"As many as would be perfect" (Phil. 3: 15) are exhorted positively to follow the

example of Paul; and negatively to avoid the example of those whose end is perdition.

Now it does not seem possible that a church that had reached such a height of spiritual

experience as that attained by the Philippians should need to be solemnly warned not to

follow the example of the ungodly. Those who were more likely to cause a slip and

possibly a forfeiture were those believers who were following the policy expressed in the

words, "making the best of both worlds". These caused the apostle to weep as he spoke

of their walk, and summarized it as the walk of those who were:

The last statement proves that those enemies are not the unsaved, for how can an

unsaved man mind anything else but earthly things? To believers Paul can write, "Set

your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3: 2). Such believers as

those Philippians referred to in 3: 18, 19 constitute themselves the enemies of the cross

of Christ, for that cross speaks of separation from the things of the flesh and the world.

Keeping this passage in mind we look at the third, viz. The Sermon on the Mount

(Matt. 5:-7:).  The exhortation to endure, to suffer with the reward of the earthly

kingdom in view, has only to be mentioned to be accepted as the main theme of this

sermon. Its goal is expressed in Matt. 5: 48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your

Father which is in heaven is perfect". The word perdition comes later, in Matt. 7: 13,

"Broad is the way, that leadeth to perdition (A.V. destruction)".  The passage

immediately goes on to say, "by their fruits ye shall know them" (verse 20).

Here we have three occasions where these words occurs as the two poles of their

respective contexts. Still the question remains, What is intended by the word perdition?

Perdition, as some of its contexts indicate, can mean utter destruction, as of the Man of

Sin, but if we could only find a passage where the word is used without any doctrinal or

theological meaning we could then understand how such a word could be used of so

vastly different subjects. In the providence of God such a passage exists, and moreover is

used by Matthew who has provided one of the sets already:

Before proceeding, let us be sure we understand the meaning of the alternative,

"perfection". Teleios is cognate with telos, and telos means the end, the goal. To go on

unto perfection is to reach one's goal. That this is innate in the word, two passages will

show. In Phil. 3: 12 Paul explains what he means by being perfect, by adding, "That I

may apprehend that for which I am also apprehended of Christ Jesus", and in Gal. 3: 3

he places "perfected" in antithesis to "begin": "Having begun in the spirit, are ye now

made perfect (ended, as it were, finished) by the flesh?" Perdition set over against

perfectness then means to end in waste instead of in triumph. Therein lies the tragedy of

drawing back. The foundation is laid, the builder will be saved, but he may be saved yet