Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
Good luck! Isn’t it impossible to be perfect? But wait a minute! If it is impossible, why does Jesus command us to do it?
God never gives any commandments exepts he prepares a way for men to accomplish the things which he has commanded them! I said it would be impossible to attain perfection in this life. Then I said that we can do whatsoever God commands us to do. This might look like a contradiction, but it is not. What makes it possible is the atonement of Jesus. Where we fail (and we will fail from time to time), Jesus will heal the imperfection if we turn to him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit:
28 (Christ) Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: (Colossians 1: 28)
We cannot count on the healing powers of Jesus if we commit serious sins over and over again. In order to be saved we must believe in that Jesus will have compassion on us in our sorrow over our sin. But if we keep repeating the serious sin over and over again, we can’t even convince ourselves that we are truly penitent, and without faith it is impossible to be saved.
There are those who have succeeded to be perfect before us. Not by their own power, but by relying on the saving powers of God.
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)
The only way to fail to live up to this commandment is to quit trying. As long as we have the desire to obey all the commandments of God, and as long as we stand up every time we fall, and repent, relying on one who is mighty to save, it shall be said of us one day that we were perfect in our generation. But if we quit trying, we lose all honor, and we will not be invited in to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
