Matthew 5:48
“Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Among many verses in the Bible, this is one we often hear: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The phrase “perfect like the Father” is an unresolved issue in the life of the church. Honestly, many Christians close their eyes to this verse. Or they do not close their eyes but treat the verse as mere ornamentation in the Gospel of Matthew, not to be taken seriously. Many debates surround this phrase: what exactly does “perfect like the Father” mean? Can humans be perfect like the Father? Note the phrase “Therefore you shall.” The word “shall” here is not optional or avoidable. So, we must not look the other way; this is something of absolute value.
Do not respond to this verse with suspicion as if God is forcing us to do the impossible. Rather, the word “shall” should be viewed positively. It signals good news, because “shall” here indicates that we can do it. God is not an unwise God. A wise God would not give an absolute command to be carried out if we were incapable of doing it. If God says, “You shall be perfect,” it means God allows us to do so. We must be optimistic that “shall,” is not painful but good news.
We must dare to enter a new atmosphere—the atmosphere of the Kingdom of God. But this does not mean neglecting our business, work, and responsibilities. We must still responsibly bear all duties God entrusts to us—as workers, family members, children, parents, husbands, wives, and citizens. Yet amid all that, we must enter the realm of being family members of the Kingdom of God who are concerned with eternal things. So, when God says, “you shall be perfect,” that is good news, because behind the “shall” we find an indication that God enables us to do it or deems us able to do it.
Matthew 5:45 says, “That you may be children 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.” From verse 21 onward, Jesus makes comparisons: under the Torah, murder means taking a life, but under the law of love, hatred already counts as murder. There is a clear comparison. Then God says that, thus, we become children of God if the quality of our life is perfect, like the Father’s. In this matter, we can connect it with John 1:12 and 2 Peter 1:3–4, which essentially guarantee that we can become perfect. God assures us that we can have the marks or signs of God’s children. We desire to become great people, but that cannot be achieved easily. John 1:12 says that those who receive Him are given power to become children of God. That means there will be marks of being God’s children.
2 Peter 1:3–4 says: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence. By which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
Believers are given power to become God’s children. We are given the possibility to put on divine nature. Hebrews 12:7 and 9 also speak of “partaking in God’s holiness.” All this means the same: having the marks of God’s children. God calls us to be His children, but whether we are His children in fact depends on our achievement before God. This may give the impression that salvation is the result of our own effort. That is not so! Salvation is obtained solely by the grace of the Lord Jesus. No good work can save someone. Yet through His redemption, we become God’s possession and are shaped into His disciples, transformed toward perfection. That attainment of perfection is what validates us as God’s children or not.