfection. When we contemplate just how far God has gone to deal with us and our sin, we can only do as the writer of Hebrews advised:
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrew 12:1-2)
It certainly behooves us not to “ignore so great a salvation”! (Hebrews 2:3)
End Notes