THE BOND OF PERFECTION
(wk 32/17)
Kunle Sokoya, Olubi Johnson and Gboyega Adesiyan

2Corinthians 7:1 KJV: ‘Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ 

Perfection is the spiritual state in which the sin nature in the soul (will, mind, emotions) and body has been totally removed by the divine nature, eternal life. It is attained, maintained and consolidated by A PROCESS using the Blood of Jesus (Heb. 13:20-21), the Word of God (1Jn. 2:5) and the power of the Holy Spirit (1Jn. 4:12-13; Eph. 6:18). 

Colossians 3:14 KJV/NIV:   And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Divine Love (Agape) is the ‘glue’ that binds the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22-23). Love is the bond that wraps it all up into a cycle! By diligent exercise of faith in God’s mercy and grace, we remove the sin nature from our soul and body by the power of the Holy Spirit using the divine nature, and develop God’s Love (Christ’s character). This gives us access to God’s ‘riches in glory’ summed up as the mind and the miracle/power of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). God designed this process as a cycle. The key is keeping ourselves in the cycle (Rom. 11:36)!

God sustains many of cycles in the created universe (Heb. 1:3); seasonal weather cycles, the water cycle, carbon cycle, earth’s orbit round the sun in a cycle, sleep-wake cycles, hormonal cycles, Krebs cycle etc.

A reading of Jas. 3:13 shows that there is also a spiritual cycle in our walk with God. It begins with meekness of heart (humility) or our response to truth, which attracts mercy and grace which in turn attracts the light of wisdom (Pro.11:2). Wisdom (or light) gives access to the power of God through prayer, fasting, confession, meditation (Pro.9:10) that God uses to shape our conduct or conversation in meekness to do God’s word and perfect divine Love; which in turn makes us more humble to attract more wisdom and greater access to God’s power!

We must labour diligently and consistently to maintain this cycle otherwise we will break it (Heb. 4:9-11) and fall into another, the bond (cycle) of iniquity. When the heart suppresses or rejects truth (Rom. 1:18 NIV), mercy and grace cannot flow to us as it should; spiritual power is not generated SUFFICIENTLY and so disobedience (evil deeds) sets in (Jn. 3:19, Eph 4:17-18). Tell tale signs are selfishness, spiritual ease (Amos 6:1) and emphasis on gain rather than godliness (1Tim. 6:5, 10, 2Tim. 3:2).

A knowledge and practice of this cycle to generate and maintain spiritual power for perfection is essential, because we are in the seventh day from Adam. God must see the travail of His soul as His sons come forth in Christ’s image and likeness (Is. 53:11).

Cycles promote efficiency, continuity and consistency. In this cycle of perfecting the Love of God, we grow rapidly and consistently because of our openness to Light (1Jn. 1:7). Rapid and deep spiritual growth is available and we must labour diligently to enter into and maintain it (Heb. 4:10-11).

God arranged His creation in a manner that gave Him rest on the 7th day, blessed and set this day apart (Gen. 2:2-3). We too must seek balance and efficiency in all we do. Order, consistency and efficiency is very important to God.

In order to cultivate and maintain the cycle of the bond of perfection,

  • We must actively increase our dependence on God’s mercy (Rom. 9:16) by saying ‘Lord have mercy on me!’ OPEN UP TO HIM in fellowship and intimacy (Ps. 33:18-22). We must set our hearts to seek truth (Rom. 5:30) and as we embrace it, Wisdom will be our constant companion.
  • We must obey instructions promptly as a habit (Pr. 4:13) so eternal life flows in sufficient measure (Mt. 11:28-30).
  • We must operate the seven pillars of wisdom (Pro. 9:1) diligently placing particular emphasis on frequency of communion prayer, i.e. praying in tongues (Mk. 13:35, Deut. 6:6-7; 1Cor. 2:7).
  • Daily Bible reading and regular study of the Bible (once a month, once in two weeks, weekly).
  • We must daily set our hearts to forgive others (Matt.18:35), show them mercy and undeserved love (1Jn. 5:16)! It takes us deeper into God and causes us to become rooted and grounded in the cycle of divine Love, the bond of perfection!