In Matthew 5:48, the Lord Jesus tells us, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Is it possible that anyone can be perfect, and if not why does the Lord ask us to be?

Before answering this question let us see what kind of perfection the Lord Jesus is referring to. He says, "Be ye therefore perfect." The word "therefore" refers us back to the preceding verses. In verses 44-47 we are told that our God makes His sun to shine on the evil as well as the good and His rain to fall on the just and unjust alike. If we want to be His children, then we can't just love those who love us. That kind of self-serving love is true of those who are not God's children. We are to love our enemies, to bless those that curse us and do good to those that hate us and pray for those that despitefully use us and persecute us. This is the perfection that the Lord Jesus is referring to. And it is possible for this perfection of love to be seen in God's children. If we know God as our Father through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we have been born again and have the same nature and life in us as is in Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit this life will be seen in our ways and actions to those who naturally are our enemies.