Difficult Questions: Does God Expect Us to be Perfect?

From time to time, we dig into Scripture and seek answers to difficult questions from the Bible. Today, we are asking the question: “Does God expect us to be perfect?”

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48 (KJV)

This verse makes it sound like God expects us to be perfect, just like Him, in our own natural strength and ability. This is just not possible for a human to do on his own. Of course, God is not going to expect something of us that is not doable. So, what does He mean by this? Let’s look at this verse in the Amplified Bible.

You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 (Amplified Bible, AMP)

Here, we see a better rendering of perfect. It is the Greek word telios, which refers to complete in growth and character. It comes from a root word that means to set out for a definite point or goal. We are to be pressing towards the goal of becoming more and more like God. We are to be BECOMING perfect. God wants to see us on a continual path of progress towards Christian maturity and Christlikeness.

We can consider ourselves perfect in God’s eyes because as born-again Christians, we are in Christ. Jesus Christ is perfect, and because we’ve accepted Him, God sees us the same way He sees Jesus. However, we should always be letting God’s Word and His Spirit work in us to continually make us more and more like our Savior.

Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. Deuteronomy 18:13 (KJV)

In the Old Testament, the word perfect typically referred to undefiled and complete in integrity and sincerity. When God uses this term, He is speaking of having a heart for God and walking in the integrity that He desires. He mentioned that David was a man after His own heart. David was far from perfect, but he had a heart to serve and please God. When God speaks of us pursuing perfection, He is speaking of us having a heart to follow Him, improving more and more in our obedience to His Word. God is always looking at the state of our heart more than our outward appearance.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7 (New Living Translation, NLT) emphasis mine

In this life, we will never be totally perfect in the natural. We need the grace of God to grow and progress. However, God sees us in Christ: perfect and perfected. And as we walk with Christ, we can grow and become more and more like Him- even in this life on earth.