Without Blemish

The word inaccurately translated “blameless” in my favorite verse (Jude 24-25¹) and also Eph 1:3-6², Eph 5:25-27³, Phil 2:14-16⁴, Col 1:21-22⁵ and Rev 14:4-5⁶ literally means “without blemish.” It is correctly translated in Heb 9:13-14⁷ and 1 Peter 1:17-19⁸.

This is the Greek word “amomos” (NT:299) composed of the Greek “a” (meaning “without”) and the Greek “momos” (meaning “flaw” or “blot” or “blemish”).

Being without blemish is a very important concept in the Old Testament and was echoed in the two verses in the footnotes from Hebrews 9:13-14 and 1 Peter 1:17-19. The sacrificial lamb had to be without blemish or it was not acceptable to God.^{9 10 11}

Through Jesus¹², we are considered to be without blemish and therefore acceptable to the Father.¹³

^{Photo Attribution: Joshua Coleman – unsplash.com}

Footnotes

1. Jude 24-25, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless [without blemish] with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
2. Eph 1:3-6, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless [without blemish] before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
3. Eph 5:25-27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless [without blemish].”
4. Phil 2:14-16, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless [without blemish] and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”
5. Col 1:21-22, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless  [without blemish] and beyond reproach — “
6. Rev 14:4-5, “These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless [without blemish].”
7. Heb 9:13-14, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
8. 1 Peter 1:17-19, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
9. Deut 17:1, “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.”
10. Ezek 43:22-25, “‘On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. 23 ‘When you have finished cleansing it, you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. 24 ‘You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 ‘For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared.'”
11. See also Dt 17:1; Ezek 45:18, 23; 46:4, 6, 13.
12. Heb 9:14, “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
13. Eph 5:26-27, “…so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless [without blemish].”