Be Perfect

Now there's a title! Pastor Cory of Royal View church www.royalview.org pointed this out to me recently. It surprised me and impacted my walk so I'll share it here.

Matt 5:48 "You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect."

The verses leading up to 5:48, explain actions and character traits you should have. These are a repeat of what can be found in Leviticus 19:2-18, Prov 25:21-22, Ps 139:21-22, Deut 15:8, Prov 24:29.... and so on. The AMP version of the Bible is great for linking you to OT scripture.

But how on Earth does a HUMAN be "perfect" like GOD? Well it's through Justification, the Rebirth into Christ and further Sanctification. But I'll give you the simple answer for now. Two steps. 1 - Get Saved! 2 - Be a student of the Word, just as Christ was.

"Wait!" you say "Christ IS the Word in the Flesh, why would He have been a student?". Because He came to Earth and lived as a man. He was all God but He was also all Man. (I personally believe this explains why He was called the Son of Man - He's the Son of God, and while He was on Earth He was a man - so He was of the same stuff that is a man). So then you might be tempted to ask where in the Word does it say Christ was ever a student?

I was deceived, as many other people are and have been about Christ's childhood. I had believed He had taught at the Temple. However if you read Luke 2:40-52 for yourself you will clearly see that the developing Christ was a student! Particularly verses 46-47 where you see He was sitting and LISTENING and ASKING questions. All were astonished and overwhelmed at His intelligence and understanding and His REPLIES. Verse 52 shows that this process didn't just go on for the 3 days He was missing from His earthly parents but in went on for years, His developing years. He grew in body, wisdom AND in favor with God and man.

As you can see, we are called to be "perfect" as our Father is. And we're shown how to do it. Christ said that those who have known Him know His Father. If we pattern ourselves after Christ then surely we are patterning ourselves after our Holy Father. So as a child in Christ we are to set ourselves to learning. That learning will be fruitful and we also will grow in wisdom and favor in God.