How Can We be Perfect?
“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt 5:48).
So said Jesus to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. Unfortunately, these words have prompted countless guilt trips for many Christians. Even worse, more than a few have felt hopeless because their lives are far from faultless. The problem, however, is that many Christians misinterpret what Jesus was saying.
Words like perfect, perfectly, perfection, et. al., are used 57 times in the KJV New Testament. Yet they never refer to faultless, sinless behavior – not even once!
That being the case, what was Jesus’ point in Matthew 5:48? The truth is discovered by looking at the context. Verse 48 isn’t a stand-alone statement. It concludes a section that begins in verse 43, as Jesus contrasted the Jews’ restricted view of love with God’s unconditional love.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies . . .” (5:43-44a).
Jesus then explains that God’s love extends not only to the righteous, but to the unrighteous as well. He blesses both with sunshine and rain (v. 45). In like manner Jesus’ followers should strive to imitate the Father by loving both those who love them and those who do not. It may not be easy, and we will fall short at times, but we do our best to love others in the same way our heavenly Father does.
“Be perfect” in Matthew 5:48 does not mean to “be faultless”, it means to live in a way that is above the norms and customs of the world. To show the world, by our attitudes and behavior, that we have chosen the less traveled path, following the steps of the Savior as He followed the will of His Father.
Be a Light for Christ in 2025!
Dennis
“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt 5:48).
So said Jesus to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. Unfortunately, these words have prompted countless guilt trips for many Christians. Even worse, more than a few have felt hopeless because their lives are far from faultless. The problem, however, is that many Christians misinterpret what Jesus was saying.
Words like perfect, perfectly, perfection, et. al., are used 57 times in the KJV New Testament. Yet they never refer to faultless, sinless behavior – not even once!
That being the case, what was Jesus’ point in Matthew 5:48? The truth is discovered by looking at the context. Verse 48 isn’t a stand-alone statement. It concludes a section that begins in verse 43, as Jesus contrasted the Jews’ restricted view of love with God’s unconditional love.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies . . .” (5:43-44a).
Jesus then explains that God’s love extends not only to the righteous, but to the unrighteous as well. He blesses both with sunshine and rain (v. 45). In like manner Jesus’ followers should strive to imitate the Father by loving both those who love them and those who do not. It may not be easy, and we will fall short at times, but we do our best to love others in the same way our heavenly Father does.
“Be perfect” in Matthew 5:48 does not mean to “be faultless”, it means to live in a way that is above the norms and customs of the world. To show the world, by our attitudes and behavior, that we have chosen the less traveled path, following the steps of the Savior as He followed the will of His Father.
Be a Light for Christ in 2025!
Dennis
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