Jesus Told Us, “You Be Perfect” But How Is That Possible?

Last updated on: January 3, 2017 at 4:56 pm by Jack Wellman

Jesus Told Us, “You Be Perfect” But How Is That Possible? 2017-01-03T16:56:48-06:00 Jack Wellman

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Since Jesus said we are to be perfect as our Father is perfect, how is this humanly possible since all sin and fall short of God’s glory?

Fallen Mankind

The phrase, “No one’s perfect” is absolutely true. The only thing that humans can say that is perfectly true is that, we’re not! The gap between a holy God and sinful man is so far to bridge that it would take an act of God to reconcile us. Of course, that’s what happened on the cross (John 3:16), but why was such a brutal, torturous passion necessary at Calvary? Couldn’t have God just said, “I forgive you?” Yes, but that would mean that God is not holy and just and would mean God can overlook sin. The truth is, God cannot even look upon sin because He is so holy (Hab 1:13). When the fall took place in the garden, we were separated from God by our sins (Isaiah 59:2), and lost all fellowship with Him. Now we’re conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5). That’s why Adam and Eve had to leave the garden, lest they took of the Tree of Life and lived in sin for eternity, creating an eternally un-redemptive world of full of wickedness that would continue to grow (Gen 3:24), such as in the days of Noah where all they ever thought about was evil (Gen 6:5, 11-12). Mankind’s fall was great, and it would take something greater than man could do to restore the fall and reverse the curse. All of us fall infinitely short of His glory (Rom 3:23) because not even one of us are good in God’s eyes (Rom 3:10). We need an alien righteousness, or one outside of ourselves, to restore us to God because we can’t find the righteousness that’s required to enter the kingdom within us. We just can’t do it because it’s just not there! We need help.

A Different Gospel

Jesus said some very hard things but maybe He was trying to soften their hearts. There are already enough “feel-good” preachers out there who will give you soft words of easy believism and “God loves you” and wants you to be happy and prosperous without telling them the truth that they must repent of their sins and forsake them and then put their trust in Christ. Jesus promised that the road would be narrow and difficult, and people would have to agonize to enter it and that’s why only a few would find it (Matt 7:13-14). Why do they not want to mention the necessity for repentance, sin, abhorring evil, living obediently, and living a life that is holy, comparatively, and one that is well pleasing to God? Because that takes too much work and they might offend those who came to hear something to make them feel good about themselves. Soft preaching is finding the right verses, taking them out of context, and making everyone feel that “they’re okay” just the way they are, rather than telling believers that they must examine themselves to see if they are in the faith (2nd Cor 13:5).

Hard Words Soften Hearts

Jesus spoke hard words to soften hearts because a soft word to a hardened heart is like using a peashooter against a brick wall. Unless God’s wrath is revealed (John 3:18, 36b), then God’s mercy won’t mean a thing. When Jesus told His listeners, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48), He wasn’t saying, “You’re okay…just come as you are,” just like the old hymn said. Coming as we are is not good enough…the two wings that fly us into the kingdom is repentance and faith, or “repent and believe,” which is the very same gospel message Jesus brought when He began His earthly ministry (Mark 1:15). Jesus never said things that would fill the church parking lot. In fact, many turned away from Christ because of the hard words He spoke. Many of His disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it” (John 6:60)? Apparently they couldn’t listen any longer and so “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66), however, His true disciples stayed, as the Apostle Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).

Perfection in God’s Eyes

Jesus told His listeners that they must be perfect, having the same perfection as the Father does (Matt 5:48), because nothing imperfect can ever enter the kingdom (Rev 21:27; 22:14). That leaves us with an impossible problem because none of us are perfect. In fact, we’re just the opposite of perfection. Christ is the ultimate expression of the goodness, holiness, and perfection. That’s because He is God, so how can we ever be perfect? The Greek word Jesus used (“teleios”) doesn’t necessarily mean perfect in every way. “Teleios” means “brought to its end, finished, to completeness, maturity, full grown” and yes, “perfect,” but Jesus knows we can’t ever achieve perfection in ourselves. That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote that the way to achieve the righteousness of Christ is to trust in His Person. Paul wrote that it was “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2nd Cor 5:21). That’s why the Apostle John writes, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates” (Rev 22:14). They had their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb of God; otherwise, they would have had to remain outside of the kingdom forever (Rev 22:15). Jesus is not saying that we have to live a perfect life. That’s impossible. Besides, that would be works which can never save us (Eph 2:8-9). I believe Jesus means we are to be mature, complete, and ‘perfect” in God’s eyes. Thankfully, that righteousness doesn’t depend on us but on Him (2nd Cor 5:21).

Conclusion

If you have never been brought to a state of repentance where you have abhorred your past sins and determined to forsake them, and then put your trust in Christ, then you are far from perfect before God. You will have to give an account for your life (Rom 14:12), and without the righteousness of Christ, you will be found guilty of high treason against a holy God (Rom 20:12-15) Who demands perfection to enter the New Jerusalem. On the other hand, if you have trusted in Christ, you have had your condemnation lifted and are now at peace with God (Rom 5:1, 8:1). As far as God sees you, having Jesus’ righteousness (2nd Cor 5:21), you are perfect…in Him.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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