You Must Be Perfect as Your Heavenly Father is Perfect

Over the past few months I have been teaching through The Sermon on the Mount with my youth group. The more that I have studied the teachings of Christ the more I am blown away by Him. A prime example of this is found in Matthew 5:20 when Christ says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The modern reader, with his inadequate knowledge of the scribes' and Pharisees' lifestyle, can overlook the significance of this statement. These guys' entire lives centered around righteous living. They were some of the most respected religious authorities in Judaism. To your “average Joe” seated on the mount that day, the possibility of entering the kingdom of heaven with a righteousness that exceeded that of the scribes and Pharisees would have seemed impossible. Guess what--that's because it was. Jesus later says to His followers, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) News Flash: last time I checked, being perfect was not something that I excelled at. Can’t you hear the chatter among the people? "Who does this guy think he is? Perfect? Well, if that is the requirement then I guess we are all out." This would be the worst news known to mankind if that was the end of the story. Here is the good news, the rest of the story: Jesus, the guy speaking--yeah, he is perfect. Perfect attitude. Perfect motives. Perfect love for the Father. Perfect love for people. Without blemish. Jesus Christ, through his life, death, and resurrection, has made a way for fallen, sinful man to be made perfect through Him. It is possible for us to be perfect, but only through the imparted righteousness of Jesus Christ who was “made to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Praise God for the Gospel!