Godly Perfection

Matthew 5:43–48 “43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor 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 spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Prayer

Introduction

This morning we talked about how only a heart-level transformation can allow the believer’s righteousness exceed that of the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees.

The overarching theme of the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount is about how one lives properly in the Kingdom of Heaven

It starts with the Beatitudes.

Then there is a transition point where Jesus calls the disciples to live as salt and light in the world.

And then He moves into a series of six Antitheses – “You have heard that it was said… but I say unto you…”

This text is the conclusion of these antitheses and culminates in the ultimate of commands – to be PERFECT.

In many ways it is truly the climax of the Sermon.

I. JESUS DECLARES THE ESSENCE OF GOD’S WILL FOR ALL HUMANITY?

It begins with a heart-level attitude changes that comes as the Holy Spirit calls us into a life of faith in Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, it enables us to repent and hear Jesus’ invitation to live in the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is what the Beatitudes are all about.

Following our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior our heart of stone is softened and Jesus calls us to:

Be poor in spirit

Mourn

Be meek

Hunger and thirst for righteousness

Be merciful

Be peacemakers

Be pure in heart [most important]

These are heart level properties that are our foundation as believers.

In the next several verses, Jesus shows that these heart-level conditions are to lead to external actions that provide salt and light to the world.

But this is NOT to glorify ourselves.

NO - it is to bring glory to Our Heavenly Father.

And as I talked about in my sermon this morning, in order for our righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and pharisees we must:

Accept Jesus Christ into our hearts

Put away man-centered righteousness

Be transformed by the Holy Spirit

Live with a God-centered righteousness that comes from a heart-level change

II. JESUS PROVIDES KEY DIRECTIVES FOR KINGDOM LIVING!

Kingdom living demands not just that you refrain from murder.

You must not be angry.

You must reconcile at all costs.

Kingdom living demands not just that you refrain from the act of adultery.

You must commit to a one-flesh union with one spouse and have eyes only for them.

You must discipline your actions so that you avoid even the temptation to sin.

Kingdom living demands not just that you remain with your spouse.

You must place the same sanctity God puts on the institution of marriage.

You must commit wholeheartedly to honor and preserve the gift that God gives you through that marriage.

Kingdom living demands not just that you should avoid making oaths.

You must be a man or woman of honor who will follow through with your words.

Your faithful lives repeatedly confirm the reliability of your words.

Kingdom living demands not just that you not seek retribution for wrongs done against you.

You must serve others even if it means you suffer.

You must be generous with your time, your possessions, and your wealth.

Kingdom living requires not just that you love those who love you.

You must love EVERYONE!

That includes your enemies – for is it not Jesus Christ who in the Parable of the Good Samaritan pointed out that even those you think are your enemies are in fact your best neighbors!!

III. WE ARE TO LOVE AS GOD DOES!

Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that we are to HATE our enemies.

But clearly this was a teaching that had developed by the first century.

And that is precisely what Jesus is correcting here.

Instead, we are to LOVE RADICALLY!

Proverbs 25:21 “21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;”

Romans 12:20 “20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink;

We are to love with an unconditional agape love that God shows us.

Romans 5:8 “8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We weren’t just in some state of neutrality with God.

No!

We were enemies of God.

Dead in our trespasses.

Revilers of God.

And yet, God showed mercy on us.

And if God showed that level of love and mercy toward us, how dare we not show the same level of love and compassion on others.

That is what verses 44-47 are saying here.

Matthew 5:44–47 “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 spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?”

We are to love with a God like love.

We are to LOVE them until often times we also LIKE them!

We are to love both the Godly and the un-Godly.

We are to love the rich and the poor.

We are to love the young and the old

We are to love those who do not love us in return.

We are to love those who look and act and sound like us—but more importantly we are to love those who do not.

We are to love because God first loved us and gave Himself as a sacrifice for:

1 John 4:12–21 “12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he…”

IV. GOD CALLS US TO BE PERFECT!

There are many misinterpretations of this verse.

Some believe incorrectly that this means we can and should reach a state of sinless perfectionism.

I am here to tell you that this is a lie straight out of the pit of hell.

After all, the Bible teaches: Romans 3:23 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Some think that it is siply wishful thinking and that Christ would never expect perfection of us, so they simply give up and don’t try.

Most, however, ponder how it could be an attainable goal.

In order to unpack that, we must first look at the word perfect in its original language in order to understand what exactly Christ is calling us to.

τέλειος (teleios). adj. perfect, mature, complete, initiated, fully developed. Describes something complete, mature believers, and the perfection of God.

The term is used to describe God’s will (Rom 12:2),

gifts from God (Jas 1:17),

and the heavenly tabernacle (Heb 9:11) as perfect.

The two occurrences of this Greek adjective in Jas 1:4 show the range of meanings that teleios can have.

The first occurrence indicates a full, perfect, or complete work.

In the other occurrence, believers are supposed to be perfect, mature, or fully developed, in the sense of being complete (ὁλόκληροι, holoklēroi) and lacking in nothing.

In some passages where teleios appears, the conceptual focus is on being complete (Jas 1:25),

while in others the focus is on being mature (1 Cor 14:20).[1]],

So you see that when you dig just a little bit, you come to realize that the passage does not mean what most think it means at fist glance in English.

And this, Saints, should give us hope.

And it should also give us what I would call Restful Dissatisfaction

This means that we, as believers, should rest in the work of Christ in our lives while at the same time be dissatisfied that we have yet to accomplished the Christ-likeness that we so desire to attain.

Christ’s work of perfection in our life is

Past

Present

Future

It is PAST.

I have been washed and regenerated.

Titus 3:4–7 “4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

It is PRESENT.

Day by day, I am being sanctified by the renewing of my soul and the transforming of my heart.

Like Tim McGraw once said:

I ain’t as I’m gonna get

But I’m better than I used to be.

That is NOT from me.

From the Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 3:18 “18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

It is FUTURE.

One day soon and very soon we will be like Him.

The Bible promises in 1 John 3:2–3 “2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

You see, I’ve been purified by the washing away of my sins by the blood of the lamb.

And I am being sanctified by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Yet I am unsatisfied where I am today, so I rest in the promises that He who has begun a good work in [every believer] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

And I look forward to the New Jerusalem where the Kingdom of God which has begun here on earth finds its final fulfillment in the New Jerusalem and my corruptible body will be transformed into the incorruptible.

Closing Prayer and Invitation