I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect 3 Nephi 12:48
In Genesis, Noah is called “a just man and perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9). The Book of Job introduces Job with a similar description, stating that he was “perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1). Latter-day Scripture calls Seth “a perfect man” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:43). In the apocryphal Book of Jasher, “And the Lord said to Satan, Hast thou thus considered my servant Abraham? for there is none like him upon earth, a perfect and an upright man before me, one that feareth God and avoideth evil” (Jasher 22:54). How did these mortals become “perfect”?
In Hebrews we read, “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” (Heb. 11:40) and Joseph Smith notes, “For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:15). How are our perfection and our ancestors’ perfection related?
Could it be that we have misunderstood perfection?
Perfection in the scriptural command found in Matthew 5:48 (“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”), is not being flawless, but means something different. If readers superimpose the modern understanding of the English word “flawless”—onto this passage, it can lead to despair because of the overwhelming demands of achieving a state of flawlessness. Perfection as being “flawless” is not a scriptural idea, Biblical scholar C. C. Torrey reportedly called this reading “mere nonsense” (see Frank F. Judd, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect,” in The Sermon on the Mount in Latter-day Scripture, 125).
Word Origin
Hebrew: There are two primary Hebrew words that are translated as “perfect”: tamim (תָּמִים) and shalem (שָׁלֵם).
Genesis 6:9 uses the Hebrew word tamim to describe Noah, which translates to “perfect.” Tamim means “whole, sound, healthful” and “having integrity”, but is also blameless. It also signifies “to complete.” Remember that figures like Noah were not flawless.
Shalem (שָׁלֵם) is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word teleios. It means “complete, safe, at peace”. As an adjective, it describes something as full, whole, made ready, perfected, or complete. The root letters imply completion, fulfillment, and entering into a state of wholeness and unity. In 1 Kings 8:61, where Solomon instructs the Israelites, the command to have a “perfect” heart is translated from shalem.
The Hebrew word shalem (שָׁלֵם) corresponds to the Greek word teleios. It represents “complete, safe, at peace”. The root letters imply completion, fulfillment, and entering into a state of wholeness and unity. The word “shalem” is used in 1 Kings 8:61, where Solomon tells the Israelites to have a “perfect” heart. The Hebrew word for peace, shalom (שָׁלוֺם), is derived from shalam.
Greek: Teleios (τέλος) comes from the noun telos (τέλος), meaning a final end, object, or aim and is translated as “perfect” in Matthew 5:48. It has a broad range of meanings that primarily emphasize completeness, maturity, and purpose, rather than flawlessness or freedom from error. President Nelson explains that teleios is “complete” and lacking nothing. He clarified that the word “does not imply ‘freedom from error’; it implies ‘achieving a distant objective’” (see “Perfection Pending,” Ensign, Nov 1995).
The Greek word is the origin of the prefix tele– (such as in telephone or telescope), which is about distance or the end of a process. Teleios naturally describes fully developed adults, contrasting with the young. It describes Christians who are mature in the faith.
Moroni captures the essence of this spiritual maturity, “If ye shall deny your- selves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32).
“The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of God are supposed to become. This spotless and perfected state will result from a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions, an accumulation of right choices, and from continuing repentance”
President Dallin H. Oaks
“Perfection” and Temple Ordinances
If perfection is a gift from God, then how are we endowed with perfecting power? “Perfection” and ordinances share a key relationship, largely explained by the Greek term teleios (perfect/complete), which in religious terms, connects to ordinances, covenants, and becoming complete through God. President Nelson observed: “No accountable individual can receive exaltation [perfection] in the celestial kingdom without the ordinances of the temple. Endowments and sealings are for our personal perfection and are secured through our faithfulness.” (“Perfection Pending,” Ensign Nov. 1995, 87).
Temple ordinances, which include work for the dead, are necessary for the completeness or perfection of all humankind. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read, “And now my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers–that they without us cannot be made perfect – neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:15).
The temple endowment is not merely a step toward perfection. Through this covenant, we fulfill the Lord’s command to be perfect (complete), and it’s the divine way to gain the knowledge, power, and consecration we need for eternal perfection.
Anciently, perfection, or divine completeness, was attached to ordinances and covenants. Teleios is a technical term meaning completely initiated and consecrated. Similarly, the Greek verb teleioo was used in the Hellenistic period as one who performed sacred rites and was therefore “complete or perfect” to be put in a position “in which he can come, or stand, before God” (see McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia).
Perfection is achieved through sacred ordinances and faithfulness to covenants. Scripture teaches that those who dwell in the presence of God are “just men made perfect through Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:69). The use of teleios in Matthew 5:48 and teleioo elsewhere tends toward the meaning of “living up to an agreement or a covenant” and reflects wholehearted consecration to God.
So, the Greek word translated as ‘perfect’ (teleios) in Matthew 5:48 carries a religious or ceremonial sense to being wholly consecrated to God. Early Christians used the term teleios in connection with their sacraments and ordinances.
Ordinances, especially temple ones, are clearly necessary for eternal advancement. Temple ordinances are required for exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Endowments and sealings are for our personal perfection and are secured through faithfulness. Furthermore, the doctrine of vicarious ordinances for the dead ensures that both the living and the dead can be “made perfect”.
John W. Welch argues that the Sermon on the Mount, including the call to perfection, is a temple text about sacred ordinances and covenants. Baptism, anointing, and oaths link ordinances to perfection in the Sermon (see Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & the Sermon on the Mount).
The Lord couched His command for perfection in 3 Nephi with the purpose of preparing His disciples to be endowed with power from on high. “Not all is known to us, of course, for the people were taught secret things that were ‘unspeakable’ and ‘not lawful to be written’ (3 Nephi 26:18), and many things were ‘forbidden them that they should utter’ (3 Nephi 28:14)” (Welch, Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & the Sermon on the Mount, 104).
The promise to clothe [enduo (ἐνδύω)] is found within the temple-oriented teachings of the Sermon at the Temple (3 Nephi 13:25, 29-31; parallel to Matthew 6:25-30) and is richly symbolic. Enduo is related to the English word “endow”.
The new law of sacrifice requires coming to Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. The admonition to reconcile with a brother before offering a gift (Matthew 5:24) ensures that there are no unkind feelings as one goes forward ritually toward the holy altar. The Savior taught that accepting the covenants was to be sworn by saying “yes” or “no”. All of this was preparing a person in teleios “to come, or stand, before God”. [For a detailed list of ancient parallels to modern ordinances, see John W. Welch, “Toward an Understanding of the Sermon as an Ancient Temple,” in Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & the Sermon on the Mount].
Summary
We are commanded to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him”. The path to achieving perfection rejects the notion that it demands flawlessness. Perfection includes “the joy of daily repentance” (Russell M. Nelson, Liahona, May 2022). This achievement is based on God’s divine assistance and grace. In mortality, the command to “be perfect” (Matthew 5:48; 3 Nephi 12:48) refers primarily to completeness, integrity, and undivided loyalty to God.
Eternal perfection is the “distant objective” of completeness and exaltation requires the power of the Savior’s Atonement and the Resurrection. Making and keeping sacred covenants through ordinances are essential to accessing the perfecting power of Christ’s Atonement. Simply put, teleios [perfection] is to take part in sacred ordinances to make binding covenants, live worthily, so we can “come boldly unto the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) and stand before God.
Illustration
Repentance is not a backup plan if we fail; repentance is His Plan, knowing that we will inevitably sin in our mortal state. It is an essential mechanism provided through the Savior’s Atonement that allows His disciples to progress toward the distant objective of perfection while living in mortality. Particularly because perfection is understood not as flawlessness but as striving for ultimate completeness and fulness through covenants in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
C.S. Lewis wrote: “I find a good many people have been bothered by Our Lord’s words, ‘Be ye perfect.’ Some people seem to think this means ‘Unless you are perfect, I will not help you’; and as we cannot be perfect, then, if He meant that, our position is hopeless. But I do not think He did mean that. I think He meant ‘The only help I will give is help to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing less.’
“Let me explain. When I was a child I often had toothache, and I knew that if I went to my mother she would give me something which would deaden the pain for that night and let me get to sleep. But I did not go to my mother—at least, not till the pain became very bad. And the reason I did not go was this. I did not doubt she would give me the aspirin; but I knew she would also do something else. I knew she would take me to the dentist next morning. I could not get what I wanted out of her without getting something more, which I did not want. I wanted immediate relief from pain: but I could not get it without having my teeth set permanently right. And I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache.
“Now, if I may put it that way, Our Lord is like the dentists. Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of or which is obviously spoiling daily life. Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if once you call Him in, He will give you the full treatment.
“That is why He warned people to ‘count the cost’ before becoming Christians. ‘Make no mistake,’ He says, ‘if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect—until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.’
. . . “The command ‘Be ye perfect’ is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were “gods” and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him—for we can prevent Him, if we choose—He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said” (Mere Christianity, 171–75).
