A Comment on Matthew 5:48: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

 

I made the following comment at http://www.spectrummagazine.org/blog/2010/12/29/why-perfection-theology-so-destructive in a discussion of "Why is Perfection Theology So Destructive?" by Steve Moran.  See other comments too, especially those by Pat Travis and Bill Cork.     

A debatable thesis:

From top to bottom this enitre discussion has entirely missed the true meaning of Matthew 5:48 because all parties have separated it from Matthew 5:43 -47, apart from which it cannot be properly understood.

Here is the entire passage in the NIV:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, THAT YOU MAY BE SONS OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER is perfect."

Read in its literary context, this passage is not commanding that we be perfect or mature in any global way. The passage is making a much more focused point.

This much more focused point is that, like our heavenly father, we ought to treat all people with respect [love] regardless of how similar to or different from us they are.

To use today's jargon, the passage as a whole, including the last verse, is about how we ought to relate to "the other" and not about how close or far our lives might be or can be from some comprehensive ethical optimum.

Therefore, of all the other passages in the New Testament, the one that is closest in meaning to Matthew 5: 43 - 48 is Galatians 3:28:

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

For hundreds of years millions of words have been written and spoken about Matthew 5:48 without reference to Matthew 5: 43 - 47. This would cause much mirth were it not for the fact that these words have wounded people, alienated friends and relatives, disgusted children and grandchildren and, I believe, increased stress that made people more vulnerable to disease and premature death.

Any time now it will be OK for us to stop these endless, pointless and often hurtful debates and start learning how to treat with respect and even-handedness those who are very different, as does our Heavenly Father.

Then, and only then, will we have read the whole Matthew 5:43-48 aright.

Comments

[Bill Cork]

Hi Dave,

Does the Adventist discussion on perfection start here? I don't think so. It seems to me that it starts with the Millerite idea that probation closes before Christ returns. This is the point at which, using Isaiah's imagery, Christ exchanges his priestly robes for his kingly robes. Or, using the sanctuary image, at which he leaves the sanctuary. Adding to it the idea of Revelation that, his intercession ceasing means that he no longer holds back the winds. Woody Whidden has written something on this. I've got some more to write on this. Mulling it over still. :-)

[David R. Larson]

Bill

First of all, thank you for your excellent contributions at www.spectrummgazine.org and elsewhere. It is very helpful to have a participant who knows Roman Catholic theology--both appreciatively and critically as the situation warrants--from the inside!

Generally speaking, weren't there many perfectionist movements in 19th century North America, with the Shakers and the Oneida Perfectionists among them? So, we emerge from a time and place where such was common.

I take your point that the idea of the close of probation before the second coming of Jesus probably fuels SDA perfectionism more than, say, Matthew 5:48. It is an interesting and important one.

I swiftly get into trouble in my own mind when I hear expressions like "close of probation" and standing "without a mediator."

It is so easy for this to leave me the impression that God turns love for others--you and me, for example--on and off at will or maybe even whim.

For this resason I'm inclined to focus on the promise that God's steadfast love endures forever and leave it at that.

Steve Moran's article and many of the comments that follow it seemed to presuppose that perfection theology is one thing and that it never changes. To the contrary, it seems evident to me that it has many forms and that they are always changing to some extent.

I'm looking forward to reading your next writings on this subject. It isn't easy!

[Dr. Thomas J. Zwemer]

If one reads the Sermon on he Mount as Jesus" Action Plan. The verse becomes clear.
Recall He said, not one jot or one tittle of the law shall be done away until all shall be fullfilled. When Jesus cried out:
"It is finished" He had fullfilled the entire law. Now that perfection is ours on the basis of He life, death, resurrection, and installation. Having been confirmed with sonship, we behave as family out of gratitude--We live the life of the forgiven. We behave as the redeemed in the Grace, gratitude, and generosity with which we have benefitted. Never-the-less, the perfection of God is a gift confirmed upon those who belive in the finished work of Jesus. We stand justified--perfect in Christ. We give as freely as we have been given. Tom Z

[Moncler Jacken]

HHH Yes, the design of national policy is important, how our economic development plans for the next five years, how the implementation, how to make our economy even faster. Are designed to advance our focus to invest money in what ways it should be carefully arranged.