100 Bible Verses about Being Perfect

Matthew 5:48 ESV / 272 helpful votes

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

James 3:2 ESV / 123 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.

Matthew 19:21 ESV / 112 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.”

1 John 4:18 ESV / 107 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.

1 John 2:1 ESV / 91 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.

Romans 12:1-2 ESV / 87 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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.

James 1:4 ESV / 84 helpful votes

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

1 John 3:6 ESV / 79 helpful votes

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

Hebrews 10:26 ESV / 77 helpful votes

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

1 John 4:17 ESV / 75 helpful votes

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.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV / 72 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.

1 John 3:9 ESV / 69 helpful votes

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Matthew 9:13 ESV / 64 helpful votes

Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Romans 3:23 ESV / 63 helpful votes

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

Luke 13:3 ESV / 61 helpful votes

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

John 14:15-16 ESV / 53 helpful votes

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

Hebrews 10:14 ESV / 51 helpful votes

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

Romans 12:2 ESV / 50 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.

Romans 6:11 ESV / 46 helpful votes

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

James 1:25 ESV / 45 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.

Psalm 18:30 ESV / 43 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.

John 3:16 ESV / 42 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.

2 Timothy 2:19 ESV / 39 helpful votes

But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Colossians 3:14 ESV / 39 helpful votes

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

2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV / 37 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.

Titus 2:12 ESV / 35 helpful votes

Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

Psalm 19:7 ESV / 35 helpful votes

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

James 4:17 ESV / 34 helpful votes

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

2 Timothy 3:17 ESV / 34 helpful votes

That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Romans 6:1-2 ESV / 34 helpful votes

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Proverbs 11:5 ESV / 34 helpful votes

The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

1 Peter 1:15-16 ESV / 33 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.”

Philippians 3:12 ESV / 31 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.

Hebrews 5:9 ESV / 30 helpful votes

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

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 30 helpful votes

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 34:1-22 ESV / 30 helpful votes

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. ...

Philippians 1:6 ESV / 29 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.

2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV / 29 helpful votes

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

2 Samuel 22:31 ESV / 29 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.

Romans 7:7 ESV / 28 helpful votes

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

Ephesians 5:1 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Matthew 11:28 ESV / 26 helpful votes

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

John 1:1 ESV / 25 helpful votes

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Psalm 119:9 ESV / 25 helpful votes

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 24 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 3:15 ESV / 24 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.

Romans 5:8 ESV / 24 helpful votes

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 4:26 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Galatians 2:20 ESV / 23 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 4:16 ESV / 23 helpful votes

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Isaiah 64:6 ESV / 23 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.

Colossians 1:28 ESV / 22 helpful votes

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

Psalm 7:10 ESV / 22 helpful votes

My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.

Deuteronomy 18:13 ESV / 22 helpful votes

You shall be blameless before the Lord your God,

Genesis 17:1 ESV / 22 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,

Genesis 6:9 ESV / 22 helpful votes

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

2 Peter 3:14 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV / 21 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 7:11 ESV / 21 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?

Hebrews 6:1 ESV / 21 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,

1 Corinthians 2:6 ESV / 21 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.

Luke 6:36 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 20 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 6:15-16 ESV / 20 helpful votes

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

James 1:17 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Hebrews 2:10 ESV / 19 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 / 19 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,

Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV / 19 helpful votes

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

Psalm 139:14 ESV / 19 helpful votes

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 18 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Matthew 6:33 ESV / 18 helpful votes

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Daniel 9:3-18 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. ...

Philippians 4:8 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Romans 12:1 ESV / 17 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Job 1:8-2:6 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. ...

1 John 1:7-3:9 ESV / 16 helpful votes

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 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. ...

Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV / 16 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.

Matthew 5:45 ESV / 16 helpful votes

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.

Matthew 5:16 ESV / 16 helpful votes

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Psalm 119:105 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Hebrews 1:3 ESV / 15 helpful votes

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Philippians 2:14-16 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 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, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Ecclesiastes 7:15-26 ESV / 15 helpful votes

In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. ...

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 14 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,

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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,

Romans 6:23 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Habakkuk 2:3 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

James 4:5-5:16 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ...

James 2:18 ESV / 13 helpful votes

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 13 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Isaiah 1:16 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,

Proverbs 28:13 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Psalm 37:37 ESV / 13 helpful votes

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

Genesis 15:6 ESV / 13 helpful votes

And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Colossians 4:12 ESV / 12 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.

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