Does the Bible Say Anything About God Being Perfect?

As has been the case lately, I was asked on another forum whether the Bible says anything about God being perfect. Here is my reply:

Absolutely. Admittedly, some verses may not seem to be saying that at first glance, but with a little thought about their implications, it becomes clear they speak to His perfection. And others say it outright.

Psalm 25:8 - Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. Because we believe each of God’s characteristics is infinite in both quantity and quality, He possesses the maximum amount of goodness and moral rectitude. So when we say good and upright is the Lord, He is the very definition of those attributes; they are rooted by His very nature.

Exodus 33:19 - And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." It may not seem like this addresses His perfection, but first God mentions His goodness. Why is that a big deal? He testifies to His own goodness. He is the very definer of goodness. He is not subject to an outside standard, He IS the standard by which these qualities are measured. And then He says he will decide to whom He will be gracious and show compassion. Again, He decides apart from any other consideration. It is singly and uniquely His place to decide those things based solely on His perfect nature.

Psalm 18:25-26 - With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless; With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute. Here again, we see God as the standard bearer and definer, but there’s something else to note. The first three attributes mentioned - kindness, innocence and purity are positive attributes. And in response to these, He returns the same. But to the final attribute - delinquency - He reacts differently. To the wrongdoer, God is shrewd in assessment, meaning He exercises righteous discernment. He doesn’t possess the negative attribute; instead, he judges it. So He possesses only the positive, noble attributes, something we would expect of a perfect Being, and He exercises righteous judgment over the negative. Again, He is the standard by which deviation is labeled delinquent, lawless, evil and the like.

Psalm 92:15 - To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. If there is no unrighteousness in Him, then obviously there is only righteousness. Righteousness is the quality of being morally right or justifiable, meaning there is no immorality in God. Moral perfection is certainly an attribute of a perfect Being. But notice too that the psalmist says, “He is my rock…” That is a way of saying God is unchanging or as we say, God is immutable. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That too is something we’d expect of perfection, that it is persistent, relentless and unwavering.

Isaiah 26:7 - The way of the righteous is smooth; O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level. Here God is referred to as THE Upright One, the standard bearer of morality. And He would have to be for the next request to even be possible, for who else could make the path of the righteous level?

Matthew 5:48 - "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This one speaks for itself; it states the proposition directly.

Leviticus 19:2 - "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.’”

and

Leviticus 11:44-45 - 'For I am the LORD your God Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. 'For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.'"

and

1 Peter 1:16 - because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

Since I get awfully tongue-tied trying to put into words the holiness of God, I’m going to borrow someone else’s. They can be found here.

The holiness of God is the most difficult of all God’s attributes to explain, partly because it is one of His essential attributes that is not shared, inherently, by man. We are created in God’s image, and we can share many of His attributes, to a much lesser extent, of course—love, mercy, faithfulness, etc. But some of God’s attributes, such as omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence, will never be shared by created beings. Similarly, holiness is not something that we will possess as an inherent part of our nature; we only become holy in relationship to Christ. It is an imputed holiness. Only in Christ do we “become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God’s holiness is what separates Him from all other beings, what makes Him separate and distinct from everything else. God’s holiness is more than just His perfection or sinless purity; it is the essence of His “other-ness,” His transcendence. God’s holiness embodies the mystery of His awesomeness and causes us to gaze in wonder at Him as we begin to comprehend just a little of His majesty.

I believe all the points I made above can be extrapolated to be applied to the remainder of the verses listed.

2 Corinthians 7:1 - Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2 Corinthians 13:11 - Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Deuteronomy 32:4 - The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.

2 Samuel 22:31 - As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 18:30 - As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 19:1 - The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Psalm 40:5 - Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.

Psalm 96:3 - Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

Psalm 145:4–6 - One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness.

Jeremiah 32:19–20 - great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day.

Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Psalm 19:7–11 - The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

Psalm 12:6 - The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

Proverbs 30:5 - Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Job 42:3 - 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' "Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

Ezekiel 18:25 - "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right ' Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?

Ezekiel 33:17–20 - Yet your fellow citizens say, “The way of the Lord is not right,” when it is their own way that is not right. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.

Job 37:16 - "Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, The wonders of one perfect in knowledge?”

Psalm 139:1–6 - O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Psalm 147:5 - Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.

Isaiah 25:1 - O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

1 John 3:1 - See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

1 John 4:8–12 - The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Hebrews 7:26 - For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.

Colossians 1:19 - For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.

Colossians 2:9 - For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.

Hebrews 2:10 - For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

Hebrews 5:8–9 - Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

Hebrews 7:28 - For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.