Ephesians 5:26-27
“...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish.
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” GOD’s demand for perfection started in His people in the Old Testament and continued to Jesus followers in the New Testament even though we are under the Covenant of Grace. As we entered the New Covenant, we also have to obtain perfection and this is a must to all believers in Christ. HE wants us to be blameless before HIM and HIS reason is that because HE is Holy or Perfect. Perfection to GOD is holiness. (Lev 19:2, Deut. 18:13)
But there are two ways of attaining perfection. In the Old Testament, the first way was when people of GOD were commanded to do their own holiness by adhering to all of His Holy Commandments, the Decalogue in Exodus 20. It is by their own fulfilling of the Law and with the blood of their sacrifices that would make them holy. But doing it makes them proud and think they were better than others that lead them to the oppression of those who cannot obey the Law. They trust themselves not GOD anymore. They thought they can be good without GOD in them, and so they became worse than before, away to the road of holiness designed by GOD. We can recall the story of a rich young man who thought it is enough to do what the Law through Moses requires. Here’s the story.
The Rich Young Man (Matthew 19:16-26)
16 Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” 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; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
While it is true that holiness means you will be better than others, Jesus cited ways on how to be better than others. Looking at the preceding verse before Jesus instructed us to be perfect, He spoke the ways on how to do it. He cited many things concerning anger, adultery and divorce, retaliation, and oaths. Let me expound on 'Love your enemy';
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what better are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Now, suppose we could do those ways of holiness set by Jesus on our own, with the same result; that is, seeing ourselves better than others because we thought we can do it without GOD, are we not also away on the road to holiness?
Humility is the first requirement to perfection. Philippians 2:1-8 says, “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Jesus is our hope to perfection. He is the way, the truth, and the Life. Only holy people can come to the Father and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6). And no one can do anything good apart from Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is therefore, our holiness. His sacrifice and suffering make us perfect. He satisfied all the requirements of law and righteousness for us to become holy people of GOD. By receiving Jesus as our holiness, then we will become truly holy. This is why Jesus left us the Word of GOD, the truth that will enable us to live a holy life. So it is the Word that will make us holy indeed. As St. Paul said in Colossians 1:28 “We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” We cannot be perfect without Jesus Christ, He is our holiness in the eyes of GOD. So let me depart in the word of Jesus Himself;
Jesus said, in John 15:1-5, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”
Holiness is impossible to us, but to GOD nothing is impossible. Let us be pruned by Him through hearing His Word; the Gospel of Christ that will cleanse us. GOD had invited us in Isaiah 1:18,
Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”
We can start by truly repenting for our sins, and embrace the calling of GOD. AMEN
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