You, therefore, must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 ESV1
Read Matthew 5:13-48 & Luke 6:20-36
In the Sermon on the Mount, (recorded in Matthew chapters 5-7) Jesus challenged His committed disciples to live lives on a higher plane than even the highly respected religious leaders of their day. This plane of perfection went beyond that which they had been taught. Jesus equated anger with murder (see Matthew 5:21-22) and lust and divorce with adultery (see Matthew 5:27-32). He called oaths evil (see Matthew 5:33-37) and commanded His followers to return retaliation and enmity with love (see Matthew 5:38-48). In teaching His disciples to obey not only the Law but the spirit of the law, He was teaching them how to show God to their world. This perfection was, and still is, a high road.
Today, some believe the Law is an Old Testament concept, and, since we now live in the Age of Grace, we don’t need to be concerned with the Law. But Jesus clearly said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until Heaven and Earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).
True, we are in the Age of Grace, but that doesn’t mean the Age of Sin, or the Age of Relativism, or the Age of What Feels Good, or the Age of What’s Right for Me. The Apostle Paul said, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer” (Romans 6:1-2)?
“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus said, “Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19).
We “do” them and “teach” them when we are different from the World and an example to those around us. We are supposed to be “‘the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet’” (Matthew 5:13). If we aren’t in contrast to the World, our testimony and ministry are worthless.
So, what does it mean to be this perfect salt? According to the Greek dictionary in the Hebrew-Greek Study Bible2, perfect means to be complete, mature, and finished. It does not mean sinless, rather, it conveys that we should be fully developed in our walk with God. When we “live a life worthy of the calling we have received” (Ephesians 4:1), we model God, and we are “‘perfect, as [our] Heavenly Father is perfect’” (Matthew 5:48). Just because we haven’t achieved sinlessness doesn’t mean we can’t be perfect.
Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 5:48 is nicely put. “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” (Matthew 5:48 MSG3).
But there is a catch. Growing up and living a life of Christian maturity isn’t about trying harder. Living a life of holy perfection cannot be achieved by mustering up more human strength. This kind of perfection can only be achieved through Christ’s power. Jesus gave His disciples this illustration: “‘I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing’” (John 15:5). None of that which God expects from us can be done in our own power; if we could be holy and perfect on our own, Jesus wouldn’t have had to come. Thankfully, “For our sake [the Father] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Only in Christ can we grow up.
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
2The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, New International Version, copyright 1996 by AMG International, Inc.
3Scripture quotations marked MSG are from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, by NavPress Publishing Group.