You Must Be Perfect! | Understanding Jesus' Command in the Sermon on the Mount

Related Sermons:
Loving By God's Standard: • Loving By God’s Standa...
Hope & Holiness: • Hope & Holiness | 1 Pe...
The Believer's Privilege, Hope, & Power: • The Believer's Privile...
Christ, The Word of God, & True Righteousness - Part 1: • Christ, The Word of Go...
Christ, The Word of God, & True Righteousness - Part 2: • Christ, The Word of Go...
In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and Dr. Josh Philpot explore a profoundly shocking command from Jesus in Matthew 5:48 in the Sermon on the Mount, where He emphatically states, “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This sounds like an impossible standard Jesus has placed before us and raises many questions. How can we be perfect as God is perfect? Isn’t perfection, humanly speaking, unattainable given our sin and sinfulness? What hope do we have in achieving such a perfection of a perfectly righteous and holy God? What did Jesus truly mean by these words? Join us today to hear Dr. Caldwell provide a biblically balanced answer to what it means to be “perfect” according to Christ’s command.
Dr. Caldwell understands the text to serve a two-fold purpose depending on who is hearing. For those who are lost and not yet saved, it points them to the standard that God requires, which is His own perfections, His own holiness. Individuals must realize they cannot live up to the perfections, the holiness of God. They must see their complete inability to meet God’s standard of perfection in their life and works and be aware of their sinfulness and need for forgiveness and grace. It reveals to them their need for the grace of God in salvation, which we know as believers comes only through Jesus Christ.
For believers, those who have heard and believed in Christ, that standard hasn’t changed. Believers have been gifted and clothed with the righteousness of Christ and have been forgiven all our sins. Yet, while we are the recipients of the merits of God’s own Son and have had His perfect righteousness imputed to us, God’s standard remains the same. We are to be continually pursuing growth in holiness and righteousness. We are to always strive along the road of sanctification for something beyond what we have known. As Dr. Caldwell emphasizes, this pursuit is not an effort to earn our salvation. Instead, it’s in response to the grace we have already received. We strive for this holiness from the secure foundation of our total acceptance in Christ. And while all believers are positionally perfect in Christ, our sanctification is not yet complete. Our ultimate hope is in the promise of glorification in God’s presence when we will finally be free from sin and made completely perfect in every way. But now, we are being shaped, formed, and molded into the character and likeness of Christ. This pursuit of growth in holiness is a lifelong process we refer to as progressive sanctification. None of us still living has arrived at God’s standard of perfection; it is unattainable in this life. That means there is room for growth in every one of us. Every area of life presents an opportunity for growth and becoming more like Christ.
Dr. Philpot brings up 1 Peter 1:15, where Peter seems to be saying the same thing in calling believers to be holy in their conduct because God is holy and calls us to be holy as He is holy. This reinforces all that Dr. Caldwell has been saying. Holiness is not optional for the believer it is part of the Christian calling and should be reflected in our daily living. We must recognize that we are not yet what we are going to be, continue to acknowledge our need for growth, and humbly depend on the Lord for His ongoing work in our lives, through His Spirit, His Word, and His grace to conform us more and more into the image of Christ.
So, in Christ, believers are legally declared perfect in their position, having been justified by His finished work on the cross. But now, as saved individuals, we each strive from that place of legal acceptance in our conduct, seeking to progressively grow and live lives that reflect God’s holiness while acknowledging our ongoing struggle with sin. We pursue holiness from the place of acceptance, not for acceptance. It’s not a call to perfectionism or legalism. It’s a call to trust in Christ’s finished work and to live a life of obedience and growth in holiness, pursuing a life of godliness, knowing that the ultimate goal of perfection will be realized at our glorification.