Episode 42: Holiness - Perfect As Our Heavenly Father?

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Transcript

Welcome to Holiness Talks. This month we want to examine the subject of holiness and we want to look at it by asking a very simple and basic question. Can Christians be perfect or can we be as perfect as our Heavenly Father God is? That's a big question, isn't it? Because I know you've had it. over and over, and I've had it over and over.

I'm not perfect. No one is perfect. We can't be perfect. And of course, you've seen the bumper sticker, and maybe you have it on your car yourself. But Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven. In other words, in the world we live in today, we kind of wear our imperfection as a badge of honor. Oftentimes, we are actually proud of it.

that we are not. But then we want to look at that question. Can we really be perfect? Is it possible? Is there any chance at all at believers? to be perfect. We want to look at the answer to that question by looking at Matthew chapter 5 verses 43 to 48. Matthew chapter 5 verses 43 to 48. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor, I hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies, Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?

Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only? What do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore, you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect. That section of Matthew chapter 5 is the sixth and last conversation of Christ concerning the righteousness that he demands from his followers.

Because Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5 verse 20, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. So here we find Christ talking about a higher righteousness than that of the Pharisees. And Jesus goes ahead.

It went on to explain how that works in life. What does it mean? What does that higher righteousness look like? It has given several examples, but in this particular section, it talks and it concludes that part of chapter five by saying in verse 48, therefore you shall be perfect just as your father in heaven is perfect.

That raises the question, if we are told to be perfect. As God, our Heavenly Father is perfect. What exactly does that mean? Is it actually possible? What does it look like? How does it work out in life? What are the practical realities of being perfect? Or does Jesus just give us a pie in the sky, something unattainable, something unachievable, something unobtainable.

Did Jesus just throw it out there, thinking that, well, this is an ideal. Of course, I know you can't be, but I want you to know this is what you need. I don't think so. So what does it mean? Now we want to do two things. Number one, we want to look at what that word means. What exactly does it mean? Now I'm aware there's always a danger in word studies.

Because I know people just take a word and say, this is what it meant in the original. Whatever that meant, whatever that means. Without looking at the context. Nevertheless, it's good for us to look at this word itself. What does it mean? Now, I want to say that that's word for word. Perfect, from the Greek teleios, is used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word tamim.

The word tamim is used often in the Old Testament to refer to perfection in the sense of ethical uprightness, that is, somebody who works ethically, somebody who has morals. Its first occurrence is in Genesis chapter 6 verse 9. In Genesis chapter 6 verse 9, we see the story of Noah. Genesis chapter 6 verse 9.

Here we're told about the man Noah. Verse 8 rather. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And then verse 9. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was just a man, perfect, in his generations. Noah walked with God. It's interesting here, perfect, that's the Hebrew word Tamim, which translates a Greek word Teleios.

And it says perfect and walked with God. Those two things are important to note. In Genesis chapter 17, we're told in verse 1 again, Genesis chapter 17, we see in verse 1, God calls the man Abraham. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am almighty God. Walk before me and be blameless.

It's the same word, tamim. It's used for perfect in chapter six, verse nine for Noah. And here we find the word as blameless. Let's look at one more reference. Second Samuel Chapter 22, second Samuell. In chapter 22 verses 24 to 27, we see the use of that word there again from verse 24. Here it reads, I was also blameless before him and I kept myself from my iniquity.

Therefore, the Lord has promised me according to my righteousness. According to my cleanness in his eyes, with the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With a blameless man, you will show yourself blameless. With the pure, you will show yourself pure. And with the devious, you will show yourself shrewd.

So we see that word in the Old Testament used for ethical uprightness. And frequently in the Psalms, As well as in the Qumran scrolls, this same word is used for animals that were without blemish, that were to be offered to God in Leviticals, in Numbers, and of course in Ezekiel. This same word can have the notion of completeness, completeness.

It has the connotation of completeness or whole. We see example in Joshua chapter 10 verse 13 and Joshua chapter 24 verse 14 where it denotes serving the Lord with sincerity and faithfulness. If we look at Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 13 Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse 13. We see the same word used there.

18, 13. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. You see, the subterfuge uses the word teleios here, translating tamim, which means without blemish, complete, untarnished, free from flaw. I mean, that's what the word means. So we see the word, what it actually means. But what does it mean in Matthew?

Particularly, what does it mean in Matthew chapter 5, verse 48? So let's go back there. Matthew chapter 5, verse 48. Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect. Somebody has said, when you see the word, therefore, ask yourself what it is there for. That is, why is it there? So when you see therefore, Ask, what is it there for?

So we want to see particularly in Matthew chapter 5, verse 48, and that brings us back now to Matthew chapter 43, because Matthew chapter 5, verse 48 is a summary of what Jesus has just said, and the verse basically confirms the argument of verse 45, and in its proper sense. found the conclusion of the section, which we call pericope.

The disciples, according to Jesus, are to be perfect. And it says it that they are like to be their father. It's interesting, the disciples, the word you in the Greek New Testament is in the emphatic position. And Jesus said, they are to be perfect. What does that mean? Now, it means that they are to love their enemies like your father does.

You see, they are to love their enemies and he says they are to love and they are to show mercy. They are to be compassionate. They are to show love to their enemies. In the world we live in today. There's no question about it. That love is very important. Talking about perfect love, perfection, in love, to love their enemies.

I mean, this can be experienced in life here and now. This is something which is important. Lord Christ is commanding is not natural. It is supernatural. You see, it is natural to hate one's enemies. But Jesus says, no, you can't do that. You see, Jesus actually refers to Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18, where it says, you will love your neighbor.

And then he inserted an addition by the Jewish rabbis. Leviticus 19. 18 says, Love your neighbors, but the Jewish rabbi added, You hate your enemy. And this injunction is not found anywhere in the sacred scriptures. Well, that was the way the rabbis read it. And they added their own. And Jesus now counteracted that false teaching with a strong command, Love your enemies.

It is natural to love one's friends. It is supernatural. to love one's enemies. And then he goes on to say, those who do so demonstrate that they are the children of your father, which is in heaven. So can we be like our father in heaven? Yes. I mean, it's a sons of your father who is in heaven. It is interesting to note that you show in your character that in our character, we show that we are God's.

daughters and sons. And how do we see that? It gives sun and rain to both evil and good people. So we see that God's love is seen in its universality. Everyone, it gives rain to both evil and good people. God's love is universal. Unfortunately, in the days we live in, we have a shortage of love. We have a shortage of love, but the love of God is universal in school.

Today, ours is not universal because we segregate on, based on social status, based on ethnicity. And unfortunately, the church is not immune from such selective love. We see the problem of ethnicity. Tearing some churches apart, and you see cleats upon cleats, there is no love, and yet we preach holiness, we talk about holiness, whereas holiness is love, it's perfect love, the love of God is perfect, and we love everybody regardless of their religion.

of social status, regardless of how somebody looks like, regardless of where somebody comes from. It doesn't matter what your gender is. It does not matter what your geography is, where you come from. No, not at all. The love of God reaches to everyone. Not only that. The love of God is seen in its compassion.

For he extends his compassion to the evil and to the unworthy, and even to those who do not love him in return. He still loves them. And we want to say, we should love everyone. To love like God loves. And then we see his practicality. Love for God, his practicality. He says, For it actively seeks the welfare of people by sending rain and sunshine, and above all, you know what it does?

It sends it only regarding sun. Is only as our love is perfect this way? Is it supernatural? I'm truly Christian. And listen, such love is not only our present duty, but it's our present privilege through the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's important. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, We can't love the way we need to love.

And if we do not love this way, the question is, what do we do more than others? It's the spirit of God that enables us. God graciously imparts to all those who seek it, a perfect love for him and for his will. And thereafter, as Christians, we seek for an even perfect manifestation of that love in his, in our lives and in our conduct.

Yes, we are finite. We are finite. This perfect manifestation will never be completely attained in this world. That I understand, but every believer, every consecrated son and daughter of God, follower of Christ must constantly strive toward it. And again, let's bear in mind that the immediate context of verses 17 to 47 is important, but that's not all.

Perfection here is to be explained in the context of the entire fifth chapter. is very, very important. The Lord is telling us what it means to be holy, what it means to be righteous. So when we're talking about holiness, we're talking about the love of God. We're talking about perfection in love. And if I may borrow the title of the work of Roberto Bandi, it means to love as God loves, to love as God loves.

You see, for Matthew to be teleios, to be perfect, means to fulfill the law through the manifestation of a love that is unrestricted. A love that is unrestricted. Loving our neighbors. Even I, you see, you don't understand that my neighbor is very difficult. Yes, I know, difficult, but we love our neighbors, even when they're difficult.

We reflect the love of God. This unrestricted, unconditional love preeminently embodies what we will call ethical perfection. This perfection and nothing less is that to which Jesus calls all his followers, including you and me. So as the kingdom of heaven, as the kingdom Jesus brings is of heaven, as we see in chapter three, verse two.

So also the father in Matthew is a heavenly father. The kingdom Jesus brings is of heaven and God is our heavenly father. That is, God is transcendent. You see, this way of referring to to God as our Father in heaven is very unique to Matthew. Very unique, and it reflects Jewish, Matthew's Jewish milieu.

The expression does something, it beautifully combines God's divine transcendence, his heavenly, with his presence, or what we call immanence, in love and in grace. We see the love of God, we see the grace of God, which can only be described adequately in the intimate time of love. Father, Jesus says we should be like our father in heaven.

Listen, my dear listener, the radical love Jesus describes reflects the holy love of God. You see, there is no reward for behaving like tax collectors. No, not at all. A highly despised group who also love those who love them in return. You see, there's nothing unique about greeting fellow Israelites. I mean, that's what Jesus said.

your own people. You see, unfortunately, we live in days that we are divided by different things, by different things. Sometimes something has just As simple as well. It doesn't speak English because it does not speak English. I can't love them. Your own people. Well, you don't speak my language. If they don't speak my language, I don't care about them.

Even pagans do that. We're divided on the basis of color, divided on the basis of status. We're divided on the basis of political interest and affiliations and all that. So we only love people. who think like us, who pray like us, who worship like us, who act like us, but our love should be more than that.

You see, Jesus asked those rhetorical questions which emphasize the cultural norm of that time. It's that those who love you. So Jesus is calling us to a radical love. a radical love, the call to love unconditionally, the call to love in extraordinary ways. You see, this call has no parallels. There are no parallels to what Jesus is saying in the rest of the society, in the society today, and God is calling us as believers to show forth that love.

You see, for Matthew, there is correspondence in meaning between holy and the word translated perfect, which is not perfection of actions, but of being wholly transformed into one who loves God. unconditionally as God himself loves. Listen, I just said transform. This love requires transformation. It is not possible except there's transformation that is effected by the Holy Spirit.

That's the way that love can be ours. A love that transcends education, transcends ethnicity, transcends social barriers, transcends, uh, what, am I rich, am I poor, where the church, even the church is divided into haves and have nots. Where we should manifest the love of God, loving unconditionally. You see, in Matthew chapter 19, a man asks Jesus what he must do to have eternal life.

In verse 16, Jesus responds that obedience to the commandments and selling one's possessions lead to perfection. To give all unreservedly to the call of the gospel is to be a complete or perfect disciple of Jesus. To give all, completeness, totality. You see, Jesus is not demanding or advocating another level of moral rigor or sacrifice.

But Jesus here is calling for a complete willingness to obey Him and the call of the gospel. And what is the call of the gospel? To love God and to love our neighbor. And as we bring this to a close, let's be reminded that no disciple of Jesus is exempt. From the demands of the greater righteousness, you and I are not exempt from the demands of greater righteousness, which like perfection is a call to whole hearted, faithful, loyal devotion to Jesus.

And in doing so, we prove ourselves. worthy of the kingdom of God by overcoming enmity, crossing religiously defined and ethnic boundaries just with the aim of loving everyone and loving them, bringing them into the kingdom of God. We need to love. So can we be perfect? That's the question I started with.

Can we be as our Heavenly Father is? The resounding answer is yes. Yes. Because Christ says it, demands it, He commands it, and God never tells us to do something without equipping us, without giving us the power, without giving us the means, without giving us the grace, without giving us the wherewithal that we can do it.

And the Holy Spirit is available to transform our lives and make us the kind of people we ought to be. Shining the light of the gospel. and being the salt of the earth. Again, I may end with the title of the book of Roberto Bundy, To Love As God Loves. And when we love as God loves, we basically declare that we are sons and daughters of God.

Thank you again for listening to us. Please, if you have any questions or thoughts, don't say them. As it takes to contact me, you could check me out on Facebook, Dr. J. Ayodeji Adewuya you can put your questions there or put your comments. I'll be glad to hear from you and dialogue with you. God bless you.

Until next month. Bye now.