Day 17: Exercise Complete & Mature Love
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/mat.5.43-48.NKJV
When I first read verse 48, it appeared to me that it would be impossible for me to achieve. How can we be perfect before the stage of glorification with God. We are still in the process of sanctification here on earth. When I further probed the meaning of "perfect", the original word, "teleioi" does not mean without sin. It means mature and complete. In the book, "The Coming of the Kingdom", the author, Raymond O. Zorn makes the point very concisely. He said, "teleioi must be taken in a formal sense, viz., as perfect, consistent, not giving up when only half finished. For the subject here is love which must not be restricted to those alone who are of the same mind. This is why in Luke 6:36 this meaning can be rendered by the words, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful.” Overall, we need to be humble before God, recognising that we need to depend on Him to exercise this complete, mature and perfect love. Dear Lord, help us as we commit ourselves to You, Amen. https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC (please click to view a visual)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/mat.5.43-48.NKJV
When I first read verse 48, it appeared to me that it would be impossible for me to achieve. How can we be perfect before the stage of glorification with God. We are still in the process of sanctification here on earth. When I further probed the meaning of "perfect", the original word, "teleioi" does not mean without sin. It means mature and complete. In the book, "The Coming of the Kingdom", the author, Raymond O. Zorn makes the point very concisely. He said, "teleioi must be taken in a formal sense, viz., as perfect, consistent, not giving up when only half finished. For the subject here is love which must not be restricted to those alone who are of the same mind. This is why in Luke 6:36 this meaning can be rendered by the words, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful.” Overall, we need to be humble before God, recognising that we need to depend on Him to exercise this complete, mature and perfect love. Dear Lord, help us as we commit ourselves to You, Amen. https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC (please click to view a visual)
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