What Does “Perfect” Mean?
Here's an interesting study; Did you know there are 41 and 19 occurrences for the noun and adjective: "perfect", in the New Testament? (5056. telos & 5046. teleios respectively)
Did you know that Jesus tells His disciples to be "perfect"?
"Therefore you are to be perfect (teleios), as your heavenly Father is perfect (teleios)." ~Matthew 5:48
Did you know Paul and James clearly say the same?
"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect (teleios) in Christ Jesus:" ~Colossians 1:24-29
Highlight
"Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be téleios." ~1 Corinthians 14:20
“Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."
(Now this [expression], "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers,for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a PERFECT man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
— Ephesians 4:8-13
5056 télos (a neuter noun) – properly, consummation (the end-goal, purpose), such as closure with all its results. [This root (tel-) means "reaching the end (aim)." It is well-illustrated with the old pirate's telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness) ~Source
"And let endurance have [its] perfect (teleios) result, so that you may be perfect (teleios) and complete, lacking in nothing." ~James 1:4 (These 3 examples are adjectives).
But do you want to know what's really amazing? Is what this word actually means in Greek. Did you know this Greek word "teleios" can been translated as "perfect, complete, mature." (Adjectives). And "telos" (the noun) can be translated as "the end", "custom" (Matt 17:25; Rom 13:7), "fulfillment", "outcome", "uttermost".
Here's an important occurrence, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to "the end" (telos) shall be saved." "the end" is actually a noun here!
In the book of Revelation, Jesus refers to Himself as "the end" (telos)!!
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and "the end" (telos), the first and the last." Rev 22:13 (Again, noun)
So as we can probably see, this word is very interesting and very important.
And the number one way to better understand this word is by being able to view the context of it's usages throughout scripture.
Cognate: 5046 téleios (an adjective, derived from 5056 /télos, "consummated goal") – mature (consummated) from going through the necessary stages to reach the end-goal, i.e. developed into a consummating completion by fulfilling the necessary process (spiritual journey). See 5056 (telos). ~Source
And that you can do online (biblehub.com, studylight.org, blueletterbible.org), or through the excellent study guide "Word Study Greek-English New Testament" by McReynolds (Tyndale). Other helpful tools (books) are Thayer's Greek Lexicon, "The Complete Word Study Dictionary" (New Testament) by Zodhiates.
I love this definition of "téleios" and "télos" (respectively) provided by HELPS Word-studies;
Cognate: 5046 téleios (an adjective, derived from 5056 /télos, "consummated goal") – mature (consummated) from going through the necessary stages to reach the end-goal, i.e. developed into a consummating completion by fulfilling the necessary process (spiritual journey). See 5056 (telos).
[This root (tel-) means "reaching the end (aim)." It is well-illustrated with the old pirate's telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness).]
and the noun;
5056 télos (a neuter noun) – properly, consummation (the end-goal, purpose), such as closure with all its results.
[This root (tel-) means "reaching the end (aim)." It is well-illustrated with the old pirate's telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness).]
But I want to look at a few more instances of context right now to get a better understanding of this word.
Romans 12:1-2, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your reasonable service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (téleios adj).
Paul is URGING us (parakaleó - G3870) BY THE MERCIES (3628. oiktirmos) OF GOD (very important as we can do nothing without Him), that we present (paristémi - G3936) our body (4983. sóma) a living (2198. zaó) and holy (40. hagios) sacrifice (2378. thusia), acceptable (2101. euarestos) to God (2316. theos) your reasonable (3050. logikos) service of worship (2999. latreia).
AND do not be conformed (4964. suschématizó) to this (3778) world (165. aión) but be transformed (3339. metamorphoó) by the renewing (342. anakainósis) of your MIND (3563. nous) so (1519) that YOU may prove (1381. dokimazó) what (5101) the good (18. agathos) and acceptable (2101. euarestos) and PERFECT (5046. teleios adj) WILL (2307. theléma) of God is.
So as we can hopefully ὁράω, νοιέω, γινώσκω, αἰσθάνομαι, εἴδω and καταλαμβάνω here, WE are called to present the teleios WILL of GOD!
And seeing you're told here this powerful truth and told all throughout scripture, how will you continue conducting your lives? Your peripateó (περιπατέω)?
See how we will be judged? If we put into practice God's Word or ignore it in stubborn rebellion.
Paul said of himself "woe (3759. ouai) is me if I preach not the gospel" (1 Cor 9:16) What does that mean? See how important study is. Because we need to grasp why Paul was making such an exclamation as that! Paul claimed he was a debtor to God in his work. What if he didn't pay the debt? Answer: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." ~1 Corinthians 9:27
Earlier, Paul tells the Corinthians, "And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling." ~1 Corinthians 2:3
The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It IS wisdom (Job 28:28). Choose the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:29) and let it guide you into God's perfection so we may be able to present it not only to ourselves, but everyone around us. THIS is the responsibility of the hagios of God! And let us realize the conditional basis for our salvation, "but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” ~Proverbs 1:33 and "Ye are my friends, if (1437. ean) ye do whatsoever I command you." ~John 15:14
"IF"; 1437 eán (a conjunction, derived from 1487 /ei, "if" and 302 /án, a particle showing a statement is conditional) – if, referring to a condition extending to its "spin-off" possibilities – i.e. that will happen if the condition is actualized or is valid.
May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you. Amen
You can be saved!
God loves the people in the world so much that He came down to die for us. If God is opening your heart to His message and you feel convicted for your sins which have separated you from a holy God and you feel the need to be forgiven, then say this prayer. This is how I was powerfully converted to the Christ in 1997!
Say, "My Lord and my God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe Jesus the Christ died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. I believe Jesus raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and is now on the right-hand side of God listening to this prayer. I open up the door of my heart and I invite You in, Lord Jesus. Thank you, God, for saving my soul and I vow to serve you with all my heart which is the first and greatest commandment. Amen."