Being Perfect as God Is Perfect
Dear Phil,
What does it mean to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect?
Louise
What does it mean to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect?
Louise
Dear Louise,
Jesus gives us this command in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:48 says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The word “therefore” is probably the most important word for understanding the verse. “Therefore” tells us that this command follows from something that was said before. We can’t understand what it means to be perfect without understanding what Jesus said before this. In Matthew 5:21, Jesus begins addressing misunderstandings of Old Testament laws. He says, “You have heard that it was said” five times in his sermon (Matt 5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43).
The final occurence in Matthew 5:43 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” It’s true that Moses commands love for one’s neighbors (Lev 19:18), but it’s not true that Scripture says to hate one’s enemy. In fact, the law explicitly commands God’s people to help their enemies (cf. Exod 23:4–5; Prov 25:21–22). So, when Jesus says, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44), he wasn’t correcting the OT. He was applying the OT!
How could someone think he should hate his enemy? We don’t know for sure, but perhaps a text like Psalm 139:21–22 was misinterpreted. Psalm 139:21–22 says, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Yahweh? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.” In the verses just before this, David described those who hate Yahweh as wicked, murderers, and those who speak against Yahweh (Ps 139:19–20). After saying he hates those who hate Yahweh, he prays, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps 139:23–24). In light of the context, David was not talking about personal animosity or malice toward God’s enemies. He was using the word “hate” in the sense of “reject.” He wanted nothing to do with men who rejected Yahweh.
We are to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors “so that [we] may be sons of [our] Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:45). How does praying for our persecutors make us sons of God? Jesus doesn’t mean “sons of God” in the sense of someone who is saved. To say someone is a “son of X” means that they act like X or have the characteristic of X. “Sons of light” and “sons of day” are people who have the characteristic of daylight (cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). We are “sons of our Father who is in heaven” when we act like God does.
The very next thing Jesus says confirms this: “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:45). If God wanted to, he could have the sun shine only on the good. He did this in Egypt (Exod 10:23). If God wanted to, he could have the rain fall only on the land of the righteous. But that isn’t how God acts! God shows basic kindness (sunshine, rain) to everyone, including his enemies (cf. Acts 14:16–17). We are acting like God when we show basic kindnesses to everyone, not just those we love. Tax collectors and pagans greet their friends! If we just greet those we know and like, we aren’t any more like God than they are. Jesus’ point is that God’s love is indiscriminate. He doesn’t leave anyone out. He loves everyone and shows his comprehensive love with sunshine and rain.
With that background, we can see that when Jesus used the word “perfect,” He meant “complete” or “indiscriminate.” We are complete or indiscriminate in our love for others as our Heavenly Father is when we show basic kindness to everyone, especially those who are our enemies.
Blessings,
Phil
Jesus gives us this command in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:48 says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The word “therefore” is probably the most important word for understanding the verse. “Therefore” tells us that this command follows from something that was said before. We can’t understand what it means to be perfect without understanding what Jesus said before this. In Matthew 5:21, Jesus begins addressing misunderstandings of Old Testament laws. He says, “You have heard that it was said” five times in his sermon (Matt 5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43).
The final occurence in Matthew 5:43 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” It’s true that Moses commands love for one’s neighbors (Lev 19:18), but it’s not true that Scripture says to hate one’s enemy. In fact, the law explicitly commands God’s people to help their enemies (cf. Exod 23:4–5; Prov 25:21–22). So, when Jesus says, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44), he wasn’t correcting the OT. He was applying the OT!
How could someone think he should hate his enemy? We don’t know for sure, but perhaps a text like Psalm 139:21–22 was misinterpreted. Psalm 139:21–22 says, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Yahweh? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.” In the verses just before this, David described those who hate Yahweh as wicked, murderers, and those who speak against Yahweh (Ps 139:19–20). After saying he hates those who hate Yahweh, he prays, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps 139:23–24). In light of the context, David was not talking about personal animosity or malice toward God’s enemies. He was using the word “hate” in the sense of “reject.” He wanted nothing to do with men who rejected Yahweh.
We are to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors “so that [we] may be sons of [our] Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:45). How does praying for our persecutors make us sons of God? Jesus doesn’t mean “sons of God” in the sense of someone who is saved. To say someone is a “son of X” means that they act like X or have the characteristic of X. “Sons of light” and “sons of day” are people who have the characteristic of daylight (cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). We are “sons of our Father who is in heaven” when we act like God does.
The very next thing Jesus says confirms this: “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:45). If God wanted to, he could have the sun shine only on the good. He did this in Egypt (Exod 10:23). If God wanted to, he could have the rain fall only on the land of the righteous. But that isn’t how God acts! God shows basic kindness (sunshine, rain) to everyone, including his enemies (cf. Acts 14:16–17). We are acting like God when we show basic kindnesses to everyone, not just those we love. Tax collectors and pagans greet their friends! If we just greet those we know and like, we aren’t any more like God than they are. Jesus’ point is that God’s love is indiscriminate. He doesn’t leave anyone out. He loves everyone and shows his comprehensive love with sunshine and rain.
With that background, we can see that when Jesus used the word “perfect,” He meant “complete” or “indiscriminate.” We are complete or indiscriminate in our love for others as our Heavenly Father is when we show basic kindness to everyone, especially those who are our enemies.
Blessings,
Phil