Matthew 5:43-48
[SUP]43 [/SUP]Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
[SUP]44 [/SUP]But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
[SUP]45 [/SUP]That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
[SUP]46 [/SUP]For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
[SUP]47 [/SUP]And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
[SUP]48 [/SUP]Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
The Lord Jesus expounds on what the Law is really saying to us. The Lord Jesus is showing us that the bar that the law has set is a lot higher than anyone thought.
So if you are going to work at the law then be perfect like your Father in Heaven is Perfect. He gave the law. If you will not hear Him but will rather do what He requires (your instructions for living...) then this is the bar, Be Perfect as God is Perfect.
If you don't make the bar then condemnation and death.
But the Lord Jesus has given us another Way. One that is different from our working at the law as Judaism does.
Galatians 3:22-25
[SUP]22 [/SUP]But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
[SUP]24 [/SUP]Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
[SUP]25 [/SUP]But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Galatians 3 says that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ is given to those who believe. But before that faith comes you are under the law. I suppose you are under the law until you realize that you can't be perfect like God is perfect by your works.
You are condemned and sentenced to die by the law. You fall short of what is required.
So how do you do it? If our works won't cause us to be Perfect like God is Perfect, how can we attain to that high standard?
Galatians 3:2-3
[SUP]2 [/SUP]This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
By the Spirit. We are perfected by the Holy Spirit that Christ gives to us at Salvation and whom He grows as we walk with Him.
How do we recieve this Holy Spirit?
Matthew 11:28-30
[SUP]28 [/SUP]Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden(those who cannot attain to the perfection required by the law), and I will give you rest.
[SUP]29 [/SUP]Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
[SUP]30 [/SUP]For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
By walking in the Light as He is in the Light. By being honest with yourself that you need help and can't be perfect by yourself. By coming to the Lord Jesus and asking Him, in faith, honesty and trust.
What happens when you try for a "balance" of law and grace, mixing the two together?
James 1:6-8
[SUP]6 [/SUP]But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
[SUP]43 [/SUP]Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
[SUP]44 [/SUP]But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
[SUP]45 [/SUP]That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
[SUP]46 [/SUP]For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
[SUP]47 [/SUP]And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
[SUP]48 [/SUP]Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
The Lord Jesus expounds on what the Law is really saying to us. The Lord Jesus is showing us that the bar that the law has set is a lot higher than anyone thought.
So if you are going to work at the law then be perfect like your Father in Heaven is Perfect. He gave the law. If you will not hear Him but will rather do what He requires (your instructions for living...) then this is the bar, Be Perfect as God is Perfect.
If you don't make the bar then condemnation and death.
But the Lord Jesus has given us another Way. One that is different from our working at the law as Judaism does.
Galatians 3:22-25
[SUP]22 [/SUP]But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
[SUP]24 [/SUP]Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
[SUP]25 [/SUP]But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Galatians 3 says that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ is given to those who believe. But before that faith comes you are under the law. I suppose you are under the law until you realize that you can't be perfect like God is perfect by your works.
You are condemned and sentenced to die by the law. You fall short of what is required.
So how do you do it? If our works won't cause us to be Perfect like God is Perfect, how can we attain to that high standard?
Galatians 3:2-3
[SUP]2 [/SUP]This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
By the Spirit. We are perfected by the Holy Spirit that Christ gives to us at Salvation and whom He grows as we walk with Him.
How do we recieve this Holy Spirit?
Matthew 11:28-30
[SUP]28 [/SUP]Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden(those who cannot attain to the perfection required by the law), and I will give you rest.
[SUP]29 [/SUP]Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
[SUP]30 [/SUP]For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
By walking in the Light as He is in the Light. By being honest with yourself that you need help and can't be perfect by yourself. By coming to the Lord Jesus and asking Him, in faith, honesty and trust.
What happens when you try for a "balance" of law and grace, mixing the two together?
James 1:6-8
[SUP]6 [/SUP]But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.