Adventism and Biblical Perfection:

The Diverse Roots of Perfectionist Thinking in Adventism

and the Need for Biblical Definition of Perfection
Jan Barna, PhD

Senior Lecturer in Systematic and Biblical Theology

Newbold College of Higher Education, UK

The question of Biblical perfection as a topic for discussion has a very long Adventist and
indeed Christian tradition. It is however appropriate to study and re-study the question
because God is advancing the church’s understanding in gradual steps. One of the
founders of Seventh-day Adventism said that
± ‘Whenever the people of God are growing in grace, they will be constantly
obtaining a clearer understanding of His Word. They will discern new light and
beauty in its sacred truths. This has been true in the history of the church in all
ages, and thus it will continue to the end.’1
At no point can the church say concerning its dogmatic views: finally, we have arrived; we
have it neatly packaged now, let’s not touch it any more. Each generation of Christians
and Adventists had their opportunities and challenges and this journey included growing in
understanding, and so we have a privilege to continue in this journey too.

The Roots of Perfectionist Theology in Adventism

In this paper I would like to offer an insight into the influences that have shaped some
attitudes to perfection in our church. Secondly, I would like to briefly critique them and
raise some critical questions and then constructively offer a biblical-theological perspective
on the subject. We have to start first with the background – the roots of perfectionist
thinking in Adventism in order to understand what we are dealing with when we encounter
this subject.
When we look at Adventist history of interpretation of salvation, we could right way
discover that on this matter Adventists have not reinvented the wheel. In fact the early
pioneers have without any deeper investigation essentially accepted or inherited the
traditional Protestant view of salvation with a distinctive Wesleyan or Methodist flavour.
What does it mean?
It means that Adventists have accepted the generally held view of salvation from their
Christian context which was:
- that people are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.
- They accepted the doctrine of justification by faith,

1
“The Mysteries of the Bible a Proof of Its Inspiration,” Testimonies for the Church, 9 vols. (Mountain View,
CA: Pacific Press, 1948), 5:706 (1889).

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 - the doctrine of sanctification and
- from the Wesleyan background, the doctrine of perfection.
The pioneers had never engaged in any serious study of the question of salvation. We
have no record of any Bible conference or symposium, taking place in our early history on
this topic.
Of course they firstly had to solve a massive problem of why Jesus did not come in 1844.
Secondly, salvation doctrine seemed generally solid and general agreement prevailed
across many denominations. Early Adventists felt this was not the primary issue to discuss
and consequently simply accepted the traditional historical, Reformation, Protestant and
Wesleyan views.

(1) The Wesleyan Influence

The Wesleyan influence on Adventism is significant. The influence would largely come to
Adventism through Ellen White, more specifically, through her language of salvation. Ellen
White parents as well as the young Ellen Harmon were Methodists before they joined the
Millerite movement. She was familiar with the salvation talk and she has imported
concepts and terms to Adventism. It is not difficult to show this Wesleyan influence on
Ellen White’s language and previous studies have indeed done so.2
Now, more specifically about Wesley’s perfection. We don’t have time to expound his
teaching in its proper context but I can at least summarise first the core of his teaching and
then single out 4 key points. First, the brief summary.
His definition, which is taken as the most telling about perfection is this:
± ‘It is that habitual disposition of the soul which, in sacred writings is termed
holiness, and which directly implies, the being cleansed from sin.’ Or: ‘Here,
then, is the sum of the perfect law; this is the true circumcision of the
heart…Let your soul be filled with an entire love of him, that you may love
nothing but for his sake’.3
Man is given power over the inward sinfulness, heart is cleansed and love becomes the
dominating motivation of believer’s life. Love guides all our actions.

2
For example Woodrow W. Whidden, ‘Adventist Theology: The Wesleyan Connection,’ unpublished paper;
George Knight, A Search for Identity, Boise, ID: Review and Herald, 1993. For the sake of argument let me
mention at least two brief examples: John Wesley and Methodists developed what is called Ordo Salutis, the
way of salvation. In that they explained the steps that lead to and maintain the relationship of salvation
between a believer and God. Wesley’s ordo salutis: Preventive grace – sense of sorrow - repentance –
faith - justification/new birth/conversion – sanctification/power over sin - perfection. When we compare this
sequence with Ellen White’s Steps to Christ, which is a book on how one comes to Christ and how maintains
a living relationship with Christ we can see how the two match. There is this general picture we can
compare, but also Ellen White’s language comes peculiarly close to Wesley’s. For example when she says:
The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is
imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven (Ellen G. White, Review and
Herald, 4 June 1895).
3
John Wesley, Sermon 17, part 1, sec 1.

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When a Christian reaches perfection, the wrong tempers are taken away; the dispositions
which trouble us are made vanish. Love has entire possession of us. Christian perfection,
for Wesley, means, therefore internal purity, purity of motive, the love of God, freed
entirely from all the corruptions of natural selfish desire, from any interest in self. The
perfect Christian is still errant, he makes mistakes in judgement and actions as long as
he/she lives. Thus perfection in terms of practical and full infallibility does not exist in this
life.
How is Christian perfection to be achieved? How long do we have to continue in the moral
struggle? Wesley would answer that perfection is not achieved by effort, there is not a
single moral act that can make it happen. It is not about acts at all. Like justification,
perfection comes by faith and is the free gift of God. It is centred on the heart. All we can
do is to continue patiently in the faith, remain loyal morally and spiritually.
In his sermon “Scripture Way of Salvation”, Wesley indicates that if we sincerely believe
that God will do it, then it is reasonable for us to expect Him to do it at any moment: ‘Look
for it then every day, every hour, every moment! Why not this hour, this moment? Certainly
you may look for it now, if you believe it is by faith.’
Does perhaps this statement imply that Wesley understood perfection to be instantaneous,
something which comes in a moment? Well, the answer is yes! The act of faith wherein
perfection is finally achieved in the soul does come in a moment, just as justification
comes in a moment, but a gradual work precedes that moment. It comes by faith and it is
a gift of God.
So what key elements emerge from this brief summary? To help us better comprehend his
concept, here is a short 3-point summary.
± 1. Wesley’s definition of perfection is at its core internal LOVE of God that rules
the entire life. This is obvious from the definition. For him unselfish love was the key
Christian virtue which the perfect posses. It is a well-known fact that Wesleyan Christianity
is also a practical Christianity of love. He insisted that even discussions must be done in
love. If that is missing then one cannot speak of sanctification or perfection. This also
explains why Ellen White being a Wesleyan in her approach to salvation was so unhappy
about the spirit shown in the1888 controversy. She rebuked everybody for the spirit they
were showing which was not the spirit of Christ’s love. This was her primary concern and
only secondary she had doctrinal concerns.
± 2. Wesley’s ‘perfection’ is not final or absolute. Perfect are never so perfect that they
cannot grow even more. And perfect are never so perfect as to not fall from that state. His
view of perfection is closely related to his view of sin – which he defined in absolute and
relative terms. Relative = conscious separation from God, in this sense man can be
perfect, perfect in living in an unbroken relationship of love with God. But in the sense of
absolute conformity to the perfect will of God, no man can be perfect. When Wesley
speaks of the moment of perfection he understands perfection in the first sense of
unbroken relationship, of love which can start at any moment.

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Thomas Maxfield and George Bell thought that Wesley teaches absolute perfection.
Wesley responded:
‘I dislike your supposing man may be as perfect as an angel; that he can be
absolutely perfect; that he can be infallible, or above being tempted; or that
the moment he is pure in heart he cannot fall from it’4
The perfect are never perfect as angels of God. They can be pure in heart – have perfect
love towards God and neighbours but they are not perfect in absolute moral or practical
sense. Nonetheless, his view of perfection at the end still presses for complete eradication
of sin, which is the last point of summary.
± 3. Wesley’s perfection is based on the idea of full eradication of sin, not just
suppression of sin in this life. Sin has to be eradicated from the soul before the soul meets
its Maker in the Judgement. And because one meets the judgment at the point of death
when the soul leaves the body, the dying must be free from sin in his/her soul if not action.
It is then evident, and this is the key point, that Wesley’s emphasis on perfection, in other
words, why it has to be achieved in this life is driven by his eschatology – his view of the
final judgment and when the person meets the judgment.
Equally, it is also evident that the call for perfectionism by Wesley, is driven by his dualistic
view of human nature which is made of the body and soul. So when one dies, the body is
gone, but the immortal soul continues to live after death and it must be perfect before the
specific point when it enters into the judgment.
The believer therefore needs to be ready, that is perfect – free from sin in the heart-soul
before his or her last moment, because the next moment one will face is the judgement. It
is for these two reasons: his view of eschatology/judgement and his view of anthropology
that for Wesley perfection was not an option but a necessity, a requirement that effectively
became the passport to eternity.
Now, this driving force – his view of human nature and his view of personal end – behind
his perfectionist teaching, is it a biblical position? What happens if we redefine biblically
human nature and eschatology – the teaching of the end time? How will this, change the
doctrine of perfection?
What this background exposes is that the notion of perfection with their specific
connotations have come to Adventist vocabulary and thinking. Ellen White5 will use the
language very often and when one encounters her statements on the subject we have to
remember the Wesleyan influence and definitions – if not wholesale Wesleyan theology,
then at least the emphasis on love and internal motivation of love. But what we should not
do, when we encounter Ellen White’s holiness and perfectionist language is to assume

4
John Wesley, Letters, IV, p. 192.
5
The topic of Ellen White and her view of perfection will be addressed this afternoon, but I will just mention
here that Ellen White largely accepts and uses the language and content of Wesley’s perfection but she also
does it in a different end-time (eschatological) context. See Larry Kirkpatrick, ‘So Close and Yet so Far: A
Comparison of John Wesley and Ellen G. White on Perfection,’ unpublished paper, August 1998. Available
at www.greatcontroversy.org.

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Calvinistic or moralistic definitions of perfection. There is a specific Wesleyan flavour in her
and early pioneers discussions on this topic and this is the first point we need to keep in
mind.6 But also, at this point let me at least raise a warning that the foundations of
Wesley’s perfectionist concerns may not have solid biblical footing and hence the need to
biblically revisit the subject of perfection.

(2) The Keswick and Other Holiness Movements

Apart from the Wesleyan influence on Adventist conceptions of perfection, there is yet
another very important and often unrecognised root, which has in significant way shaped
the way perfection began to be perceived from 1890s onwards. This influence has not
shaped the views of Ellen White or the first pioneers, but rather the second generation of
Adventists among whom the most influential promoter of these views became Alonzo T.
Jones.
The roots of the perfectionist thinking of Alonzo T Jones go back to what is called the
Keswick movement. When together with Ellet J. Waggoner he came to prominence in
1888 - when they raised the question of salvation, he in the subsequent years after 1888
became the editor of the Review and Herald periodical. In this influential church periodical
after some time he began to publish charismatic and holiness articles as his interest in
charismatic theology and holiness theology was gradually growing in 1890s.7 In fact the
mid and late 19th century was generally a period of massive holiness revivals and these
influenced most of the evangelical churches.8 Adventism will not be an exception.
It may surprise you to learn that Jones would at times take whole articles from Charismatic
periodicals and publish them in Review and Herald with note that essentially this is
Adventist theology except of the fancy names they are using.9 By mid-1890s he created a
great charismatic revival in Adventism.10
His mid-1890s perfectionist and charismatic theology however is a deviation from his 1888
emphasis, because it stands on different roots than his 1888 message. In 1888 when it
comes to salvation matters they were drawing on the traditional Reformation theology of

6
The most comprehensive study on the relationship between Ellen White’s Soteriology and Wesleyan
theology is in Woodrow W. Whidden II, ‘The Soteriology of Ellen G. White: The Persistent Path to Perfection,
1836-1902,’ (PhD Dissertation, Drew University, 1989).
7
For example see George Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy: The Case of A.T. Jones, p. 168. The Holiness
teaching in the late 1800 became so pervasive that both Adventist publishing houses were vigorously
marketing Hanna Whitall’s The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life.
8 nd
See the book by Melvil E. Dieter, The Holiness Revivals of the Nineteenth Century, 2 ed (Folkerstone,
UK: Scarecrow Press, 1996).
9
George R. Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy: The Case of A.T. Jones, p. 168. For example Jones will
frequently quote from the Methodist Holiness Journal during 1897.
10
See Gary Land, ‘Holiness Flesh Movement’ in Historical Dictionary Of Seventh-Day Adventists,
(Scarecrow Press, 2005), pp. 135-136. Land mentions how as early as 1892 Holiness elements began to
appear in Jones’ preaching which later from 1897 lead to intensification of the charismatic – Holy Spirit
holiness revival which should have granted victory over sin and salvation. This has reached peak formally in
the Holy Flesh Movement in Indiana between 1899-1901.

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Luther or Wesley, yet his 1890s theology stands on altogether different platform, the
platform of Keswick holiness movement.11
Thus for example Jones would during the 1888 period maintain that righteousness of
Christ couldn’t be achieved by any moral obedience to the law. All our moral obedience is
like filthy rags, it is worthless, he claimed. But believers can receive and indeed must
receive Christ’s righteousness and it is by faith they do it - through faith that accepts the
merits of Christ, thus enabling Christ to impute his righteousness to us. No humanly
developed and achieved obedience of the law can guarantee the reception of Christ’s
righteousness. This in essence was the classical Protestant explanation of salvation by
faith.
But later in 1890s he changed his view and began to propose that we indeed cannot
achieve ourselves righteousness of Christ through our obedience to the law, on one hand,
but on the other hand God can through the infilling of His spirit in us.
God will supress sin in us to such a level that it will be powerless and hence we can
achieve perfect obedience and get Christ’s righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus
Christ will be infused into the believer. To make this possible, the believer must have faith
and a total surrender to God. This infusion of Christ's righteousness into the believer will fill
him to such an extent that Christ will take completely over the person and nothing of the
believer himself will be left functioning; a complete transformation of the believer will take
place by the infilling of the spirit.
To back up his theory, he developed a specific view of Christ which said that Jesus was
just like us. However because of His faith, he was filled by God. That is why He was
victorious. We can have this same faith which invited God and his spirit to fill us fully and
we will be victorious too. The condition is to believe in the power of this force and to be
ready to be filled and transformed thus receiving the righteousness of Christ.
To appreciate what has brought this change to his theology of salvation and why he began
to promote perfection, we need to turn our attention to the Keswick movement.
Keswick was and is a small community located in the Lake District of England. T. D.
Harford-Battersby and Robert Wilson organised in this place the first Keswick Convention
in 1875. It was advertised as a 'Convention for the Promotion of Practical Holiness'. While
the title reflected maybe popular Wesleyan view of holiness, as practical holiness, the
theology was anything like Wesley’s.

11
Jones’ and Waggoner’s message in 1888, which also Ellen White approved, was not historically unique.
She and Waggoner will both argue that point. Theirs would be the same understanding of salvation as held
by major reformers. Waggoner wrote in 1887 in his book Gospel in the Book of Galatians: ‘I do not regard
this view which I hold as a new idea at all.’ In relation to the moral law in Galatians he wrote: ‘[It] Would
simply be a step to the faith of the great Reformers. From the days of Paul, to the days of Luther and
Wesley. It would be a step closer to the heart of the third angel’s message.’ Likewise Ellen White saw in the
1888 message a traditional reformation message: ‘God is presenting to the minds of men divinely appointed
precious gems of truth, appropriate for our time. God has rescued these truths from the companionship of
error, and has placed them in their proper framework…Brethren, God has most precious light for His people.
I call it not new light; but O, it is strangely new to many.’ See Ellen G. White, 1888 Materials, Chapter 14,
page 140 and also page 211.

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Keswick Convention began to promote a higher life of faith. They have developed a seven-
step program (maybe it was ‘practical’ in this sense) which guided the individual to victory
and blessing of suppressing sin fully in one’s life. For believers to be free from sin they
must be sanctified. The sin barrier must be removed from their life. The process that
enables that is called sanctification. There are 4 parts in sanctification. In the last part the
believer achieves glorification. It is a complete and permanent sanctification – i.e.
perfection. The believer is now completely transformed in the image of Jesus. There is
neither sinning nor the desire to commit sin.
At the heart of achieving spiritual victory is firstly faith and they called it the doctrine of ±
Sanctification or Holiness by Faith. What is holiness by faith? Holiness by faith is the act of
complete surrender to God's will; looking away from oneself and trusting God. By
exercising this, one will get more spiritual power.
Now here comes the second crucial part. ± When believers surrender all to Him, they will
be free from sinful tendencies and God will fill such individuals with His fullness. To explain
how this infilling works, they compare it with demon possession in the scriptures:
± 'When a person was said to have a devil (or demon), Scripture meant more
than that the person was devilish, or characterized by devil-like thinking or
behavior. It meant that Satan and his' forces were the dominant influence in
that person's life, at least at that point in time. Since the Holy Spirit, like the
unholy spirits, is a person, this use of the term "filled with the Spirit would
seem to be very appropriate. The figurative expression would then literally
mean that the Holy Spirit dominated, had full control, possessed, exercised
imperious claim to the whole being, though the domination would be
gracious, by invitation only, and would not, like demon-possession, displace
override one's personal choice'.12
This teaching of the infilling of the Spirit is the most precious Keswick teaching. The most
important reason for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us is 'to manifest the personal
Christ, as consciously possessed by us and possessing us'.13 This is a charismatic and
almost esoteric experience, which is described in strange terms of demonic possession
and depersonalization. It is a very different model from Wesley’s practical progressive
sanctification emphasis.
Ellen White does not come anywhere near the logic of the Keswick model, but A T Jones
does explain his later understanding of righteousness precisely by the charismatic infilling
and possession which suppresses the sin and enables one to keep the law and receive
righteousness of Christ.
± The Keswick slogan was: 'let go and let God' - surrender everything to God, have faith in
Him; let him fill you completely and take over completely. This indeed becomes also the
turning point in Jones’ late 19th and early 20th century theology of perfection.
12
Robertson McQuilkin, Five Views on Sanctification, ed. by Stanley N Gundry, ‘The Keswick Perspective’
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Corporation, 1987), p. 176.
13
Arthur T Pierson, The Keswick Movement (London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1903), p. 90.

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But once again, we can ask, is this charismatic infilling model a biblical model? Is the
infilling of the Spirit of God in the Bible equal to complete personality possession to a point
where even sin is taken captive? What does Paul mean by the motifs of being ‘in Christ’
and ‘walking in the spirit’? Is it the same as Keswick or Jones meant?
± Just as a side note. The theology of full surrender and spirit possession & infilling
dominates many Adventist hymns in the main Adventist Hymnal. For example:
269 - Come Holy Spirit
263 - Fire of God Thou Sacred Flame
567 - Have Thine Own Way, Lord
260 - Hover Over Me, Holy Spirit
309 - I Surrender All
330 - Take My Life and Let It Be
590 - Trust and Obey
318 - Whiter Than Snow
308 - Wholly Thine
258 - Baptise Us Anew
265 - Breathe on Me, Breath of God
267 - Spirit Divine
By now however it is clear that there are at least two different versions of perfection that
have informed Adventist thinking. And they are not similar. They stand on very different
foundations. But there will be yet another type of perfection that will be promoted in the
church. And this will stand still on different logic.

(3) Andreasen’s Perfect Last Generation

This is a well known and probably the most visible type of perfectionist view promoted
today. Andreasen’s book ± The Sanctuary Service which contains the key chapter that
outlines the perfect last generation theology is still in print and is being sold by official
Adventist houses. The book came out first in 1937. Milian Lauritz Andreasen, the author of
the book was an influential Danish writer and theologian in the early decades of the 20th
century. In his perfectionist version he moves beyond the Wesleyan and Keswick models
and develops an understanding based on the mixture of various Ellen White statements
even though he rarely quotes but more often paraphrases Ellen White.
Essentially, Andreasen’s theology stands on the assumption that the atonement Jesus
achieved on the cross is not sufficient for fully justifying God’s government. His act only
paves the way for the last generation of believers living at the end time when the crisis
between God and Satan will reach its climax. The full justification or vindication of God’s
government will be achieved at that time in the perfect obedience to God’s law of the last

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generation of believers. Christ has showed the way and the last generation will finish the
‘atonement’ – the justification of God.
For Andreasen to maintain the argument he has to rely on specific places in the writings of
Ellen White:
A) Great Controversy book sections which speak about the end time experience of
people of God going through the last temptations and at the same time living without
mediator – suggesting they must be without sin, especially chapter 39;
B) Early Writings sections on the great controversy context and
C) Specifically a passage from the book of Christ Object Lessons page 69 where the
author says that Christ is waiting for the perfect reproduction of his character in the church
and that will bring about His advent.
Underlying these key places which inform his thinking is his ± definition of sin which he
defines as actions or bad habits which can be one by one overcome. Also underling the
theological framework he glued together by combining Ellen White statements, is his view
of ± Christ’s sinful nature which he borrowed from Jones, who first invented the logic and
introduced it to support his own holiness teaching.
What is then perfection for Andreasen? Andreasen’s type of ± perfection is perfection,
which is the end result of gradual sanctification, which is a work of gradual eradication of
sinful actions from the life of a believer. When outward physical acts and the inner sinful
tendencies will be completely eradicated or overcome, then one reaches perfection, can
stand before God without Christ’s mediation and this will be the final demonstration to the
universe of what the gospel of God is capable to achieve. Such ± perfect last generation
consequently vindicates God’s government based on the obedience to his law and hence
God has no reason to keep the controversy going any longer. Satan’s argument - that it is
impossible to keep God’s law - in the perfection of the last generation, who are fully
obedient to the law of God, will be finally refuted and God will stand vindicated and Satan
will be defeated.
In this version of perfection there is no charismatic enabling of obedience to the law,
neither it is close to Wesley’s perfection because his sanctification was not focused on law
obedience but rather on internal and relational perfection in the soul.
Is Andreasen’s version of perfection more biblical than the previous two? Is his definition
of sin biblical? Is his conception of dependence of God and the success of God’s salvation
of people biblical? What is the biblical conception of perfection, where does the Bible
places perfection within the salvation scheme? And how do we biblically or otherwise
measure if people are perfect, i.e. free from all evil acts and habits? What is the verification
for perfection?
Before we turn to the Bible, let me just complete the picture and mention that in the official
Seventh-day Adventist statements on salvation the idea of perfection is not mentioned
specifically. The first-ever official and published summary of faith which appeared in 1932
– at the time of Andreasen - in Church Manual from page 180 onwards does not contain

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the word or even explanation of perfection. There are only hints and allusions to it, for
example a phrase ‘entire transformation of life and character’ is used.14 The situation is
similar if one looks and searches for perfection in the latest version of Fundamental
Beliefs.15 Maybe an interesting question would be to ask why is that, but we don’t have
time to do it at this place. We need to turn our attention to the Bible now. ±

Towards a Biblical Definition of Perfection

± There are 94 scriptural places where the KJV uses the English word ‘perfect’. Most often
the word occurs in the book of Job (10x), Psalms (9x) and Hebrews (9x), less often but still
5 times in the books of 2 Chronicles, Ezekiel and James. In every other book it appears 4
times of less.
± The Hebrew root behind this English usage is TOM and its derivates i.e. TAMIJM and
the Greek is TELEIOS. The Hebrew tom/tamijm has a number of different usages and
these essentially denoted ‘something other and less than ideal perfection.’16 Thus for
example the Bible calls Noah (Gen 6:9), Abraham (Gen 17:1) or Job (Job 1:1, 8) ‘perfect’
even though they had obvious faults. Studies observe that the word translated as ‘perfect’
means rather ‘integrity of mind’ or ‘innocence.’ The word is used of ‘simplicity of mind,
which is opposed to mischief and ill design’17 Most prominently the word is used in Job
1:1, where Job is said to be perfect; in Gen 17:1 when God told Abraham to be perfect;
and in Dt 18:13 where God told Israel to be perfect.
The Greek term teleios is a derivate from the root TELOS which means ‘an end,’ ‘a
purpose,’ ‘an aim,’ or ‘a goal’. Something is teleios if it fulfills the aim or the purpose.
Transferred to people, they are perfect if they meet God’s purpose for them. Note please
that teleios does not have the connotation of sinlessness. Sinlessness is a different
concept.
Sometimes the word perfect is equated with the word holy or holiness. But once again, the
concept behind holiness is different. It is based on different Hebrew root – KDSh and
generally it denotes a peculiar property of deity or of persons or things consecrated to the
deity. Holiness on the part of men or things is a consecration to the service of the deity.
We don’t have time to explore this deeper, but holiness is a key theme of the book of
Leviticus where there are different degrees of holiness depending on where people or
things were in relation to the holy of holies of the tabernacle. The closer they were to that

14
Church Manual, The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1932, p. 180-186 (181).
15
Apart from official statement of Fundamental Beliefs which contain no direct or systematic treatment of the
topic, the three more elaborate ‘official’ documents on salvation do however address the matter directly or
indirectly. See Ivan Blazen, ‘Salvation,’ in Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, ed. Raoul Dederen
(2000), pp. 271-313 (specifically 298-300); ‘The Dynamics of Salvation,’ Adventist Review, July 31, 1980, pp.
3-8 and ‘Christ Our Righteousness,’ Review and Herald, May 27, 4-7.
16
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, (1980) p. 974.
17
Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, (1979), p. 866.

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place the more they were consecrated for the service of God and more holier they were.18
So holiness is a different matter from perfection.
So this is as far as the basic lexical definitions and meanings are concerned. There are
several key biblical passages where the idea of perfection in the Bible appears. The most
obvious passage is in ± Matthew 5:48 – ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect.’ I will just briefly suggest that it is not difficult to discover that
this call is specifically made in the context of love (vs. 43-47 love your enemies so that you
may be sons of your father).
The only other place in the Gospels where perfection is mentioned is in ± Mat 19:16-21 in
the famous story of the rich young ruler. Here Jesus adds to the list of his
accomplishments something that was not prescribed by the requirements - a call to loving
action, a merciful action to give all his possession to poor. So this context is in line with the
Matthew 5 love context.
The meaning of teleios from both (and only) Gospel places is thus ± ‘mature’ or ‘whole’. Be
mature in your love as your Father in heaven is loving the whole world – the good and the
bad, so also you learn to love even your enemies. This is teleios. Be whole and use even
your possession for the good of others – in this case for poor. The perfect disciple of Jesus
is a mature, whole and complete disciple. Perfection is not an abstract standard of
flawlessness. If it was then Abraham or Job would not be called perfect.
Now as we move to the rest of the NT, there is something significant concerning the way
NT writers think which we must not overlook. Given what happened in Jesus Christ – that
the long promised Messiah of Israel came and brought certain consequences and benefits
for people – YET the full restoration of the creation, the full arrival of the kingdom of God
did not happen (even though the disciples really hoped for that) - they begin to reflect
about this and will begin to see that the first coming of Christ already achieved and
brought something, but something yet remains to be resolved or achieved.
± This framework of thinking is called Already and Not-yet of salvation. It becomes the
bedrock for NT theology of salvation including perfection. Without this framework it is
impossible to understand Pauline thinking on justification, sanctification, perfection or
glorification.19

18
Different degrees of holiness existed within priesthood and laity: High Priest – Priests – priests with
physical defects – Levites (assisted the priests) – people of Israel. Example of corpse touching: Israelites
could touch any corpse. Regular priests could touch the corpse of a close relative only and the high priest
could not touch any corpse. Lev 21:1-4 and 10:1-7. Tabernacle furniture also reflected different degrees of
holiness – Gold inside – only the priests and the high priest could see it. Bronze outside, Israelites could see
it. Particular days of week also suggested degrees of holiness. Sabbath and Jom Kippur – no to all work (Lev
23:3, 28). But other festivals – they could do some work (Lev 23:7,21, 25, 35). Just as there are degrees of
holiness so there are degrees of uncleanness. Idolatry, sexual sins and other impurities were classified
according to their impact and ability to spread. See Desmond T. Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised
nd
Land: An Introduction to the Main Themes of the Pentateuch, 2 edition (Baker, 2002).
19
We often think that theology is done by simply collecting texts which we think speak about the same topic
because probably they contain the same or similar words. And then when we combine them we have a
theory or theology of something. But this is not really how biblical theology can be achieved; because
individual texts and passages have already their thematic contexts which control their significance and
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Some elements of salvation belong to the already which means the present age of the
church and therefore the church and the believer is called to practice them. Yet some
belong to the Not Yet – that is to the time when Christ will establish his kingdom in fullness
and then some things of salvation will be experienced. The crucial question then is this:
What things belong to the ± already of salvation? The NT writers mention those very
specifically. The first and obvious benefit of Christ’s salvation which extends to the present
age is on the believers level ±forgiveness. It is mentioned numerous times in the NT as a
present, basic and necessary experience. Forgiveness however is the result of other
related biblical concepts. One is ±conversion – change of mind, turning around one’s life
and thinking. This is mentioned together with ±confession of sin. Conversion, confession
and forgiveness on the personal level are interwoven and are the benefits of Christ’s work
for the believers in this age.
Paul adds to the present experience of salvation ±circumcision of heart in Romans 2. God
has promised heart surgery through the prophets of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and in Christ
this now becomes a possibility and reality for those who respond to the Messiah.
±Faith is another of the NT already gifts. There is no need to demonstrate this. ±Baptism is
another well-recognised element of present salvation. Jesus himself has sent the church
to baptise disciples, to make disciples to him. ± Fellowship in the church, partaking in the
±breaking of the bread are mentioned as signs of present experience of salvation.
± Reconciliation as a concept and term is used by Paul in Rom 5 to denote another aspect
of present salvation. In this passage he uses a synonym called justification which he
equates to reconciliation. Christ has achieved reconciliation between man and God and
that is available now to experience. Arising from this is reconciliation between man and
women, free and slave, Greek and Jew (Gal 2:28).
Moreover Paul mentions by name and more often by description ± sanctification as
something that is important to the experience of believers, something which marks their
present benefits of salvation. There are many parts and aspects of this, such as prayer,
bible study, fasting, obedience to the law, taking care of the poor, the needy and acting
rightly and justly. People of the Messiah are called in the present to have those as part of
their salvation experience.
Furthermore, NT writers mention at least two more key concepts which Christ’s coming
influences in the already. It is ± walking in the spirit (Rom 8) and walking or ± living in
Christ. The so called ‘in Christ’ and ‘Walking in Spirit’ experiences.

meaning. These themes could be part of even larger themes which scripture itself internally begins to
develop from the beginning. Not being aware of integral scriptural themes or large motifs we can easily
misread individual texts or dislodge texts from their thematic homes and assign to them foreign or external
significance. It is Biblical Theology as a discipline that studies the inner structure and thematic context of the
whole Bible thus identifying the thematic contexts for individual passages. For the potential of Biblical
theology to provide the platform for considering any theology see: Jan Barna, ‘The Grand Story,’ Ministry
Magazine, March 2012. In Adventist tradition Ellen White has quietly insisted that it is both possible and
necessary to learn to trace central biblical themes. See Ellen G. White, Education, chapter 13, pp. 123
onwards.

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All these mentioned are evidences to the believers that the Messiah has come and their
present experience is the evidence of that. If they have such experience they also have
assurance of salvation.
Because the logic of the Already and NOT Yet of salvation framework is that if the
believers are experiencing those things described by NT writers as belonging to the
present, then they can go to their graves and rest with ± assurance that they will also ±
receive those things which belong to the Not yet of salvation – things which are also the
result of Christ’s work, but they will be given to the creation when he will establish his
kingdom in fullness (Rom 8:18-)
So what are those things which belong to the ± not yet of salvation? The NT is very
specific here too. The readers need to watch out for the change of tense from present to
future. For example in the book of Romans – which contains the most systematic
exposition of this framework Paul begins to mentions the Not Yet benefits from v 18 in
chapter 8.
Full ±revelation of the sons and daughters of God, full ± restoration of creation, ±
redemption from decay of curse (symbolic language of Gen 3); ± glorification belongs here
to. 1 Cor 15 is another not yet passage - ±resurrection, ±new bodies. In Philippians 3:12
Paul mentions perfection. Revelation adds no more sin or death. But significantly Paul in
Romans frames his argument about justification between chapters 1 and 5 with future
tense, indicating, that justification of believers or their ±vindication is a not yet act of God.
They will receive it in their ±judgement which according to Dan 7 will be given in favour of
saints.
So the framework of the NT salvation theology is marked by already and not yet concepts.
This works actually very well with the Adventist conception of eschatology – end time.
There is simplicity and yet amazing clarity when one begins to look at the NT salvation
texts through this framework. This is not an external invention but something that is
necessitated by the gap between the first coming of the Messiah and the second coming
of his kingdom, between the first advent and the second advent. If one has the experience
of the present salvation, then he or she will also have the experience of the not yet of
salvation when God will begin to restore all things at his coming.
This is why ±Paul could in 2 Tim 4:6-8 say these words:
± For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing.
Thus on the matter of perfection ± Philippians 3:12-1620 beautifully illustrate what we have
said about the basic definition and the already and not yet framework.

20
NIV’s translation when compared to KJV nicely illustrates the basic definition of ‘perfection’ – teleios as
achieving goal and maturity: 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,
but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not
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 ± Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be
thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal
even this unto you. 16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us
walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Notice that he calls himself and Christians perfect and yet he says he has not yet achieved
that. Either he is confused or he understands that there is an already present aspect of
perfection – teleios which is his and their mature attitude to Christ – their heart, mind, love
and life orientation on him; and there is a not yet future aspect of perfection in which they
will achieve fullness which will as he immediately mentions in verses 20 and 21 happen at
the second coming of Christ and which also will include new body.
± Thus perfection – teleios belongs to the present experience of salvation, that is why Paul
mentions it, Jesus calls for it. But teleios also belongs to the future of salvation experience
of God’s people. It is only then when the curse of sin will be removed from the believer and
the creation as a whole. The hearts and attitudes and characters are transformed now in
the already, the bodies which also suffer under the bondage of sin in the not yet.
± Behold, I tell you a mystery:… we shall all be changed—in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Cor 15:51-52)
It’s my proposal to you to keep the NT framework of ALREDY and NOT YET in mind when
trying to understand and discuss the biblical view of salvation and perfection. We are not
allowed to run away with the term perfection and define it according to humanistic or
imported criteria. There is a biblical frame of ALREDY and NOT YET in Scripture and we
need to respect that and take our understanding of biblical perfection from there. If we do it
then - this could prevent us from claiming either too much or too little for what biblical
perfection is.
---END---
© Jan Barna, PhD
jbarna@newbold.ac.uk
No part of this paper may be reproduced without the explicit written permission of the author.
The document has not been through the final editing.

consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on
some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have
already attained.

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