meandean Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? i think its maturing in love. not that we are going to master this, but practice it alot.we will be given plenty of opportunities to do this, its just a matter of will we choose to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAFWEMBE Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? That the Christian's aim is perfection. He must strive to reach the standard of God. It is all a question of being transformed and this is not something that can be achieved at once but over a period of time as we walk with Him. As we we mature in our faith so do we also get closer to God's standard. We can never be sinless. If we say we are sinless then we make God a liar and the truth is not in us. But we must learn to lean to the cross because only the cross can make us perfect because it is the cross that takes our sin away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
servant for Christ Posted April 3, 2008 Report Share Posted April 3, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? (1) Verse 48 means we are to be like Christ for we are His children. (2) Yes, perfection is taught, it is our duty to aim and strive for the perfection of Christ, to be able to live a holy and blameless life in a sinful world. (3) Yes, maturity plays a big part. If we do not grow in Christ, we will not receive the spiritial food and teachings from God that we need to help us stand in this world. (4) For the sinless perfection, we are to show love the way Christ did. Friend or enemy, give them the love of Christ unconditionally. (5) Verse 48 relates to 45 by us showing the perfect love of God to all man kind because He did and we are His children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJJ Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? Jesus calls us to rise above our imperfect love to his perfect agape love. The word translated "Be perfect" in verse 48 is Greek teleios, "complete, perfect," from the verb teleō, "bring to an end, finish, complete, carry out, accomplish. God's love for the just and the unjust is the end or purpose or goal of our love. Christ's death on the cross for our sins is perhaps the best example of all. We Christians cannot settle for a love that only loves friends. Instead we are to embrace a greater love, impossible unless the Holy Spirit grows this love within our hearts. We aspire to a love that forgives the unforgivable, a love that bridges the enmity of decades, a love that refuses to tire from rejection, a love that never gives up. This is the love we are called to. This quality of love is God's perfection and glory, and is to be ours as well. Verse 45 states : "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." God's love is perfect because He loves everyone of us indiscriminately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? V. 48 to 45 speaks about love. We are to be Christ like in our thinking and in our living. We need to grow in Christ so as not to be babes drinking the milk, but eating meat instead. Sinless perfection is what we aim for though we will never be perfect on earth. We aim to live in a state of confessed sin and not deliberately sinning over again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iam4-1god Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? I think the point is, that we are all in this imperfect world together, and whether we are saved or not, God is over us. He is looking out for us all to some degree. But those of us who are saved are afforded more protection, blessing, etc., and therefore we are responsible for holding to a higher moral standard. Because we are a light to the world. If the world can see Jesus is working in our lives, then maybe they will be moved to want the same Jesus for themselves. I hope this makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissioned Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Verse 48 instructs us to continuously strive for perfection, as we imitate His life here on earth. Is perfection taught here? Perfection in the sense that we are complete in Jesus Christ. Does maturity express the idea best? Maturity move us towards perfection. How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? "Sinless perfection" comes when we are transported from this earth and are at home with Our Heavenly Father in Heaven. How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? God treats both born again Christians and evil men with the same love and He requires us to do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
servant for Christ Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? We are to be perfect as Christ is perfect. To do that, we have to let the Holy Spriit control and guide us. In this human nature we are not pefect, never will be. When we love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, then we can learn to love our neighbor as ourselves, because it will be God's agape love that we share. The more we mature in Christ, the more we will learn God's love and how to walk in it and to share it with others. In this life there is no sinless perfection. We will always fall short, but thank God. He will never leave or forshake us. He will pick us up, dust us off, and keep loving and teaching us. There is only one sinless pefection, that is JESUS CHRIST. Verse 48 relates to 45 that we will be showing ourselves as true children of our Father who is in heaven. We will be showing the character of our Father. We are to be perfect as He is perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindap Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? We are to strive to be perfect as God is. Although we may fail from time to time we must get back up and again strive to be perfect in our love of our fellow man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanks Posted December 26, 2008 Report Share Posted December 26, 2008 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? It does not mean sinless or flawless. To be perfect, as explained in the previous verses, means to love those who hate us, to pray for those who persecute us, and to show kindness to both friend and foe. Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? I think Jesus is speaking about spiritual maturity which enables us, as Christians, to imitate God in dispensing blessing to everybody without partiality. How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? By means of loving our enemies and praying for them we, as Christians, will prove that we are true children of God - that is, by imitating our Heavenly Father. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr4624 Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? He is telling us that through His power, His Holy Spirit, we can love as He loves, not just as we can love in our carnal nature. He is saying that we should aspire to His example, not necessarily that we will always live up to it. We are clearly taught that we are not able to do this on our own. It is only by grace, through faith in Jesus, that we are able to be saved and made holy enough to be in the prescence of God. After we are saved, we spend the rest of our lives growing in our faith, becoming sanctified, so maturity seems to be a good way to say it. The "sinless perfection" that we need can only be reached by having our sins and human imperfections covered by Jesus. Becoming able to love even those who are not our friends is the way we become more Christ-like. In being able to love even those whose actions we hate we show how our change of direction, our difference from the natural man, is the perfection or full maturity of our faith. In this way, Christ's love shines through us to show Him to the rest of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithj7 Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (5:48) The verse means that we must love others just as God does. He loves all, we must love all, even our enemies. It means growing up. Putting away childish things. Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? The term used for "be perfect is the Greek term teleios which means "complete or perfect." It comes from the verb the verb teleō which means "bring to an end, finish, complete, carry out, accomplish." The lesson quotes Leon Morris who says that the term refer to the maturity of an adult man -- the end or aim of that to which the boy points. Basically, it means that we grow up and start acting like spirtual adults. How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? I never heard of such a doctrine. I don't believe there is such a thing. None are righteous, no not one. How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? God treats all people the same. Rain and sun are given to all people, the evil and the good. So we need to be like God and not discrimate. We must love all, as God does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royk Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? As humans we will never be perfect. however we can seek always to learn to do better than before. The only way to keep evolving is to ask for God's help to learn to love him more deeply; then we can feel like giving it all away, since it belongs to him anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaiden Rochelle Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? In verse 48, Jesus is telling us to strive to become mature Christians. We are to study Jesus and how He lived on Earth and model our lives after His teaching and doing. The only "sinless perfection" is Jesus and His life. We are to love people and remember that God loves the sinner too although their sinful actions and thoughts hurt Him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
home4ed Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? I love the answer smithj7 gave and the study done in greek word. I agree to "be perfect" means for the christian that while we ARE made perfect by the blood of Jesus we should ACT like it. We need to love as God loves w/o conditions attached. If "with God all things are possible" than yes perfection is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit; but I don't think Jesus claims this will be easy for us. If we are behaving as children of God it will show as we love unconditionally just as there are character raits of my earthly father that show in me. So if He is perfect than I too can be perfect in my love for others. doctrine of "sinless perfection" is new to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highohfaith Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? Verse 48 means we should always strive for perfection. Knowing we will fall short of God's perfection does not excuse us from striving for righteousness. Seeking to be more and more like Jesus in character. The only PERFECT person who walked the face of this earth is Jesus, we should seek with all our heart and soul, to be sanctified through His Holy Spirit to emanate His perfection. Both verses tells us that we are the children of God, we must learn from Him, how to love, forgive, compassion and mercy even and especially to our enemies even as Christ did on the cross. Christ is our sovereign example of pure perfection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raph Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? To the Christian, verse 48 means that, a Christian should show real love to everybody, even his enemies. Is perfection taught here? Yes, perfection is being taught. Does maturity express the idea best? Yes. How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? This is difficult as for us human beings, we are weak and we commit sins; thus, sinless perfection is not possible. How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? Verse 48 relate to verse 45 in that, if we are perfect, we will be sons of God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 I don't think it's in God's nature to call any of us to be perfect. He knows we have been born in sin and can not be perfect. Seems to me the verse is highlighting that God loves us all and is willing to forgive all. When we sin we wrong Him. If God did not love those who sin (and behave as His enemy) then we all might suffer His wrath. 48 may be telling us about God and showing how He treats us when our behavior is an afront to Him. This is a challenge to us: to consider His perfect love for all His creations. He choose to make both us and those we might consider our enemies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 J V Mcgee once gave a perspective on perfection. He said in California (where he had a long ministry) they had a contest called 'jump to Catalina Island'. The island was several miles off the coast. His picture was of people running down the dock and jumping toward the island. J Vernon said, that's about how close we get to perfection. Some might get 20 feet, others fell right off the end. As I recall he pointed out that individual 'jumpers' would scoff at each others' performance. To carry J Vernon's story one step further: For years I fell off the dock. Now, my objective is to be able to understand where the island is located, and clearly appreciate how far short of the goal my performance is. I have prayed that the Lord will give me that perspective of Him. To me maturity is seeing Him more clearly, always gaining a better understanding of the gulf between us, but never attaining much more than a 20 foot jump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgandy Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Verse 48, asks us how can we be perfect. There is no way we can be perfect. We cannot achieve Christ like maturity all at once. We grow, as in our years. As we learn God expects different behaviors from us depending on our development. "Sinless perfection" is a striving to be more like Christ. We will sin. But, we cannot allow it to keep us from striving to be more like Christ. We can be perfect if our behavior matches our maturity level. But, we have room to grow. Verse 48 relates to verse 45 in that as we strive to become more Christlike in our behaviors we are not perfect. God will love us no matter what if we try. He will not ask us what all you did, He will ask us did you do your best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebLam3teach Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 When Jesus exhorted us to be perfect, I think He meant that we should strive to follow His example instead of comparing ourselves wtih other people's imperfect examples. He is our Goal and Main Aim. The more we focus on following His example everyday, the more we will mature into becoming more like Him. Our total perfection will come in the next life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eager Bver Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? Verse 48 means spiritual maturity. Looking at Christ is perfection. Maturity does express the idea best as it is growth from the worldly stage to God's ways. One must strive daily to be like Christ. Christ loves us (christians and sinners) all alke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoanG Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 We need to strive to be more than any human. We need to strive to be like Jesus. We need to live our lives as sinless people who love unconditionally. We need to go over and above the norm. I believe that Jesus was teaching us about perfection. He gave us all the ideals to live up to. We are the children of God and we need to live that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Jerry Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 In context verse 48 says we must be perfect is Christ was perfect. But we know that isn’t possible without God’s help. Perfection is taught here but we are to our best and as we mature we will get better at it. But at no time in this life on earth will we be perfect but with God’s help we can try to achieve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen11 Posted March 11, 2018 Report Share Posted March 11, 2018 On 12/19/2007 at 10:29 PM, Pastor Ralph said: Q6. (Matthew 5:48) In the context, what do you think verse 48 means for the Christian? Is perfection taught here? Does maturity express the idea best? How about the doctrine of "sinless perfection"? How does verse 48 relate to verse 45? To be God minded, the Word teaches us how God wants us to be. That he loves us one and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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