Can We Be Perfect? Part 1
David W Palmer
“I’m not perfect, just forgiven!” so the old bumper sticker reads. But is God happy with us having this self-image? In today’s lesson, Jesus says something quite shocking in the strictest sense of the word:
(Matthew 5:48 BSB) “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
“Be perfect?” Is this really what Jesus expects of us? Let’s get back to sitting at his feet and listen to him teaching today’s episode of preparatory teaching for a life of following him and being all that he has created us to be:
(Matthew 5:43–47 DKJV) “You have heard that it was said (Lev. 19:18), ‘“you shall love your neighbour,” and hate your enemy.’ {44} But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you. {45} This way, you will prove to be children of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. {46} For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do that? {47} And if you greet by invoking peace on your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do that?”
This is certainly a very challenging list of instructions:
Does Jesus really expect us to obey these directives? To us, this may seem impossible. So let’s begin by thinking about why he wants us to follow these instructions, and then we will think about how to do them.
First, we remember that he said that those who obey him will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock; it was crash-proofed against all that the enemy could throw at it in the way of natural disasters (See: Mat. 7:24-27). Obeying Jesus in his directives will be our protection in this life.
Being God, Jesus knows how the whole system is designed and how it works. Being Love, he always and only ever uses this knowledge to choose for us what is for our good. We would be well advised to simply obey him, even though we don’t fully understand why he says it or how the system works. We obey because we love and trust him who is our Shepherd; we can leave the intricacies of knowing all the ramifications and outcomes of what he tells us to do up to him and his knowledge of the system.
Second, we must realize that Jesus is our Master and Divine Coach; he knows the stakes and how to win in life. Uppermost in his mind for us is the irrefutable and irresistible law of sowing and reaping. It controls everything that God created … Yes, absolutely everything! It was so prevalent in Jesus’s thinking during his whole teaching in Mat. 5-7 that he puts it into the conclusion as the reason for his teaching, and as the objective of the whole of the law and the prophets:
(Matthew 7:12 DKJV) “Therefore, in everything, whatever you want others to do to you, you do the same to them; for this is the objective of the law and the prophets.”
(Galatians 6:7 NKJV) “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
Every action we take will be multiplied back to us in our future, greatly increased. That’s why Jesus continually tells us to sow only good things; because what we sow today is creating the atmosphere and the conditions in which we will live eternally. So, when about to react or respond to any situation, ask yourself: “Is what I am about to do what I want multiplied back into my eternal future?” “Thank you Jesus for showing me the way to reap what I want: love my enemies, give, do good, and bless, etc. You are truly good to me, and you are a complete genius.”
But how do we actually do this? How do we obey these seemingly impossible directives from Jesus? We look at that tomorrow, but for today …
Do you have an enemy or someone who hates you? Is someone trying to curse you, mistreat you, or persecute you? If so, you now know what to do: love them, bless them, do them good, and pray for them. If you do, think of what you will reap eternally: love, blessing, good, and lots of prayer covering.
You may not be able to do all of these instructions perfectly today, but you can make a start. At least you can begin by praying for your enemies and for those who have mistreated you. I have found that the more I pray for them, asking God to bless them, the more his love for them begins to grow in my heart. After that, the “do them good” and “love them” etc. becomes easier.
Begin where you can today—with prayer—then you can ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into the next step. But please don’t pray, “God get ‘em!” Our job is to do them good, and to bless them; leave the judging and all the vengeance to God.
(Romans 2:4 NKJV) “… the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”
