Being Perfect

Wendy D Vance

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect“ (Mathew 5:48 ESV).  Thinking about this scripture can be completely overwhelming.  Who can possibly hope to attain the perfection of God.  After all, many of us fail in some way daily, whether it is in the things we say, the sinful habits that seem to have us bound, attitudes, thoughts, etc. The power of the flesh or temptation does not magically disappear at salvation.  As believers, we know that upon salvation we receive the covering of the righteousness of Christ.  Our sins are forgiven at that moment, our hearts are softened, we are clean of  sin and will have a place in Heaven. But have we “become perfect.”

I believe that in order to fully understand what it is to be perfect in the context of this verse we have to explore how Yeshua describes and lives out perfection.  Was He perfect because He outwardly followed all the laws? Or was He perfect because His desire was to please God rather than men?

Yes, He absolutely followed the law as set down by God.  The complaints of the religious and Yeshua’s rebuke of them was not lack of adherence to the laws given at Sinai but rather about the “laws” put in place by man.  These were rules that men created to say how you are to exercise this or that law.  Many were more about creating an outward show of adherence than actual adherence.  For example, in Mark 7:11-12, Yeshua rebukes the religious leaders regarding a rule that was made which allows certain financial resources to be withheld from one’s needy parents because the resources were declared holy. So there is this outward show of righteousness - I gave to the service of God but the heart behind it was not one of sacrifice for God but rather a show for man.

Yeshua further illustrates that truly being perfect as He is perfect goes beyond the outward show in the earlier verses of Matthew 5.  In these verses He discusses many commandments and says,you may not do x on the surface, but what about in your heart?   If you lust in your thoughts then you have committed adultery.   You did not do anything wrong that the world can see so you look perfect, but you are not.  The same applies today, you can do all the outward show to make the world think that you are in a perfect walk with God but you have not attained the perfection that Christ discussed.

We attain this perfection when we live sacrificially.   Christ lived sacrificially, giving himself to God to the point of death.   We know that this is not what the flesh part of Christ wanted to do because He prayed that the cup (His death on the cross) would pass from Him.  But despite not desiring to face the pain, He did it because His heart and His will were fully surrendered to God.  He was brutally beaten and crucified, shamed and dishonored in order to carry out God’s will.   He did not put the opinion of man above God or God’s will.  That would seem to be the perfection He was talking about in this verse.  Being willing to put down the trappings or appearance of perfection to pick up the perfection of the heart. This is the perfection that allows us to live out our faith, regardless of what the world sees or thinks, regardless of whether or not we are going to receive praise from earthly  men or whether we are hated by men by living in opposition to the way the world does things.

I invite each of us today to look at our lives.  Are we living out Yeshua’s example and definition of perfection, or are we living in accordance to the world six days per week and then putting on a show on the Sabbath to say, “look I am perfect.” If our answer is that we are not living sacrificially, living beyond the mere outward appearance of perfection, then we know that we have not yet attained perfection.   If that is you, I encourage you to spend time in the Word getting to know God, getting to know His heart, His will.  Spend time in prayer, hearing from God’s heart, His will for you.   Pray for a deep desire to be pleasing to God rather than men - to be perfect as He is perfect.