wish folks would consider what perfect really means. one out of 100,000 wrong?? not perfect!!
We find the term perfect attributed to the words of Jesus...
Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
The original Greek word is...
teleios
From G5056; complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.); neuter (as noun, with G3588) completeness: - of full age, man, perfect.
Clearly the context of this "complete" relates to an inward morality or an inward purity. Jesus stated...
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus then went on to say in regards to this exceptional righteousness that...
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
and...
Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Clearly Jesus is speaking of an inward righteousness and not merely and outward form like the Pharisees had.
Elsewhere Jesus, when addressing the religious authorities, states...
Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Clearly the righteousness that Jesus was preaching was a righteousness which equates to heart purity. The admonishes the Pharisees to cleanse first that was within that the outside be clean also.
We find Paul teaching the same thing...
Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
The righteousness of the law is established through faith.
Jesus said...
Mat_5:17 Think not that
I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Jesus also said...
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
and...
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Thus...
Joh_15:12 This is my commandment, That
ye love one another, as I have loved you.
So when Paul wrote...
Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
He understood that...
Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Faith works by love whereby faith establishes the law as opposed to voiding it.
Paul wrote...
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Which is why...
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The righteousness of the law is fulfilled only in those whom walk after the Spirit by a faith that works by love.
This is why Jesus taught HEAR and DO. If one HEARS and DOES NOT then there is no possible way that they righteousness of the law will be fulfilled in them. They will simply not be purified by faith.
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Faith purifies the heart thus we are purified through our obedience to the truth.
1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Which in essence is what "saved by grace through faith" actually means.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We are quickened to life inwardly when we abide in the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ.
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
Rom 8:2 For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Grace teaches...
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Those whom faithfully yield to that grace are redeemed from all iniquity and made pure. Hence faith purifies the heart and we are purified through obedience to the truth.
Satan has perverted the above message and replaced it with a fake religion many call Christianity. In the fake religion the death of Christ provides a provision which people are compelled to trust in. Thus instead of HEAR AND DO like Jesus taught, it is "confess and trust" like most of the churches teach.
HEAR AND DO is the dynamic which produces a total transformation through the power of God manifesting within our inner being.
CONFESS AND TRUST deceives people into thinking they have received a cloak for their wickedness. Thus transformation is replaced with a legal construct, a construct of a mere POSITION in Jesus as opposed to an ABIDING MANIFEST STATE.
When Jesus spoke of "be perfect" He was speaking in context of a total moral transformation of the heart whereby one becomes a slave of righteousness.
Today the general mantra is "nobody is perfect" and anyone who claims they are is a liar. "Sinless perfection" is often raised up as a strawman when the truth is that all God requires is an obedient heart.
If one's heart is pure having been cleansed of all iniquity then the faith of that one is reckoned as righteousness simply because faith works by love and love works no ill. The inner condition has been cleansed first exactly as Jesus taught.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
A faith that has a walk.
Rom 4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
A faith that obeys.
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
A faith that does the deeds of faith.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Such a simple message.