Matt 5:46-48

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Questions

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Lexical notes

Notice the footnote that explains what “perfect” means: whole, complete, finished, developed. With this, a better translation of the verse might be: “Be ye therefore whole, even as your Father in heaven is whole.”

Exegesis

Verse 48

This verse marks a significant break in the Sermon on the Mount. It is the culmination of the Sermon to this point. As such perhaps we should understand it as a restatement of verse 3—as well as a followup to verses 43-47.

It may be that Jesus is quoting or paraphrasing Lev 19:2 here: “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” To understand what it means to be whole, contrast this with the idea of the double-minded person (James 1:8).

• Verse 5:48: Perfection. Christ explicitly instructs us here to become perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect. Perfection can be seen as comprising two concepts: purity, meaning the absence of defects, and maturity, meaning completeness or full development. Satan proposed a plan that emphasized maintaining purity but ignored the concept of maturity or of developing character. It was a plan under which we would not have agency and thus would not learn through experience to control our desires, and thus would not mature or develop the kind of love, justice, and other traits that God possesses (Ms. 4:1, 3). It was a plan that would have put handcuffs on Little Bunny Foo Foo to prevent him bopping field mice on the head, and he would have completed mortality without sin. But until the handcuffs are removed, Little Bunny Foo Foo will never learn to quit bopping field mice on the head. The Father's plan, in contrast, by respecting agency, allows us to mature and to develop these character traits, though at the cost of losing our purity. It is the difference between a baby who has never done anything wrong and a prophet who, though having made mistakes, has developed character traits that command much more of our respect than an infant. Christ's sacrifice during the atonement can handle the issue of purity, upon the condition of our repentance (Alma 42:13, 15). The Holy Ghost also assists with the purification of our desires (Mos. 5:2). But God respects our agency and does not determine for us what our desires and character will be, ultimately leaving that decision up to each individual. (Also see Elder Dallin Oaks’ 'The Challenge to Become', which approaches mortality as a time in which to mature and become). Purity comes through the gift of the atonement, and maturity through the gift of agency. But the atonement can be seen not only as a way to fix the loss of purity now that we are here and have a problem, but as a way to handle the issue of purity in a manner that enables us to exercise agency and use mortality as a probationary time in which to mature and develop the character traits that God possesses.

Related links

• David A. Bednar, "And Nothing Shall Offend Them," Ensign, Nov 2006, pp. 89–92. Elder Bednar said: "Interestingly, the admonition to 'be ye therefore perfect' is immediately preceded by counsel about how we should act in response to wrongdoing and offense... If a person says or does something that we consider offensive, our first obligation is to refuse to take offense and then communicate privately, honestly, and directly with that individual. Such an approach invites inspiration from the Holy Ghost and permits misperceptions to be clarified and true intent to be understood."

• Henry B. Eyring, "Our Perfect Example Ensign, Nov 2009, pp. 70-73. President Eyring does not refer to Matthew 5:48, but he seems to have it in mind. His point is that Christ is our example of being perfect.

• Verse 5:48: Perfection. Elder Dallin Oaks. 'The Challenge to Become.' General Conference, October 2000. This talk addresses mortality as a time in which to mature and develop character traits that cannot simply be given to us and that will make us worthy of respect and honor.

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