Be Perfect? Matthew 5:48

Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48). The Message says it this way, “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

Good evening and welcome to the Panhandle. Have you ever been perfect at something? I can't recall anything that I could say I do perfectly. There are somethings I am pretty good at, bu that is far as I would go. I had a friend in high school who was just about as perfect as one could get in soccer. He made the varsity team as a freshman, and ended up with a varsity letter in soccer from three different high schools. But was he really perfect at the sport of soccer? He would be the first to say he was not. He was good, real good, because he constantly practiced. So what is Christ Jesus talking about here in Matthew 5:48? Pull up a chair, sit spell and let's do some Bible surfing.

Christ Jesus concluded this section which started in verse 38 by saying, Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. His message demonstrates God’s righteous standard, because God Himself is the only true “standard” of righteousness. If we are to be righteous, must be as God is, “perfect,” that is, mature or holy. God did not lower His standard to accommodate mankind; instead He set forth His absolute holiness as the standard. Though we can never perfectly meet this standard we must continue in our growth as Christians. And we who by faith have trusted in Christ Jesus will enjoy His righteousness having been made new in Him. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Christ Jesus does not speak of degrees of excellence, but of the kind of excellence which distinguishes His disciples and characterizes His kingdom. The Greek word used here is teleios (tel'-i-os). It is a word that carries the meaning of culmination, of maturity, of achievement in function. It implies full development, or growth into maturity of godliness, not sinless perfection. We were created in the image of God, and having perverted this image in sin we are re-created through grace and certain “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). The goal of a Christ follower should be to live in this perfection, this teleios, this extension of the love of Christ Jesus. teleios is an active word and, in context, means that our love must be all-inclusive as God’s is all-inclusive. So when He adds, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect, Christ Jesus is referring to a glorious completeness.

The commandment to be perfect in the same way our Father is perfect is to be seen in the context of love. In this passage the Father’s kindness, not His sinlessness, is the point in question. "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:35-36). God's perfect love is without discrimination; our love is to be open to all people, friends and enemies. We should not read the word “perfect” as a philosophical or moralistic perfection.

Much as a child resembles their biological parents, as spiritual children we should bear close resemblance to our heavenly Father. Those who demonstrate Christ Jesus’s teaching about love in a manner attributed to God the Father will become perfect—complete or mature.

So to close, the word perfect in Matthew 5:48 does not imply sinlessly perfect, because that is impossible in this life (though we are to strive for sinless perfection). Perfect implies completeness, and maturity, as the children of God. So let us continue to grow daily in our relationship with the Triune God as we strive for perfection.

Wow! The surfing was good today, yes? Thanks for dropping by and until next time, may our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus bless and keep you and yours.

Biblesurfer