Starting May 22nd, you can get Walk in the Way for only $.99. The sale will last until May 29th. There are fifty nine studies in the book. Below is an excerpt for you to check out. You can click on the cover picture on the right side of the blog to order your ebook.
God bless you,
Coach
6: Perfect?
Matt 5:48 Therefore
you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. NASU
Was there ever anything that Jesus said that
seemed more impossible than this? Perfect? How could we be perfect? We still
sin every day of our lives. Even the apostle Paul said that he did things he
didn’t want to do and didn’t do that which he wanted to do. If he couldn’t be
perfect, I am sure I can’t be perfect! Why would Jesus command us to do the
impossible? Take comfort, I don’t think He did.
The word for “be” in Greek is a future
tense for the word meaning “I exist.” You could say it this way, “will be.” You
may still be saying, “But that is still impossible, I cannot envision even a
time in my future where I will be perfect!” That is understandable, especially
if you will read the context in which Jesus is saying this (Lk 5). He has just
finished telling His disciples several things that they should do such as:
Love your enemies.
Pray for those who persecute you.
Give people more than they ask of you
materially and time wise.
Turn the other cheek when someone slaps you
and many other difficult commands, which seem impossible to keep.
Is this really the expectation level the Lord
has for the believer?
The word perfect in Greek is teleioi. It
comes from the word telos which means, “end,” “goal” or “limit.” It is
sometimes translated as complete or mature. The idea here is that we are moving
toward this end. We are becoming more and more like our Savior, doing His will
more often. We are in modern vernacular, “works in progress.” It needs to be
the major goal of our lives as Christians.
Even so, it seems difficult to always be
striving for that goal, does it not? Well, the good news is that as a believer
in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living in you to empower you towards that
end. That’s why Paul could say in Phil 1:6 “For
I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will
perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (NASU)
There are two encouraging thoughts in that
verse. One, we don’t have the power to do this on our own. That’s ok,
God provides the power for us. That is why the bible tells us, "With
people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt
19:26 NASU, emphasis mine) Two, there will come a day when we have been perfected. We don’t know when
that day is but we can certainly look forward to it.
So, don’t shy away from this call to
perfection but embrace it. Make it your desire to follow the Lord’s
instructions to the uttermost and let His Holy Spirit empower you to do it. It
won’t mean striving, but thriving in the “living water” Jesus promised! John
7:37-39 "If anyone is thirsty, let
him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said,
'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He
spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;” (NASU)
