Why did Jesus tell us to be Perfect?

[FreeGrace]

On 3/7/2025 at 7:19 PM, Vine Abider said:

Why did Jesus say, "Be perfect"?

He was telling believers to grow up, be mature in the faith.  

[Vine Abider]

2 minutes ago, FreeGrace said:

He was telling believers to grow up, be mature in the faith.  

Yes, because this is the goal that is ours in Him --> being fully in Christ's image, which is the complete perfection.

[irishbeast]

On 3/8/2025 at 1:45 AM, PATrobas said:

I don't think He wants for us to try hard. We who have the H.S. already WANT to be holy, perfect, etc. I think He wants us to realize we can't unless He does it in us. I have enough trouble even getting along with my neighbor, much less loving my enemy. So it's not trying hard but admitting our failure and relying on Him. When Jesus callled Peter to come to Him on the water, He didn't want him to figure out a way to do it (Make Foot floaties, look for close to the surface rocks, etc.) He wanted him to hear His voice and believe it...Come. God is the one who empowered Jesus and Peter both to walk on the water. John 6:28 "Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? :29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

I was just watching that scene on "The Chosen" today. Very good example sir and well put

[Edward429451]

1 John 4:17-19

¹⁷ Herein is our love made perfect, 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 casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹ We love him, because he first loved us.../KJV

So it is love that perfects us. It is impossible because we can do nothing without the Lord. But that's not the point! He looks at our heart and our intentions so even when we fail He knew we would fail. And it is some sort of test for us. If we abide in Him then we are being led by the Spirit and so are the righteousness of God in Christ. 

 

Not forgiving our enemies or cursing them with our tongue hurts us more than it does them. Because it plants a seed of bitterness within our heart which if not done away with through forgiveness will grow into a root of bitterness within our heart. And that, is the opposite direction from being perfect. 

 

One time, someone close to me did a wrong to me, a very bad wrong. One of those kinds of wrongs that people usually do not get forgiveness for! But I wanted to obey God and He said, you better forgive them, but I couldn't.  So I prayed and said Lord I forgive this person for what they did to me and if I can not forgive them within my heart I make an act of my will to forgive them even if my heart does not agree...! And nothing happened, I felt just as bad towards the person than I did before. What now?

 

Pray the same thing again tomorrow. And the day after that and the day after that until I can feel it in my heart the forgiveness for what they did to me. And it took about two weeks of praying from an act of my will to forgive them before I felt the peace of God in my heart about it. Boy did I feel better! 

[Revelation Man]

On 3/7/2025 at 8:07 AM, PATrobas said:

Reminders Definitions - Perfect

            ‘Nobody is perfect,’ right? Of course. Nobody in his right mind would claim to have God’s standard of perfection. Even the Pharisees, whose deeds were as close to fulfilling the letter of the law as possible, received the rebuke of Jesus because of their hypocrisy. “Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.” ^{Matthew 23:27} As hard as mankind tries, he cannot be perfect. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” ^{Romans 3:23} Why then does Jesus make the following command if we’ve already fallen short of perfection? “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” ^{Matthew 5:48} That is a very good question. How can the condemned and fallen be perfect? There is only one way.

            One of the reasons Jesus came, was to show that mankind could not please God by doing good works. Jesus lived a perfect life, but His works did not make Him righteous, His faith did. We’re told in Galatians 2:16 “…a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ…for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Jesus’ perfect life was not lived by the self-will of His flesh, (i.e. trying hard,) but by complete dependence on, and faith in, His Father. He was justified by faith.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him;” then Jesus affirmed “for I do always those things that please Him.” ^{John 8:29} Jesus lived by faith. ^{Romans 1:17} So how does this apply to us? For a person to be born again, he must first heed the conviction of the Holy Spirit and confess that his actions have not been perfect before God. He is a sinner. Next, he must believe that a perfect sacrifice has been killed on his behalf which made full and complete payment to God for all sin and sins and that this dead, perfect sacrifice, came back to life from the grave. This same risen Lord Jesus is now calling all men to believe Him. This is the Gospel. When we believe and trust this good news personally, God forgives our sins, declares us to be perfect, and gives us the righteousness of His Son, Jesus. God is pleased and satisfied by our faith, not our self-effort. ^{John 5:24; Romans 4:3}

            Final Thoughts: Jesus said these words, “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” ^{Luke 6:40; John 17:23} Once we are born again by God, we are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit and are declared to be perfect. That doesn’t mean that everything we do is perfect. We still have these bodies that bear both the old nature of Adam and the new nature of God. Until we die or are raptured, our new spirit will do battle with the flesh. ^{Galatians 5:17} The only way to overcome the flesh is by the hearing of faith. ^{Galatians 3:5} Our new desire is to be perfect in our bodies, ^{Ephesians 2:10} but that won’t happen until we see Him face to face. “Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is;” ^{1 John 3:2} Perfect.     _ph

 

Jesus was perfect because he was God the Redeemer, not because of any works per se.

 

Jesus tells us to be perfect like the Father because our goal is to transform our lives from men living after the flesh to men living for the Spirit. We can be perfect if we live in Christ and heed his every thought and follow his voice, by not putting Him off to follow our own flesh, most do not even get close but its theoretically possible. How so? Because our old man Adam is born first but the New Man of the Spirit is born last, so God has forgiven all of our sins right? We can therefore chose never to sin again, YES........Our Flesh body is still corrupted by sin and can  not enter heaven, but our Spirit man who is of God can enter Heaven. We can chose not to sin and our Spirit Man will remain pure, but of course that never happens, or rarely happens, God took Elijah but only hos Spirit Man. God took Moses but left his bones/body. 

 

I think you are confusing our Sin Flesh which can never be redeemed with our Spirit Man which has been Redeemed by Jesus' blood. We can chose to follow God and not to love sin. 

[steve morrow]

DOETH  NOT  RIGHTEOUSNESS  IS  NOT  OF  GOD

 

2 CORINTHIANS 13:5  examine yourselves whether you be in the faith prove your own selves know you not your own selves how that  JESUS  CHRIST  is in you ---except you be reprobates---

1 JOHN 3:24  and he that keepeth  HIS  commandments dwelleth in  HIM  and  HE  in him and hereby we know that  HE  abideth in us by the spirit which --HE  HATH  GIVEN  US-- 

 

JOHN 6:63  it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life 

 

HEBREWS 5:8  though  HE  were a son yet learned  HE  obedience by the things which  HE  suffered 

ACTS 1:1  the former treatise have I made o theophilus of all that  JESUS  began both to do and to teach

--1:2-- until the day in which  HE  was taken up after that  HE  through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom  HE  had chosen

JOHN 12:49  for I have not spoken of myself but  --THE  FATHER--  which sent  ME  HE  gave  ME  a commandment what I should say and what I should speak 

--12:50--  and I know that  HIS  commandment is life everlasting whatsoever I speak therefore even as  --THE  FATHER--  said unto  ME  so I speak

 

2 TIMOTHY 2:13  if we believe not yet  HE  abideth faithful  HE  cannot deny himself

PSALM 119:138  thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and  --VERY  FAITHFUL-- 

PSALM 119:144  THE RIGHTEOUSNESS  of thy testimonies is everlasting give me understanding and I shall live 

PSALM 119:172  my tongue shall speak of thy word for all thy commandments are righteousness 

 

ISAIAH 48:18  o that thou hadst hearkened to  MY  commandments then had thy peace been as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of the see

 

PSALM 52:1  why boasteth thou thyself in mischief o mighty man the goodness of  GOD  endureth continually 

--52:2--  thy tongue deviseth mischiefs like a sharp razor working deceitfully 

TITUS 1:13  this witness is true wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith 

 

2 TIMOTHY 1:13 hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me --in faith--and love-- which is in  CHRIST  JESUS

PROVERBS 15:7  the lips of the wise disperse knowledge but the heart of the foolish doeth not so

--15:8--  the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to  THE  LORD  but the prayer of the upright is  HIS  delight 

--15:9--  the way of the wicked is an abomination unto  THE  LORD  but  HE  loveth him that followeth after righteousness 

 

PROVERBS 8:8  all the words of  MY  MOUTH  are in righteousness there is nothing froward or perverse in them

 

JEREMIAH 15:6  thou hast forsaken  ME  saith  THE  LORD  thou art gone backward therefore will I stretch out  MY hand against thee and destroy thee I am weary with repenting

 

1 JOHN 3:10  in this the children of  GOD  are manifest and the children of the devil whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of  GOD  neither he that loveth not his brother

1 JOHN 2:10  he that loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him

PSALM 119:130  the entrance of thy words giveth light it giveth understanding unto the simple 

 

LOVING  THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST