Would you? Yes? Sound familiar? Grace is not simply a position in which we stand. But I Say to You, Love Your Enemies, Part 2. The idea of hate your enemies, from God's command to wipe out inhabitants of land. How many of us, even if we don't say it out loud, actually live by that belief? 2. The gentle are blessed, for they will inherit the earth. Dr. Philip W. McLarty. But without recognizing it, this man was breaking the very first commandment, “You shall no other gods before me.” Sadly, money had become his god, and as we see here, he wasn't willing to renounce it. And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, [19] Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (19:17-22). Sermon on the Mount: 3. Are they too works-oriented? If I walked in here this morning, and simply said to you, “You must be perfect as God is perfect”, I think a lot of people would have trouble with that. Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:48 close a sermon that He gave to His disciples. At 111 verses, it is the longest continuous discourse of Jesus in the New Testament. 1. Do his words still sound scandalous to you? God doesn't simply act righteous. God has transformed his children through Jesus. We have and we will fail. We know what being like God means when we look on Christ. September 9, 2018 If we are to obey the injunction of the text it is necessary that we have faith in the fact. Jesus' call here, Jesus' kingdom call to perfect righteousness is all about grace. This was the Messiah? I. John Piper ... Sermon. It also powers us...power to pursue perfection, just as Jesus said. “Sell everything you have? The reasonableness of reliance on God's promises.Conclude: —. It is a righteousness that flows out of one's nature. No, outer in terms of that which comes from outside us; from someplace else, not from me. It shouldn't be. But to understand that fully, we need to think about the radical outer righteousness Jesus is pointing us to in Matthew 5:48. In both later instances, the phrase is central to what Jesus thinks about the entire Law of God. Then Jesus turns to his disciples and all who want to learn from him: ^lessed are you… _ The main theme is ^the prophets _ (Mt. We first want to finish up this last verse in chapter 5, and then we shall go into chapter 6. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus is pointing us to both a radical inner righteousness, and a radical outer righteousness. May 21, 1995. In fact the same Greek word translated as “perfect” in Matthew 5:48, is used throughout the New Testament, by several different writers. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:31-32 is part of a larger passage, Matthew 5:17-48, that is included in Jesus’ Sermon on Mount. Exceeding Righteousness, The Perfect Fulfilling of Law: Christ's Sixth Illustration. And yet, there is nothing improper or offensive about them. Let's ask him now to help our hearts hunger and seek and celebrate those very things. That's a verse about righteousness. But the Good News of Christ promises God's provision for that need. What is Jesus saying? [22] When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Other verses throughout the sermon are also concerned about righteousness...5:13...“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? Yep, in all these verses, and many more, the same word is translated “mature” instead of “perfect”. Understanding the Context of Matthew 5:48. Law was basis? Since Jesus says “therefore” in 5:48, he is referring back to what he just said; and the last theme he taught–in 5:43-47–fits the bill of referring to who God is and who children of God should be. His other attributes are rendered engaging to us by His goodness. [18] He said to him, "Which ones?" God cannot demand anything less then perfection, can he? THE CHRISTIAN STANDARD OF THE PERFECT IS THE NOBLEST INSPIRATION TO MAN. God is PERFECTLY GOOD. No, it actually flows from “the new self” to which Paul pointed his readers in Ephesians 4:24. BY MATTHEW (shaded area) Click chart to enlarge Jesus Birth and Early Years Leading up to the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 1-7 Source: Ryrie Study Bible. A couple verses later, Paul talks about how we are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God doesn't simply declare us righteous because of Jesus, he also begins a work of making us righteous because of Jesus, righteous from the inside out. But as we look to Him, with a hungry faith, we find power to keep saying, “I want to follow faithfully...I want to please you in every way, Father...I want to honor you at all times...in my attitude and actions.” That has to be what the NT writers had in mind when they wrote about “maturity”. He is righteous. 1. Passage: Matthew 5:48. = “things being so;” either a collective inference from all that goes before (Matthew 5:21-47) or as a reflection on the immediately preceding argument. Peace in the Bible is never to be confused with pacifism.Avoidance of strife. During the Seventies, there was a bumper-sticker that said, “Christians are not perfect – just forgiven.” Sadly, it gave both Christians and non-Christians the wrong impression of the true spirit of Christianity. Is God perfectly good? We should be hereby excited to seek wisdom (Proverbs 4:5, 7). So because of the mercy of God, when you believe, grace positions you in a righteousness that comes from outside yourself, from God himself, the perfect record, the perfect standing of Jesus. Topics similar to or like Matthew 5:48. Maybe? Matthew 5:45. so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:48. Concluding exhortation. Jesus left the multitudes and went up on a mountain. Can you imagine if a Supreme Court nominee was asked during confirmation hearings whether or not he would care about justice every time he presided, can you imagine what would happen if he or she said, “I will care about justice...most of the time”?