{"id":16305,"date":"2026-10-01T10:57:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/?p=16305"},"modified":"2026-10-03T11:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T16:44:16","slug":"be-perfect-as-your-heavenly-father-is-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/16305\/be-perfect-as-your-heavenly-father-is-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

John,<\/span><\/p>\n

I want to share some thoughts I had while reading Matthew 5.\u00a0 I enjoyed each verse, but when I came to verse 48, I paused to consider what Jesus was saying.\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, be perfect, just as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.\u201d\u00a0 I tried to imagine what the disciples may have been thinking after hearing these words: \u201cBe perfect, just as your Father (Jehovah) \u2026 is perfect!\u201d \u00a0\u201cWow! How is that possible?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I soon found out that I was wrong trying to use the modern day definition of \u201cperfect\u201d to understand what Jesus was saying.\u00a0 Some modern definitions of perfect are: something that is flawless, exact, or completely suited for a specific purpose, (e.g. \u201ca perfect score\u201d or \u201cperfect weather for a picnic\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

I decided to research the ancient Greek meaning of the word \u201cperfect\u201d. Here is what I found: Teleios<\/em> (perfect) as an adjective means having attained an end or purpose, complete, full grown, whole-hearted.\u00a0 Some comments I found said, \u201cSomething that has reached its intended completion or maturity, rather than merely \u2018flawless\u2019\u201d. \u00a0And, \u201csomething is perfect when it functions exactly as its designer intended.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One example I saw compared a modern day definition to an ancient one using an acorn.\u00a0 A modern perspective would see that an acorn is shiny, symmetrical, not cracked, and otherwise perfect.\u00a0 An ancient Greek perspective may have been that the acorn is perfect (teleios<\/em>) because it will become a fully grown oak tree, mature, and bearing fruit.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I still wasn\u2019t quite satisfied with my understanding of Jesus\u2019 words.\u00a0 So, I decided to go to your Matthew study posted on the YouTube channel, “The Spirit Is the Witness”: Matthew Study (5:31-48) – John D. Clark, Sr.<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(This is a wonderful video. \u00a0I highly recommend it.)\u00a0 \u00a0There, you explained that Jesus was not giving commandments in chapter 5. \u00a0He was describing a way of life, specifically his and his Father\u2019s way of life. \u00a0You went on to say that in the Old Testament, God required His people to be holy because <\/u>He is holy. \u00a0<\/em>However, in this New Covenant, we are holy as<\/u> He is holy. Jesus has made a way that we can be like him and His Father. \u00a0The verses in chapter 5 describe a way of life that was impossible for those listening to Jesus to live at that time.\u00a0 However, \u201cWhat is impossible for men, is possible with God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Later that evening, Suzi and I continued our reading your book God Had a Son Before Mary Did.*\u00a0 I still had the thought of Jesus\u2019 words in my mind, \u201cbe perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.\u201d\u00a0 Then we read the following text: \u201cGod\u2019s children are happiest when they occupy their appointed place in the order of God and acknowledge the places occupied by others. \u00a0When you are in the place that you were created to be, you feel contentment, for your place is not an it. \u00a0Your place is a who \u2013 you! \u00a0The \u201cplace\u201d God has for you is your life as the person God intended you to be from the foundation of the world<\/u>.\u00a0 Only in that place, only in being yourself in Christ, will you ever experience perfect peace and joy.<\/u>\u00a0 That is why envy is compared with cancer (Prov. 14:30); it eats away at a person\u2019s gratitude for the who that God has made him. \u00a0Envy is a tacit way of grumbling about God\u2019s order, and it stirs up strife (Rom. 13:13; Phip. 1:15). \u00a0To avoid envy and strife, we need only be thankful for who God\u2019s order is and for where we belong in that order, for as we follow the right who<\/em> into the knowledge of God, we stay content with our portion from God.\u201d (God Had a Son Before Mary Did<\/em>, pg. 446, 1st<\/sup>. par., hard bound book)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

John, I believe that what you wrote in the text above describes what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5, particularly verse 48. \u00a0Living the way that God has created for us is perfection by any standard.\u00a0 It is void of the fear of making mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am thankful for you and your work.\u00a0 May we<\/u> be perfect (together) as our heavenly Father is perfect.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tom<\/span><\/p>\n

On a side note: I noticed that Jesus said in verse 48 to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.\u00a0 \u00a0He did not say be perfect as I am perfect.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he also said in another place, \u201cWhen you see me, you see the Father.\u201d (John 14:9)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Going to Jesus.com – God Had A Son Before Mary Did<\/a> (Pg. 194 digital copy)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John, I want to share some thoughts I had while reading Matthew 5.\u00a0 I enjoyed each verse, but when I came to verse 48, I paused to consider what Jesus was saying.\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, be perfect, just as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.\u201d\u00a0 I tried to imagine what the disciples may have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-netmail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16305"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16310,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16305\/revisions\/16310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}