…be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. —Matthew 5:48
"Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. God will give you plenty of real-life opportunities to prove whether or not you are “perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. The true expression of Christian character is not in good doing, but in Godlikeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God."- My Utmost For His Highest
When the rich young man approached Jesus (Mark 10:17-22) I think the man was certain that he had done everything right. He had not murdered anyone, not committed adultery, not stolen, had not born false witness, not defrauded, and had honored his father and mother. But Jesus told him there was something that he lacked and then told him to sell everything and give it to the poor. You see, God looks at the heart of man, man looks at the deeds of man. God wants our total devotion (Matthew 22:37), man is satisfied with a form of godliness. We think that the answer is in the “DO-ing”, when the answer is really in the “Be-ing”. The young man went away sad because what he offered Jesus as proof that he should be given eternal life was a not good enough. Jesus asked for the very thing that the man loved more than God – money and possession. The man had it backwards.
Doing good does not result in being good. Being good results in doing good. James wrote that faith without producing works is dead (James 2:17) Because of our faith, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) should be evident in us. Good works are a natural result of true faith. Not the other way around. BTW, Martin Luther struggled the Book of James because he was all about being right by faith and not works. He missed the point.
True faith is not a result of good works. (Ephesians 2:8) “We are saved by grace through faith, not of works.” Lest someone should try to take credit for being good enough. f we could be good enough then we didn't need Jesus to go to the Cross for us. The young man was doing the right thing for the wrong reason. King David said
“Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. …. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” - Psalm 51
Is there something in your heart that demands your devotion above God? Something that you trust in more than the One who is trustworthy. Our redeemer is faithful and true and is deserving of our total devotion. Take some time to examine your heart … let the Holy Spirit search in those locked closets and clean them out. Fulfill the purpose for which you were created and saved. Bringing glory to God begins with a heart totally devoted to Him.
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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