Crucified Hearts

We know from the context of this passage that Jesus was speaking of the perfection of love in the character, such a love that embraces even one’s enemies, just as God does with us. Such is what it means to be like our heavenly Father, who so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
— Matthew 5:43-47

The nature and manifestation of this love is self-sacrifice even for one’s enemies.

To love someone means to always will, to always desire and choose, what is good for them, even if they are our enemies. It is not simply about feeling good or bad towards a person. Love means to will the good of the other even if it requires self-sacrifice of our own needs and desires. We love them regardless of how we feel about them. We learned this from the Cross of Christ.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:8

The emphasis is on perfection of a loving character, not perfection of every aspect of sinful human nature. By this we are not talking about sinful human behavior, for which there is no excuse. We are talking about the corruption of human nature which will not be changed until we meet Jesus, either at our resurrection or if we live to see him come. (1 Cor. 15:50-53; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

We may have a perfect Christ-like character through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, even though we retain the inherent sinfulness of our nature for what the apostle Paul calls, “the flesh”.

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”
— Romans 7:18

However, while having sinful flesh we are not to live out the dictates of this sinful nature. Rather, we are to receive the indwelling Christ and to live by His spirit, by the principles of his character in the power of His Spirit.

“…so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
— Romans 8:4-5

Love is the fulfilling of the law.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
— Galatians 5:14

Character perfection, in obeying the commands of God’s law of love, is a goal only achievable through the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and the indwelling of his Spirit imparted to us. It is living in complete and consistent dependence upon him through faith in who he is and what he does for us.

Ellen White explains it this way

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48. { TMK 130.1}

“Christ presents before us the highest perfection of Christian character, which throughout our lifetime we should aim to reach…. Concerning this perfection Paul writes: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after…. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” ( Philippians 3:12-15)….

How can we reach the perfection specified by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ—our Great Teacher? Can we meet His requirement and attain to so lofty a standard? We can, else Christ would not have enjoined us to do so. He is our righteousness. In His humanity He has gone before us and wrought out for us perfection of character. We are to have the faith in Him that works by love and purifies the soul. Perfection of character is based upon that which Christ is to us. If we have constant dependence on the merits of our Saviour, and walk in His footsteps, we shall be like Him, pure and undefiled.

Our Saviour does not require impossibilities of any soul. He expects nothing of His disciples that He is not willing to give them grace and strength to perform. He would not call upon them to be perfect if He had not at His command every perfection of grace to bestow on the ones upon whom He would confer so high and holy a privilege. He has assured us that He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children.

Our work is to strive to attain in our sphere of action the perfection that Christ in His life on the earth attained in every phase of character. He is our example. In all things we are to strive to honor God in character. In falling day by day so far short of the divine requirements, we are endangering our soul’s salvation. We need to understand and appreciate the privilege with which Christ invests us, and to show our determination to reach the highest standard. We are to be wholly dependent on the power that He has promised to give us.

Ellen White, TMK, P. 130