Perfect and Imperfect Tense: A Language Lesson

 

Beloved, have we been getting things wrong? Have we grown so accustomed to using fragments of bible verses that we’ve created, for ourselves, a lack of understanding of spiritual things?

For the most part, the New Testament was written in Greek, and in the Greek language, much like English, verbs have different tenses; past, present, future and so on. However, in Greek, there are two that are not exactly like those used in English – perfect and imperfect tense.

Let’s briefly delve into a language lesson.

The perfect tense is used to indicate an action which happens just one time and even though it’s never repeated, it has an ongoing effect into the future. This can be seen in John 19:30 (ESV),

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

“It is finished” is rendered in Greek with one word, “Tetelestai”. This word is written in the perfect tense which denotes, as previously mentioned, an action completed in the past with results that carry on into the future indefinitely.

This final word from Jesus as He hung on the cross, “It is finished”, signified that His mission on earth was complete, accomplished or brought to an end, yet it had only just begun.

Similarly, the perfect tense is at work in 1 John 2:12 (ESV),

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

Here, it’s used in “are forgiven” referring to “your sins” – once and for all, past sins, present sins and future sins have been forgiven, “for His name’s sake” because “It is finished”.

The imperfect tense, on the other hand, describes an action that is continuously repeated; it’s habitual, it’s incomplete.

And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. – Matthew 27:30 (ESV)

Taken at face value, this can be interpreted as a one-time occurrence, but the verb used in Greek, “etypton”, rendered in the imperfect tense, indicates that this was a repeated action, Jesus was hit on His head over and over again.

And this perfect and imperfect tense language lesson takes us into the real topic at hand concerning our use of fragments of bible verses.

As Christians, we like to say to other Christians as a threat or a warning or condemnation, “Sin separates you from God” and I wondered if that’s biblically correct, not as a blanket statement but more so as a direct charge levied by believers upon believers. I never bothered to look into it until recently while researching the “conviction of sin” doctrine for a previous blog post.

You see, if Romans 10:9 says that a person who confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in their heart that God raised Him from the dead, will be saved and if 1 John 2:12 says that your sins are forgiven (perfect tense), which means for all time as far as the east is from the west, and if Jesus declared “Tetelestai” from the cross, then why would sin separate a believer from God?

Of course, if it’s believed that the Holy Spirit convicts believers of sin, then it’s not far fetched to believe it’s because sin separates the believer from God. This must have arisen from somewhere. Then voila, I found it in Isaiah 59:2 (ERV),

It is your sins that separate you from your God. He turns away from you when he sees them. 

It’ s right there, plain as day, in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. There’s no doubt about this truth; sins separate you from your God but that’s only one verse from an entire chapter. What’s the reason for this separation?

That’s because your hands are covered with blood from the people you murdered. You tell lies and say evil things. You can’t be trusted, even in court. You lie about each other and depend on false arguments to win your cases. You create pain and produce wickedness. (v 3-5)

This and much more was the diagnosis of the sins that caused the separation from God of a people who persisted in doing evil but the problem was not with God. God still possessed the power to save, to hear and to answer but these people were mired in sin. God was not obligated to save them if they refused to acknowledge their iniquitous condition and dire need of saving.

Under the old covenant there was separation, the people could not even approach Mt Sanai and it was not uncommon for God to forsake mankind and hide His face from them, for in Deuteronomy 31:17 (ESV) God Himself said,

Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

Isaiah had prophesied about the coming Saviour; a prophetic word which pointed to a new covenant,

Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins! But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed! – Isaiah 53:4-5 (TLB)

So, it is clear that sin does separate people from God, that is not being disputed, however Isaiah’s prophecy is also quite clear, in that, for believers, Jesus Christ was wounded and bruised for our sins; Jesus paid a very heavy price for the sins of every one of us

We—every one of us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one of us! – Isaiah 53:6 (TLB)

In that day, the people were told of future events, things to come and when that time came, Jesus Christ was separated from God for us (Psalm 22), so that as believers we would never be separated from God because of the new dispensation – the covenant of grace – inaugurated by the death of Jesus, the propitiation for our sins.

He died in our place to take away [is the atoning sacrifice/propitiation for] our sins [his death pays the penalty and removes God’s anger from us] and not only our sins but the sins of all people [the whole world]. – 1 John 2:2 (EXB) [see also 4:10; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17]

Jesus saved us by dying in our place to take away all our sins, so that we may live free in this present time (perfect tense).

for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. – Romans 3:26 (NLT)

Anyone who believes in Jesus with a sincere intention to follow Him, the grace of God instantly takes effect in their life like a spiritual safety net. God could show no greater love for sinful mankind by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us (Romans 5:8 AMPC).

Beloved, when God laid the sins of the entire world upon Jesus Christ, the gap of separation was closed for whosoever accepts and believes by faith in Jesus; they will have peace with God (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-21) and can no longer be separated from Him for any reason.

As believers, our sins have been forgiven – the proof is written in the perfect tense – but that is not an invitation to sin. As Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the believers in Rome,

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end. – Romans 5:20-21(MSG)

What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we are not under Law, but under [God’s] grace? Certainly not! And having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of righteousness [of conformity to God’s will and purpose].  – Romans 6:15 &18 (AMP)

Through His crucifixion Jesus fulfilled the old covenant (Matthew 5:17) and instituted the new. Our coming to the cross is a very tangible experience (see Colossians 2:14); to be covered (atoned for) with the Blood is a real power (see Ephesians 1:7) – it’s not just a covering but a thorough washing.

As a believer, God’s Spirit lives inside you (see Romans 8:9) so, God never leaves you nor forsakes you (Hebrews 13:5) and, according to Matthew 28:20, Jesus is with you forever.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Perfect and Imperfect Tense: A Language Lesson” ©2026 May 28. 2026