Matthew 5:48 - Printer Friendly

ESV: You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

NIV: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

NASB: Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

CSB: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

NLT: But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

KJV: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

NKJV: Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

How much righteousness does God expect from His followers? Jesus has demonstrated in one example after another that truly godly righteousness, the kind that would earn a person eternal salvation, is well beyond what they had been taught by the Jewish religious leaders (Matthew 5:20). It is far more righteousness than Jesus' listeners were expecting of themselves.

Jesus clearly teaches that the heavenly standard of righteousness is absolute. You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. That doesn't mean salvation is only offered to those who are "good enough," mostly because no one is ever "good enough" (Romans 3:10). That's why God offers salvation by grace through faith (John 3:16–18; Titus 3:5).

Two things follow from Jesus' teaching in this chapter and in this final sentence. First, simply following the law of Moses as it was taught by Israel's religious leaders was not nearly good enough. Those who would follow Jesus' teaching, His disciples, must live out righteousness which begins with their inner lives (Matthew 5:21–22, 27–28). That righteousness means surrendering personal rights for the good of others (Matthew 5:31–32, 33–37, 38–39). This extends even to the point of loving and praying for their enemies (Matthew 5:43–47).

Second, it quickly becomes clear that it is absolutely impossible for sinful human beings to live up to God's standard or righteousness in our own power. That's why the Apostle Paul will famously state in his letter to the Romans, "None is righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). He and Matthew and the rest of the New Testament writers will make it clear that perfect righteousness as Jesus has described it in this chapter can only be received as a gift from God through faith in Jesus (Romans 3:23–25).

Matthew 5:43–48 continues Jesus' teaching on love and humility, a part of the Sermon on the Mount. After commanding believers not to seek revenge in the face of insults, Jesus expands the idea of love to include one's enemies. Human beings naturally struggle with the idea of passively accepting persecution. We naturally recoil at the idea of expressing active love—in our deeds, not necessarily in our emotions—for those who hate and attack us. However, loving those who love you is easy; God's standards are higher.

The Sermon on the Mount contains some of Jesus' most challenging teaching. It begins with the unlikely blessings of the Beatitudes. Jesus' disciples must do good works in order to be a powerful influence: as the salt of the earth and light of the world. The superficial righteousness of the Pharisees is not good enough to earn heaven. Sins of the heart, such as angry insults and intentional lust, are worthy of hell just as much as adultery and murder. Easy divorce and deceptive oaths are forbidden. Believers should not seek revenge. Instead, God intends us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. In short, we should strive to be perfect, as God is perfect.

Matthew 5 follows Matthew's description of the enormous crowds that were following Jesus (Matthew 4:25). One day, Jesus sits down on a hill to teach them, in an address we now call the Sermon on the Mount. He describes as blessed those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, and who are persecuted. Christ also explains how God's standards of righteousness go far beyond behaviors and speech; they also include our thoughts and attitudes. Meeting God's standards means perfection. Chapter 6 continues this sermon, with more examples of Jesus clarifying God's intent for godly living.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.