"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
- Matthew 5:48
Be perfect? How is that possible? We know that we still sin even as Christians. In fact, if we claim that is not the case, John says we are liars (I John 1:8-10). What's more, we typically don't even like those people who seem to think or act like they are perfect! And yet, at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus tells all of his follower to be perfect just like their heavenly Father is perfect.
What are we supposed to do with this? One option is to ignore it and chalk it up to hyperbole assuming Jesus didn't really mean perfection...perhaps he just meant something more like maturity or completion. If that were the case it sure would relieve a lot of pressure on us. But that doesn't seem to make sense in light of the comparison to God's perfection which is perfect.
Another option is to read it as it stands and do our dead level best to actually be perfect. But you already know the guilt and pharasaism that comes along with seeking righteous perfection. I think most commentators understand it to be something more of a hybrid. Take Coffman's commentary for instance:
What if Jesus' call to perfection which sums up this section of the sermon on the mount-- in which he has talked about anger being equal to murder, lust being on par with adultery, absolute honesty, and loving your enemy to the point of personal sacrifice--is the exact same thought that he began it with? "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven," he said. And if you recall, we talked about the only way our righteousness will ever surpass theirs is if our righteousness is found in Christ who actually did achieve perfection!
You may think I'm picking at details that don't really matter and arguing semantics, but here's why I think a different understanding of this perfection does matter in a huge way.
If we understand that our righteousness and our perfection is found in Christ alone, then we will not be in danger of the sin of pride and self-righteousness. But we will also steer clear of the danger of thinking, "I can't ever achieve the ideal so why should I try"...or "I can't ever achieve the ideal and therefore I constantly feel guilty." We will understand that, as Coffman says, we are unworthy and we will "never in a million years merit" salvation. However, we will most certainly not "eventually" attain perfection as a free gift, because we will recognize that we have already attained it as a free gift! And since we are already perfect, then we are free to stop trying to be perfect and we can simply begin living as if we are perfect.
It's the difference in saying, "I need to try hard live perfectly in order to be worthy of God" and "God has made me perfect and worthy, so how will I live if I believe that I am those things."
I don't pretend to know Greek and can't say much from expertise on this, but my New American Standard Bible has a note in the margins that says the literal translation of verse 48 is "Therefore, you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (emp. mine)
"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified (made righteous) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:11
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21
What are we supposed to do with this? One option is to ignore it and chalk it up to hyperbole assuming Jesus didn't really mean perfection...perhaps he just meant something more like maturity or completion. If that were the case it sure would relieve a lot of pressure on us. But that doesn't seem to make sense in light of the comparison to God's perfection which is perfect.
Another option is to read it as it stands and do our dead level best to actually be perfect. But you already know the guilt and pharasaism that comes along with seeking righteous perfection. I think most commentators understand it to be something more of a hybrid. Take Coffman's commentary for instance:
No one can say that Christ did not set a high standard for man to follow! To be perfect as God is perfect, what a challenge this is! At the outset, every candid student of the holy Scriptures should admit and understand that there is not the slightest possibility of his ever graduating from this school, "Magna Cum Laude"! nobody, but nobody is ever going to be perfect; and yet, it is the genius of the Christian religion that perfection is required of its adherents. A contradiction? no, only a paradox. The goal or ideal is necessary that man may continually know that he is unworthy of salvation, that he can never in a million years merit it, and that any real perfection he might eventually attain must be the free gift of Christ. (emp. mine)I have to say that I almost agree. This would have been my thinking for many years up till now, but I am in the process of slowly seeing things a little differently. If Coffman is correct, then we are either going to be constantly burdened by guilt, or we are going to feel free to continue in the "minor" sins, because after all, no one can actually be perfect! I think both of those are off base and lead to a life that is still in some ways a slave to sin.
What if Jesus' call to perfection which sums up this section of the sermon on the mount-- in which he has talked about anger being equal to murder, lust being on par with adultery, absolute honesty, and loving your enemy to the point of personal sacrifice--is the exact same thought that he began it with? "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven," he said. And if you recall, we talked about the only way our righteousness will ever surpass theirs is if our righteousness is found in Christ who actually did achieve perfection!
You may think I'm picking at details that don't really matter and arguing semantics, but here's why I think a different understanding of this perfection does matter in a huge way.
If we understand that our righteousness and our perfection is found in Christ alone, then we will not be in danger of the sin of pride and self-righteousness. But we will also steer clear of the danger of thinking, "I can't ever achieve the ideal so why should I try"...or "I can't ever achieve the ideal and therefore I constantly feel guilty." We will understand that, as Coffman says, we are unworthy and we will "never in a million years merit" salvation. However, we will most certainly not "eventually" attain perfection as a free gift, because we will recognize that we have already attained it as a free gift! And since we are already perfect, then we are free to stop trying to be perfect and we can simply begin living as if we are perfect.
It's the difference in saying, "I need to try hard live perfectly in order to be worthy of God" and "God has made me perfect and worthy, so how will I live if I believe that I am those things."
I don't pretend to know Greek and can't say much from expertise on this, but my New American Standard Bible has a note in the margins that says the literal translation of verse 48 is "Therefore, you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (emp. mine)
Maybe it's time we stopped trying to be perfect and simply started living as if we believe that what God says is true and that we are already perfect.
"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified (made righteous) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:11
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21
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