Does God Expect Perfection?

This is a question I used to ask all the time, but then I read this verse in the bible and it got me wondering again.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Mathew 5:48

Jesus says this during his sermon on the mount. He just gave teachings like the beatitudes and covered topics such as adultery, murder, and prayer. Jesus concludes this by a verse saying "Be perfect."

If God expects perfection, we're all doomed. There is absolutely no way we can be perfect. And isn't that exactly what Jesus wanted to get across? In Exodus, the law was established to show Israel just how messed up they were. (Romans 3:20) We cannot uphold the law on our own. There's just no way that could happen. If the end of the story was that we need to be perfect, there would be no hope. Aren't you glad that this was just the beginning?

Jesus came to die, but before death, he had to live a perfect life. He came be perfect because he knew we couldn't. He fulfilled the law because God knew we never could.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
Psalm 130:3-4

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.
Ecclesiastes 7:20

These two verses say it. We can't stand before God on our own. We cannot be perfect.

You guys probably knew that already. I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. So now, let's get back on topic.

If God expected perfection from us, he never would have sent Jesus, his son.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Luke 19:10

Jesus said this to Zacchaeus. He told Zachaeus that his sins were forgiven (Luke 19:9). He doesn't expect us to be perfect, God, the righteous judge, needs some atonement for sin and that would be Jesus.

Jesus wasn't lying, he wasn't just saying something. He said what he said in Mathew 5:48 to make a point, and I think that is this: There needs to be perfection for us to get to heaven. Be glad Jesus is willing to be that perfection for you.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 10:1-4

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Will you be Sleeping?

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.
Nahum 1:2-6

These verses are pretty straightforward. God punishes the guilty. But how many times do we forget that? I've certainly been at point in my life were I wish I could be as well off as some of the successful, wicked people. Or I've wonder why that one person "got away with" a sin. Or why my sibling got away with something I didn't.

God controls storms and even clouds. They all do his bidding. He controls the sea, it dries up at his command. The mountains are afraid of God. The hills melt before him! So were does that leave us? Nature is afraid of God's wrath, so we definitely need to be.

I feel like we don't understand how scary God is when he is angry. His wrath shatters rocks! I feel horrible for everyone who goes to hell, were God's wrath will constantly be poured out on them.

I guess the take away is that God let's us sin...for now. Where will you be when God comes back?

This reminds me of Casting Crowns song "While we were sleeping"

Where will you be when Jesus comes back? Will you spend eternity with God, experiencing his love? Or will you spend eternity with Satan, where God's wrath is poured out on you?

It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.
Mark 13:34-36

Galatians: Predestination (Part 3)

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Galatians 1:11-14

The bible is not some made up fairy tale, it's not a ghost story told around a campfire. The bible is the God reveling himself through men.
Paul literally went blind from the majesty of God, from the holiness of God when he was going to Damascus. Paul knows that God is real because he experienced God's presence. Paul was a religious leader, until God turned his whole world upside down. Paul knows that he is not making up what he is writing.

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.
Galatians 1:15-16

Before we are even born, God had already selected me to be a Christian, to do his work. God has everything worked out for good. God is in control!
I know that some of my reads might doubted that God does indeed predestine humans. Know that if you're already christian, we you became one, it was entirely your choice. God did not force you into become one of his children, but it's more like this:
If you were to adopted a child, you would pick one child to take home from the orphanage. All the orphans need a home, but you can only take one. You love them all, you want them all to have a family, but you cannot take ever orphan home.
Likewise, God loves everyone. He wants everyone to be a part of his family, but not everyone can come to heaven.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
Ephesians 1:5

In Ephesians, Paul also brings up the idea of predestination.
I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days.
I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
Then I went to Syria and Cilicia.
I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
And they praised God because of me.
Galatians 1:17-24

The bible is not a joke, it's the God inspired book written of thousands of years by dozens of different authors.

I want you to know...the gospel I preached is not of human origin.I did not receive it

from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

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2 Peter: Remember (Part 3)

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:8

It's important to remember that you must posses these things in increasing measure. Sure, you posses a little bit of faith, but to be effective, you must posses these in increasing measures. 

Increasing- verb to make greater, as in number, size, strength, or quality;augment; add to

Verb- noun any member of a class of words that function as the main elements of predicates, that typically express action, state, or a relation between two things, and that may be inflected for tense, aspect, voice, mood,and to show agreement with their subject or object.

When Peter said increasing measures, he means you should constantly be adding to you faith, goodness, etc. and that means action. You have do actually do something to keep yourself from being useless.

But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:9-11

This portion is quite self-explanatory. Don't we all want God to tell us "Well done, good and faithful servant!" when we enter heaven?

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
2 Peter 1:12-15

It's easy to skip a blog post about "simple" things, or about thing you already know about. It's easy to tune out a sermon about basic biblical principals. For some of you, things like this is new material, but for a lot of you, this is a reminder. And reminders are good...we all need them.

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Be Ready

In America, there are many things that are encouraged, like that we should save our best for last. I think that there are so many thing we unknowingly work into our mind. There's that last little bit that gets all the glory, we focus so much on the end. Why? Why doesn't the middle mater? Well, to God it does. God wants your best now. Why? Well, you don't knowing when your end is...your death. If you want a great end, then you need to be ready always. Be great always. You could die any time, anywhere, any day. That is why you push. That is why you give your all, so your finish is great. Maybe you'll live a long life. Maybe you won't. Only God knows that. That why you don't save your best for last...you don't know when it is. You've got to show endurance and push, doing your very best until you cross that finish line.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Philippians 3:10-16

Paul says that he's running a race. In a race, if you're going to win you can't just push hard at the end. You have run or jog all the way. Walking is not an option if you want to win, so press on towards the goal to win the prize. God will will reward you in heaven.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

And again, Paul says life is a race. This time, he says only one person gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize. Your reward is in heaven, not on earth.


I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
Acts 20:24


I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 
2 Timothy 4:7-8

Paul has now finished his race in this verse. You should race in such a way that when your race almost over, you know that there is a crown for you in heaven. 

since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3

You've got a race marked out for you, so run hard. And the best way to run hard is to fix our eyes on Jesus. So let's do so. And think of Jesus, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
This race is something worth fighting for, so stop saving your best for last.
As a Christian, your job and duty is to do things differently. People don't want to race hard until the end, they want to race hard at the end. If you want a crown, that's not how you race. That's how things have to happen. If you want to come to heaven having accomplished nothing, then you can walk across the finish line, but do you want to spend all of eternity knowing you did nothing with you life. Our minds cannot comprehend eternity, but imagine spending more than one trillion year in a place that is perfect and you get to Jesus and you have nothing to give back to him. Nothing at all. You will be in heaven, but don't you think you'd feel left out?

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

There are tons of people wearing crowns as God gives them out to his faithful servants and you get nothing. People are telling about everything they've done for God and why they got there crown and you have nothing to tell.
Sure you'd be in heaven, but wouldn't you want a crown to adorn your head that shows what you've done for God? 
So be Ready. Know that you will get a crown in heaven. If you aren't sure, then figure out how to get one of God's crowns. Stretch before your race. Be totally prepared, and then when that race starts (If your a Christian, it already has) Run! Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. So train! Go! Fight! Win! You need to always be prepared for death know that you'll have a crown in heaven and if you aren't prepared death, then you might die unprepared. You might die and not receive a crown. So always be Ready.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the

author and perfecter of our faith

...Consider him...so that you will

not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:2a;3a,c