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100 Bible Verses about Perfectionism

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV / 103 helpful votes

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 John 1:8 ESV / 93 helpful votes

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV / 73 helpful votes

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

James 3:2 ESV / 67 helpful votes

For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

Romans 8:1-39 ESV / 52 helpful votes

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...

1 John 1:9 ESV / 49 helpful votes

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Philippians 3:12-14 ESV / 49 helpful votes

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 10:14 ESV / 44 helpful votes

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Galatians 3:3 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

2 Samuel 22:31 ESV / 44 helpful votes

This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

1 Corinthians 2:1-16 ESV / 36 helpful votes

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. ...

Luke 16:15 ESV / 33 helpful votes

And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Matthew 5:48 ESV / 32 helpful votes

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

1 Peter 2:1-25 ESV / 27 helpful votes

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ...

1 John 4:18 ESV / 26 helpful votes

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

James 1:4 ESV / 25 helpful votes

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Colossians 3:14 ESV / 24 helpful votes

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

1 John 2:5 ESV / 23 helpful votes

But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

James 1:25 ESV / 23 helpful votes

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV / 23 helpful votes

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV / 21 helpful votes

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 4:15 ESV / 21 helpful votes

For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

Hebrews 6:1 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Philippians 3:12 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Ephesians 5:1 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Matthew 11:28 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Psalm 18:32 ESV / 20 helpful votes

The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 7:11 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?

Romans 3:23 ESV / 19 helpful votes

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1 John 5:18 ESV / 18 helpful votes

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

1 John 2:1 ESV / 18 helpful votes

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 17 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

1 John 3:6 ESV / 17 helpful votes

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Mark 10:27 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

1 Peter 5:10 ESV / 15 helpful votes

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Colossians 4:12 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Colossians 1:28 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Philippians 3:12-15 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

1 Corinthians 2:6 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.

Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV / 15 helpful votes

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Psalm 37:37 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.

1 Peter 1:15-16 ESV / 14 helpful votes

But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 12:23 ESV / 14 helpful votes

And to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

Hebrews 2:10 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Philippians 2:15 ESV / 14 helpful votes

That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

Ephesians 4:13 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

1 John 4:12 ESV / 13 helpful votes

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV / 13 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 13 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Matthew 19:21 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Isaiah 64:6 ESV / 13 helpful votes

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Psalm 119:96 ESV / 13 helpful votes

I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

Revelation 11:1-19 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. ...

Hebrews 13:20 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 ESV / 12 helpful votes

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Psalm 19:7 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

Psalm 18:30 ESV / 12 helpful votes

This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

Job 1:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Deuteronomy 32:4 ESV / 12 helpful votes

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Genesis 17:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,

Philippians 3:15 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Philippians 1:6 ESV / 11 helpful votes

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:20 ESV / 11 helpful votes

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Corinthians 10:12 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

John 15:4-8 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 ESV / 11 helpful votes

“And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

1 John 4:15-21 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. ...

Hebrews 11:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Colossians 2:20-23 ESV / 10 helpful votes

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

John 5:39-40 ESV / 10 helpful votes

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Matthew 5:44-48 ESV / 10 helpful votes

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Proverbs 2:21 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it,

Psalm 51:16-18 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;

2 Peter 1:3 ESV / 9 helpful votes

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

James 2:11-13 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Hebrews 12:13-17 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Philippians 1:9-11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Ephesians 5:8-10 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 1:1-6 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ...

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV / 9 helpful votes

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

2 Corinthians 10:17-18 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

John 8:7-11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]

John 7:24 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Mark 10:17-22 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ...

Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV / 9 helpful votes

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Proverbs 29:25-26 ESV / 9 helpful votes

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice.

1 John 2:1-3 ESV / 8 helpful votes

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

Hebrews 12:7-13 ESV / 8 helpful votes

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ...

Hebrews 5:9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

2 Timothy 3:5 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Colossians 3:12-14 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Philippians 3:4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:

Philippians 2:3-8 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ...

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