Ephesians 5:25-27 NLT‬
[25] “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her [26] to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.
[27] He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.”

Is this ever really possible?

When we see what is going on in many parts of the church of the Lord Jesus today, we can ask this legitimate question. From our perspective, a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, holy and faultless, seems a very tall order.

Yet, Paul confidently penned the promise – a perfect bride for Jesus, free from the ‘spots’ of teenage immaturity and the ‘wrinkles’ of old age and decay….and without sin!

As I prayed, somewhat skeptically, that Jesus would perfect His bride, I thought of the possibility of all His people everywhere reaching spiritual maturity, perfectly loving and united in Him. Could…would it ever happen? How long must we wait for the final chapter of His Word to come about?

Then the Holy Spirit took me to a parable Jesus told that cleared up the issue for me, once and for all.

‭Matthew 13:24-30 NLT‬
[24] Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.
[25] But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away.
[26] When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. [27] The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’
[28] ‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.’ Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.
[29] ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.
[30] Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

The last verse of this parable finally answered my question. Jesus IS PERFECTING His BRIDE now, but she is made up of individuals who are becoming like Him in the middle of life among the ‘weeds’ in the world.

How like God to use the very situations that make us uncomfortable to purify our hearts from sin and draw us close to Him. Isaiah prophesied that God’s Servant, His Messiah, would grow up like a root in dry ground. So we, too, must grow up in Christ against the backdrop of the spiritual darkness in the world around us.

It is never God’s intention to isolate us from the influences of ungodly people in the world or the troubles sin brought into the world. These are the very instruments God uses to sanctify us, to set us apart from sin for Himself, and to mature our faith in, and obedience to Him.

‭James 1:2-4 NLT‬
[2] “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. [3] For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. [4] So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

‭Hebrews 12:5-10 NLT‬
[5]”And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. [6] For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” [7] As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? [8] If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. [9] Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? [10] For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.”

Trials, hardships, discipline, suffering…the things we would rather run from, are the tools God uses to chip away everything in us that does not resemble Jesus.

God honed Jesus, through the discipline of suffering, to be the perfect sacrifice for sinners. So, we, too, must follow Him if we are to go with Him to the Father.

‭Hebrews 5:8-9 NLT‬
[8] “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. [9] In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.”

Where does God find these tools with which to shape us into the image of Jesus? He finds them in the world of people (the ‘weeds’) and circumstances that rub us up the wrong way, exposing the old, sinful nature in us. Only when we are caught out by our reactions can we know what is in us and what needs to be pruned off through His discipline.

The ‘weeds’ in the church are not our problem. We are! God leaves the weeds there to sharpen our knowledge, understanding, and discernment of the truth of His Word and to teach us to recognise the sin in us, to forsake sin, and to live in the grace of His forgiveness and salvation. Without the trials and tests we endure, our faith would be as flabby as wet spaghetti!

When we get this, we are beginning to understand the essence of spiritual ‘warfare’. Jesus is perfecting His bride but not in the way we think. He isn’t getting rid of the weeds. He’s using them to clean out the ‘weeds’ in us. Moment by moment, day by day, through the troubles and hardships we endure, our minds are being renewed by His word as we receive the grace to overcome sin and to be led by His Spirit.

Only at harvest time will the fruit of our lives be fully revealed. Weeds will be seen to be weeds and wheat real wheat.

‭Matthew 7:15-20 NLT‬
[15] “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. [16] You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. [18] A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. [19] So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. [20] Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

So, Jesus says, “Don’t worry about the weeds. I’ll deal with them in due time. You must make sure that your fruit is of the Spirit. Then my harvesters will gather you into my barn with all the pure ‘wheat’ of my bride, the true church.”