Be Perfect

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

1. Be honest

Matthew 5:33 NASB95

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’

You have heard it said...

This is quoting Lev 19:12 and many other scriptures throughout the OT. forming an understanding based off of several texts.

Leviticus 19:12 NASB95

‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

The understanding at the time was that only certain things binded your oath when you swore by them.

And the issue was, that each Rabbi had a different interpretation of it!

Matthew 23:16–22 NASB95

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ “You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. “And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. “And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

But I say to you!

Jesus tells them that they are to make NO oaths at all

Not by heaven, since it is God’s throne

Not by the Earth, since it is his footstool

Not by Jerusalem, since it is the city of the Great king (his City)

Not even by your own head, since you cant make one hair white or black, meaning it is not truly your head to make oaths by.

So then how are we supposed to make oath and agreements?

Christ tells us that we are not to rely on oaths and swearing to make vows.

We are to live lives of honesty to the point that our “yes” and our “promise” is taken as true with out any extra q

Qualifiers added to them!

In other words we are people of our word.

NO swearing/no promising. Simple yes and no, THEN mean it and do it.

Christ is calling us to radical Honesty, and friends, that’s an order too tall for us to fulfil.

We don’t live perfectly honest lives

We do swear by other things

We do fall short

2. Be Giving

a. This is both literally “giving” and also “forgiving”

Matthew 5:38 NASB95

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’

You have heard it said

This is quoting the OT in Leviticus 24:20

Leviticus 24:20 NASB95

fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.

The commandment of God was focused on the death penalty for murdering someone or purposely injuring someone.

So that whatever was done to someone the same was returned to them.

This was for the common good of all the people.

Yet by the time of Christ this had been distorted to the point that the mentality was to get back at people as much as you could.

If someone did something you did not like, GET BACK at them, hurt them, whatever it was, that's how you treat people. You GET THEM BACK.

The law had been reduced to nothing more than what was and was not permissible

Life was lived out by figuring out what you could get by with, and not break the law.

Jesus comes and declares what the true heart of the law is

But i say to you

Do not resist an evil person

Whoever slaps your right cheek, turn the other also to him

If they want to sue you, let them have your shirt and your coat also

If your forced to go one mile, go two

If someone asks for money give to him, do not turn him away who wants to borrow from you

3. Be Loving

Matthew 5:43 NASB95

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

You have heard it said

The OT does not quote that we are to hate our enemy

This was the work around, if i love my neighbor, then it says nothing about hating my enemy

But i say to you

Love your enemies v. 44

Pray for those who persecute you v. 44

God shows no partiality to people v. 45

Do not even the tax collectors only love those who love them? v. 46

If you love only your “brothers” don't unbelievers do the same? v. 47

We find yet again that we have fallen short of the standard of righteousness exceeding the scribes and Pharisees

4. Be Perfect

Be perfect

Heb: תמים = complete, blameless, wholeness

Greek: τελειος = mature, complete

This is the call of Christ that not only do we exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, but that we meet his righteous standard and become mature and perfected in him.

HOW DO WE DO THIS?

Justification = Righteousness From God

How do we deal with the fact that we do not measure up to the standards of God?

The answer is our Justification in Christ

Justification is by faith in Christ

Yet, justification is the beginning of Salvation, not the end.

Sanctification = Righteousness with God

How do we then move on to perfection and maturity as Jesus is commanding?

The answer is our sanctification

Conclusion

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