Did Jesus actually Command us to be Perfect?
About halfway through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says we are to “be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) This ending of chapter 5 has had some diverse interpretations. Some Christians have argued for a literal application of perfectionism. But most Christians have dismissed this for being unrealistic as it would lead toward an unhealthy legalism. Just a few sentences later Jesus instructs us to pray for forgiveness of our sins, so obviously Jesus is not expecting us to be sinless.
Many Protestants respond by suggesting the unreachable perfection Jesus is demanding is intentionally done to humble us. Framing the sermon through a Protestant Law/Gospel distinction, this view describes Jesus listing the high standard we are expected to live out perfectly if we are to be saved. Realizing none of us will be able to reach this standard, we are humbled in our inability to obey the Law, and that’s where the Gospel comes in. Jesus pays the penalty for us, obeys the Law perfectly, and we are saved by His grace and grace alone.
This view uses a similar framing for other verses in the Sermon on the Mount, such as Matthew 5:19-20, and 7:21-23. However, as a Protestant who affirms we are saved by grace alone, I would suggest this view is also flawed and misrepresents what Jesus is saying.
Both the legalistic view and the Law/Gospel view isolate Matthew 5:48 from it’s context and give a different meaning to what was intended. Jesus isn’t expecting perfection, nor is He giving some unreachable works-righteous list designed to make us realize our helplessness.
Therefore…
If Jesus sat the disciples down and simply said, “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” there would be more merit to the previously mentioned views. But Jesus doesn’t do that. Verse 48 begins with, “therefore…”, implying that what is to be said is continuing what was previously said. So what was previously said?
“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, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
The context of being “perfect” is within the teaching to love our enemies. The word translated as “perfect” can also mean “complete” or “wholeness”. Jesus is stressing in this passage that our love is incomplete if we only love those who love us. Even the worst of sinners do this. But as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, which Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount is framed around from beginning to end, we imitate the Father’s love by loving our enemies too.
This Jesus teaching is found in Luke’s Gospel, but with a slight change. Instead of being perfect as our Father is perfect, we are to be merciful as our Father is merciful. This further validates that Matthew’s context is about loving our enemies, not living a literal perfect life:
“But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don’t ask for them back. Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”
One who holds to the Law/Gospel view might object that the “therefore” in Matthew 5:48 isn’t continuing the immediate context of loving our enemies, but rather summing up Matthew 5:17-48 as a whole.
The Law/Gospel view could argue that these verses are showing Jesus raising the bar of the Law to a higher level, and summarizing with the call to be perfect. Such a structure would show how incapable we are of saving ourselves and how desperately we need Jesus to save us.
Again, while I absolutely agree we are incapable of saving ourselves and desperately need the substitutionary atonement of Christ, I would suggest this isn’t the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount, and the argument ultimately doesn’t work for a few reasons.
First, when reading Matthew 5:44-48, Jesus is discussing not only our relationship with our enemies, but our relationship with the Father. Jesus says to love our enemies so we may be children of the Father. (V. 45) He then compares how the Father shows grace to the righteous and sinners alike, and calls us to imitate such grace. By being the Father’s children, we imitate His love to others. So when reading verse 48, the reference to the Father makes sense as Jesus just referenced the Father in verse 45.
Second, as shown above, this teaching was also recorded in Luke’s Gospel. In Luke 6, the call to be merciful as our Father is merciful is in the same context of loving our enemies. Whether Jesus originally said, “perfect/complete” or “merciful” is up for debate on Synoptic tradition. But what matters is that both Matthew and Luke frame this command in the context of imitating God’s love for all people, including our enemies.
Third, this connection of “perfection” and loving enemies is found a couple times in the Apostolic Fathers. The Didache lists similar teachings from the Sermon on the Mount in its opening:
“The teaching of these words is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what credit is it if you love those who love you? Do not even Gentiles do the same? But you must love those who hate you, and you will not have an enemy.
Abstain from bodily cravings. If someone gives you a blow on your right cheek, turn to him the other as well and you will be perfect. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles; if someone takes your cloak, give him your tunic also; if someone takes from you what belongs to you, do not demand it back, for you cannot do so.”
The Didache’s context is different in some ways from Matthew and Luke’s, but the connection of being “perfect” and loving your enemy is still there. It seems pretty clear all three writings are coming from the same Jesus tradition. Likewise, in Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians, Polycarp writes,
“Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings and magistrates and rulers, and for those who persecute and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, so that your fruit may be evident among all people, so that you may be perfect in him.”
Admittedly, the Greek word translated as “perfect/complete/whole” can be diverse, and there is noted complexity in its usage in ancient writings. (Wilhite, 2019, Pg. 181-183) However, I think the evidence between the Synoptic Gospels and the Apostolic Fathers shows that Matthew 5:48 is not a black and white call to be perfect in the way we commonly use the word. Rather, it is a call to discipleship that brings wholeness in imitating God’s love. As The Didache beautifully states, by choosing to love our enemies, we no longer have enemies.
Are we expected to do this flawlessly? Of course not. Again, both Matthew, Luke, and the Apostolic Fathers make it very clear God knows we will still screw up. But in sincerity, in regularly confessing our sins and shortcomings, we walk with the Spirit, we bear the Spirit’s fruit, and through the Spirit we love our enemies.
Bibliography
Holmes, M.W. (2006). The Apostolic Fathers in English (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Academic.
Wilhite, S. (2019). The Didache: A Commentary. Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock.
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.