THE BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF PERFECTION

The following post is an excerpt from Eschatological Grounding and is a component part of the argument for the perpetual utility of Scripture throughout the Eternal State. At the core of this discussion perfection is understood as being on a trajectory of infinite spiritual progression. This trajectory is fundamentally established on the reality that the glorified saint will forever remain infinitely less perfect than God. Only God and His Word posses both moral and teleological perfection – both are eternal and immutable.

THE BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF PERFECTION

שָׁלֵם: shalem — complete, whole, full, perfect, at peace.

תָּמִים: tamim — complete, whole, perfect, blameless, without blemish.

מִכְלָל: miklal — perfection, completeness, entirety.

teleioV, teleios – having reached the end, term, limit, hence, complete, full perfect.

artioV, artios – complete, capable, proficient, able to meet all demands. Only 2 Timothy 3:17.

            The quote that follows succinctly summarizes creaturely perfection and accurately reflects the interpretive breadth of the original language words translated “perfect.” Perfection in Scripture,

is the Christian idea and aim, but insomuch as that which God has set before us is infinite – “Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5 48) – absolute perfection must be forever beyond, not only any human, but any finite being; it is a Divine ideal forever shining before us, calling us upward, and making endless progression possible. [1]

Based on this observation, the sections that follow develop the idea of “perfection” as it applies to the eternal state and the idea the teleological gradation of infinite progression.

A theologically accurate definition of “perfect” challenges the common belief that creaturely perfection is a passive, terminal state. In contrast, creaturely perfection manifests itself in a state of infinite progression without an endpoint. Only God and His Word possess eternal, immutable perfection, both in terms of goodness and of completeness. For God and His Word, there is no change: God remains the same yesterday, today, and forever, as does His Word. Divine perfection should be seen as “forever beyond” all contingent and finite beings. For the saint perfection is inaugurated by the positional event of regeneration by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3) after which the saint is placed on a progressive trajectory of infinite progression, glorification an inevitable transitional change on that progressive trajectory.

The next section examines the eternal state concerning both consummation and infinite progression. The aim is to demonstrate that the perfection associated with infinite progression under the curse is “less perfect” than that of infinite progression after the curse is eradicated in the eternal state. This concept of infinite progression will be appealed to later in the volume to support the conception that the impartation of Scripture in the eternal state is “more perfect” than the internalization of Scripture in the current sin-cursed age.

What, then, does the perfection of infinite progression imply for the role of Scripture in the eternal state? Instead of viewing glorification as a final state of consummated perfection, the infinite progression of perfection suggests that Scripture’s spiritual utility remains eternally effective as a vital part of glorification. This proposal, along with Scripture’s own affirmation of its preservation despite the passing of heaven and earth, supports the proposal that Scripture’s Divine impartation is integral to glorification.

ESCHATOLOGICAL CONSUMMATION RECONSIDERED

Eschatological consummation refers to the complete fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan as revealed in Scripture. Everything God does and His word are both good and perfect in terms of being absolutely complete, a truth that identifies His word directly with Himself. When God’s redemptive and cosmic plan is fulfilled in every aspect, that fulfillment is called eschatological consummation. While the cosmos and the redeemed may achieve moral perfection through God’s transformative work of glorification and the eradication of the curse, they will never attain to perfection in the sense of completeness, perfection being a “Divine ideal” that allows for endless progression.

Creaturely or created perfection must not be equivocated with the perfection of the Creator or His Word. The purpose of the new heaven and earth will never reach Divine completion, and heaven, though free from the curse, will never be fully complete as the dwelling place of the redeemed. The sinless perfection of Heaven, as the dwelling place of the redeemed and angels remains infinitely less perfect that God in the sense of its eternal and immutable completion. The glorified saint in heaven will eternally grow in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, never reaching absolute completeness. The physical bodies of the damned will endure eternal suffering in the Lake of Fire, while the redeemed will be glorified, experiencing the eradication of the curse being placed on an infinite journey of learning and growth in the knowledge of God initiated by their salvation.

The following section presents an argument through gradation, comparing the end times under the curse with the perfection of the eternal state free of the curse. The eternal state is the ultimate standard, allowing us to describe the eschaton under the curse as “less perfect.” The methodology involves discussing redemptive history under the curse as “less perfect” than the eternal state, which is “more perfect” than the eschaton still burdened by the curse. For the purposes of this paper, “less perfect” and “more perfect” refer specifically to the trajectory of infinite progression in the eternal state.

AQUINAS’S ARGUMENT FOR GRADATION

The glorification discussed above surpasses everything presently experienced by the saint in this life. Whatever knowledge the saint has of God and His Word will be exceeded in glory through eternal communion with the glorified Lord. No completion in this sin-cursed world can be deemed better than the continuous growth toward the Divine ideal of perfection in the eternal state. The eschatological journey of the saint in glory transcends the limitations of the current fallen state.

To clarify the reality of the eternal state, appeal is made to the fourth of Thomas Aquinas’ five arguments for the existence of God, found in the Summa Theologiae. Aquinas argues from the “gradation found in things,” noting that “some things are more and some less perfect, true, noble, and so forth.” He points out that comparatives depend on their resemblance to a maximum, such as how a thing is considered hotter as it approaches the hottest. Consequently, there must be the cause of all beings, goodness, and perfection which is God. Aquinas writes,

more or less are predicted of different things according to as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest, and, consequently something which is most being, for those things are greatest in truth are greatest in being, as it is written in Metaph. ii. Now the maximum of any genus is the cause of all in that genus, as fire, which is the maximum of heat, is the cause of all hot things, as it is said in the same book. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection: and that we call God.[2]

Aquinas’ fourth proof rests on the absolute perfection of God as the source of all being, goodness, and perfection. For all creatures, perfection is understood in terms of gradation—measured in relation to the absolute perfection of God. Though God’s creation is morally perfect (cf. Gen. 1:31), the manner in which that moral perfection is reflected varies according to each created being’s alignment with its Creator.

The unfolding narrative of redemptive history reveals the moral perfection and goodness of God in contrast to the mutability and fallenness of humanity. Created as mutable beings, humans are characterized by potential, growth, and life. Yet sin introduces a contrary trajectory—one of decay, corruption, and death. Through the imputed righteousness of Christ, the regenerate individual is declared morally righteous, despite remaining mutable. Nevertheless, the fullness of perfection, understood as completeness in God, will remain the saint’s eternal pursuit, as their knowledge of and communion with God expand without end.

This chapter will examine perfection in terms of degrees of completeness rather than moral uprightness. While God acts in perfect wisdom and goodness in all His decrees, in creation, providence, and redemption, created reality—even in its glorified state—can never reach the absolute perfection of the Creator. The eternal state is indeed the maximal environment for the creature, yet it remains categorically distinct from the perfection of God Himself. Even so, the trajectory of redemptive history moves from a state of fallenness toward consummation in the eternal state—a state characterized by the removal of the curse and the full realization of the creature’s capacity to reflect God’s glory.

For goodness, truth, and nobility to be objective and not subjective, they must be measured against a fixed, unchanging reference point of the highest possible quality—namely, the absolute perfection of God. This is the logic underlying Aquinas’s fourth proof for God’s existence. Drawing upon Aristotle’s concept of the great chain of being, Aquinas argues that gradations of perfection observed in the created order imply the existence of a being that is maximally perfect and thus the source and standard for all other beings and goodness. Applied eschatologically, this logic positions the eternal state as the highest possible created environment, yet one that remains infinitely less than the Creator. Fallen creation, by contrast, is objectively and teleologically less perfect in every respect.

The gradation from less perfect to more perfect within redemptive history illustrates that beings and conditions subject to the curse are on the same divine trajectory of infinite progression as those in the eternal state. However, those in glory are free of the curse and thus more perfectly conformed to that trajectory. The Divine ideal of infinite growth in knowledge, love, and communion with God is most fully realized not in the present, but in the consummated eternal state. There, the glorified saint will no longer see “through a glass, darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12), but will instead behold God more clearly, though still never exhaustively.

Knowing and understanding God is the highest privilege granted to the creature. Only in the eternal state does the saint begin the infinite journey of perfect praise and ever-deepening communion with the Triune God. The current epoch of redemptive history, while rich with benefits, is “less perfect” than what awaits. Glorification ushers in a sanctification that transforms the entire being—intellect, emotion, will, body, and spirit. The “less perfect” of the present age yields to the “more perfect” of eternity.

This is evidenced by numerous Scriptural contrasts, which demonstrate the gradation of perfection within the ordo salutis. For example:

  • “That we suffer with him” is less perfect than “that we may also be glorified together” (Rom. 8:17).
  • “The bondage of corruption” is less perfect than “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21).
  • “A natural body” is less perfect than “a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44).
  • “The image of the earthy” is less perfect than “the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:49).
  • “Corruptible” is less perfect than “incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:53a).
  • “Mortal” is less perfect than “immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53b).
  • “It doth not yet appear what we shall be” is less perfect than “we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2).
  • “The earnest of our inheritance” is less perfect than “the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1:14).
  • “For now we see through a glass, darkly” is less perfect than “then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12).
  • “Groaning within ourselves” is less perfect than “the redemption of the body” (Rom. 8:23).

The blessings enjoyed by the saints in this present, fallen world—though truly gracious are less perfect than those that will be realized upon the removal of the curse. Glorification involves the sanctification of the saint’s whole person, bringing the relative Christlikeness achieved through submission to the Word and Spirit into its most exalted, eternal form.

What the Church presently knows of Scripture will, in the eternal state, be internalized and experienced in ways that align with the Divine ideal of infinite growth. The glorified saint will continue to learn, grow, and worship in ever-deepening perfection. All present encounters with the Word and Spirit, though genuine, will give way to a more perfect experience in glory, when every faculty of the believer is unencumbered by sin.

[1] W. L. Walker, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 2321.

[2] Anton C. Pegis, “Introduction to Saint Thomas Aquinas,” Modern Library College Editions (New York: The Modern Library, 19480, 26-27.

If you can’t see the conspicuous it’s because you won’t see it.

Louis Gaussen, Divine Inspiration of the Bible, 1841

Published in 1841, 40 years before the notorious novel 1881 Greek NT the pre-critical theology of inspiration was still being articulated. On two pages we find 1. The failure of scholarship; 2. Jot and tittle infallibility; 3. The creative element of inspiration down to the very words (dictation); 4. Scripture’s self-attestation and self-authentication. Only the intellectually blind will miss the conspicuous corruption of orthodox Bibliology between 1841 and 1881. As if turning off the lights of spiritual illumination, the Church was confronted with  academic prejudices and factual ambivalences as if such confusion was normative to the Christian faith. It’s past time to wake up brothers and sisters and accept the fact much of the Church has been duped and return to the orthodox Bibliology taught in the KJB and promulgated by our theological forefathers. 

WHY CRITICAL SCHOLARSHIP DISDAINS THE KING JAMES BIBLE (AND FISHERMEN)

The Church gets along just fine without an intellectually intimidating Academy. The Church can easily do without being told they cannot read their Bible without some scholar or scholar wannabe’s pontification. The Church serves and pleases God without knowing a stich of Greek or Hebrew diction, syntax, or grammar. Do we really need to know the ridiculous opinions of Ward, White, and Wallace for the Church to move forward for the Gospel’s sake? I think not.

Scholarship is plagued by the sin of envy, a particularly ecclesiastical and academic sin – the sin of the Pharisees that drove the death of Christ. When the Bible says that knowledge makes one proud and arrogant, every saint should take that to heart. The modern scholar is envious of the of the same thing the Pharisees envied – the popularity of Christ by the masses. The Triumphal Entry when a young Rabbi, the God-man, Jesus Christ was received into Jerusalem as the King after having just raised Lazarus from the dead. When the stupid, untrained fishermen spoke eloquently and powerfully to the Sanhedrin, the scholars concluding that these men had been with Jesus. Who needs scholarship when you have Jesus? You see, modern theological scholarship is envious of what makes fishermen bold, confident, theologically erudite, and eloquent without formal training. That is, internalizing the Word of God, the teaching of their Master, Jesus Christ. It is the Bible, properly understood and practiced, the goal of every believer that makes scholarship look puny and feckless. It is the Church’s dedication to the Bible that the scholar envies. You “back-woods” fundamentalists, with your King James Bibles, you “basket of spiritual deplorables.” Don’t you know that the academy of Pharisees is where you get your theological training and not the Scripture. Scholars envy the Church’s faith in the Bible and the fact we ignore them. The Church does not need them. And for our forthright disregard for the intellectually intimidating Academy, they disdain and envy the Bible. If only they could have then ecclesiastical following the Bible does.

Scholars create problems so they can remain relevant. Can you imagine for one second how the publishing business would contract if there was only one standard sacred text? One Bible, commentaries, lexicons, grammars, software all tied to that one Bible? No more novel ideas about textual readings, collectives discussing perpetual changes, journals and lectures presenting the minutiae of textual questions? The Church could almost enjoy reading and obeying the Bible without the spiritual tinnitus of white noise constantly ringing in their ears. To be a true Bible scholar you must begin with submission to the God of the Bible and to His Word. True Bible scholars do not create problems, they resolve problems, create peace in the Church by sound scholarship that is not at odds with the Scripture. True scholarship edifies and asserts only those things God has already said about Himself in His Word. There has been and will always be a place in the body of Christ for this “begging for forgiveness” expression of “worshipping God with your entire mind” scholarship. And while many Pharisees took the route of Nicodemus and believed that Jesus was the Son of God, even while cowering fearful of being put out of the synagogue, many others were enemies of the Lord. Of modern Pharisaical theological scholarship advocating multiple version onlyism, splintering the Church has given them a platform to fulfill their goal to satisfy their envy by drawing the Church away from the Bible, from being fishermen, to be part of the “prestigious” 2025 Sanhedrin. You too can sit with Gamaliel and discuss the unjust, undeserved penalty due the fishermen that had been with Christ.

The King James Bible is not in need of scholarly assistance. The King James Bible exists as the English canon of Scripture and has for many centuries. It does not require academic tampering. This has long been established as a fact by the Spirit to the Church through the Word, all foolish, fishermen jargon for the academic elite but to those who believe it is the bedrock truth of God. And because fishermen are not trained theologians, the Academy believes it is prudent for the Church to turn the Bible over to them so it can be properly modified according to the highest modern standards. That the King James Bible is the Bible is a fact. To illustrate, King James Bible believers are theological botanists to use Gaussen’s terminology. Once the fact that cherries grow on cherry trees was known, no additional study was made of the cherry tree to see if peaches grew on the tree, or if the root system turned into the root system of an Oak, or if the bark changed into the white bark of a Poplar, or seeped sap like a White Pine. Once the common man, using common sense, understood the botanical facts, no more scholarship is necessary to say without doubt, confidently, that a cherry tree is a cherry tree. But for scholars, they are perpetually recreating the cherry tree. You see, the fact that cherry trees can be known to be such without a botanist, in the same manner that the believer by the common faith knows the fact that the King James Bible is the Bible. This fact is the grounds for contemporary orthodox, theological formulation.

The Church should care far more about the Bible says about them than what the Academy thinks and intimidates. Forsake any passion to be accepted by the Sanhedrin and join the ranks of Jesus’ fishermen. The Sanhedrin came to its end in 70AD – the fishermen are still here, fishing.

Blessings!

2025 Conference of the Reformation Bible Society – Grand Rapids, MI

I am excited to announce the 2025 Conference of the Reformation Bible Society. We had a blast last year and I’m looking forward to another great conference. It’ll be great to be back in our old stomping ground at Calvin and Cornerstone.

We will be meeting at the Pirsig/Debruyn Chapel on the campus of Cornerstone Seminary – the alma mater of Dr. Van Kleeck Sr. (when it was called Grand Rapids Baptist Bible College).

We are thankful for the opportunity to once again present papers at this conference. Dr. Van Kleeck Sr. will present a paper on Revelation 10 and the concept of the “Little Book” as indicative of the written Scriptures given to God’s people. Dr. Van Kleeck Jr. will present a paper with a working subtitle, A Metonymic and Synecdochic Reading of Revelation as the Culmination of Biblical Revelation.

We’d love to see you all there – stay out late, talk Standard Sacred Text, get some pie, drink some coffee. Whether you are KJVO or MVO or somewhere in between this will be the place to be on August 2nd.

Interview w/ Nick Sayers about An Eschatological Grounding and The 30 Best Arguments

Good morning, All.

As many of you know we have both recently published books. Dr. Van Kleeck Sr. has published An Eschatological Grounding for a Standard Sacred Text which can be found here. Dr. Van Kleeck Jr. has published The 30 Best Arguments Against King James Version Onlyism* which can be found here.

Yesterday afternoon, we had the opportunity to speak with Nick Sayers about our work and to lay out some of the more salient details contained therein. Give it a watch when you have the time. We hope you enjoy. If you have any questions or would like to discuss these topics further with us, please reach out.

Blessings.

1876 Centennial King James Bible

Moving some of my books I came across this 1876 Bible prepared to commemorate the American centennial. The first photo lists this edition’s commendations and why it was selected as the centennial edition. The second photo contains 1 John 5:7 which was present 5 years before the critical text corrupted this passage by its removal. Thanks to the divisions and ecclesiastical disharmony brought on by textual critics and their Evangelical collaborators, returning to this kind of national unity around a standard sacred text, the King James Bible, seems a formidable task, but nonetheless a worthy endeavor.

An Eschatological Grounding For A Standard Sacred Text

This volume considers the question, “What is the eschatological future of the Bible?” by way of fresh, optimistic exploration of the Scripture. For instance, “Is Scripture incinerated with the re-formation of the New Heaven and Earth?” Or “Does forever mean forever in every case except when applied to Scripture?”

The focus of this volume is not pre-, post-, or amillennial eschatological positions. In the Eternal State eschatological perspectives will be established history. It is from the continuity and consummation of God’s redemptive plan in Christ that this volume considers the enduring role of God’s Word. Take for example the following:

“Consider Scripture the uncorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23), not only for salvation but for glorification as well. The seed begins with being born again but finds its end in glorification with all the ramifications of living eternally with Christ, (Romans 8:30). There would be no consummation or glorification, without the beginning, the regenerating work of the Spirit, (John 3:1-8).”

The topics of the End Times, Eternal State, Glorification, Scripture’s Canonical and Exegetical Continuity with the Eternal State are examined.

In a discipline oriented to reexamine the past, Eschatological Grounding provides a thought provoking, exegetically based theology, exploring God’s Word as a component part of the Eternal State.

Eschatological Grounding is available at the link below:

https://a.co/d/7LbrfKS

Canonicity: Why the Bible Has 66 Books

A new Study Guide entitled, Canonicity: Why the Bible Has 66 Books, prepared by Dr. Peter Van Kleeck, Sr., is now available at Amazon Books. Designed as Sunday School curriculum for High School through all adult classes, seminars, and family devotions, the Study Guide builds a strong, historically proven, theological case for the collation of the canon of Scripture. The material presented lays the foundation for defense of the Christian Faith and the King James Bible.

The Study Guide is available at the link below:

https://a.co/d/0gh0pHY

The 30 Best Arguments Against King James Onlyism*

Good morning, All.

I know the blog has been pretty quiet as of late. Both Dr.’s Van Kleeck have been working to publish books. I am happy to say that they are now available on Amazon. I will let Dr. Van Kleeck Sr. plug his book when he is ready. The main reason for this post was to thank all those who have purchased The 30 Best Arguments Against King James Onlyism*. Just this week, it has shot up as the #1 New Release in the Religious Fundamentalism category.

In short, 30 Arguments sets out to answer the best or most prevailing 30 or so arguments against the Textus Receptus and/or King James Version position. I believe it is a short and approachable work that tries to get at the heart of our opponent’s objections while providing an answer suited to the objection.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Thanks again.

You can find the book here.

One Lord. One Faith. One Bible?

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Ephesians 4:4-6

John Calvin writes in his commentary on the above passage from Ephesians, “Some consider the unity of the Spirit to mean that spiritual unity which is produced in us by the Spirit of God. There can be no doubt that He alone makes us “of one accord, of one mind,” (Philippians 2:2,) and thus makes us one; but I think it more natural to understand the words as denoting harmony of views.”

It seems fair that we have a harmony of view regarding Christ as Head, the Christian calling, Christ as Lord, and God as Father. The Cross is exclusive in its efficacious work. There is only one way to salvation. There is only one true faith.

Calvin goes on to write regarding verse 4, “that we are subject to a law which no more permits the children of God to differ among themselves than the kingdom of heaven to be divided.” And what exactly does this look like? Recall the words of Jesus as he taught the disciples to pray, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Unity on earth mirrors unity in heaven in one particular way. We must be united in the will of God, and that it be done.

For the cessationist, what is the revealed will of God on earth in the present church age? The word of God, Scripture, is that revealed will. In commenting on verse 5, Calvin observes that “Christ cannot be divided. Faith cannot be rent. There are not various baptisms, but one which is common to all. God cannot cease to be one, and unchangeable.” We are no more permitted to differ over what words are God’s words than the kingdom of heaven is to differ over which words are God’s words.

Where do we learn that there is one Lord, Christ? The Bible. Where do we learn that there is one faith? The Bible. Where do we receive faith? By hearing the Bible. Where do we learn that there is one God? The Bible. Where do we learn this one God is Father to the Christian? The Bible. Where do we learn of the one Holy Spirit? The Bible. Where do we learn from this one Holy Spirit? The Bible. Yet the epistemological source, the ground and foundation of where we learn all these “ones” is not one. The English-speaking believing community does not have one God’s word from the one Spirit to learn of the one God, the one Spirit, the one faith, the one Lord.

We here at StandardSacredText.com concur with Calvin in confessing that “Christ cannot be divided. Faith cannot be rent. There are not various baptisms, but one which is common to all. God cannot cease to be one, and unchangeable.” And as such, there cannot be various God’s words, but one which is common to all. God’s word cannot cease to be one and unchangeable because it is the very reflection of God and His will to the New Testament Church.