Salvation by faith alone?

[watchm@n]

ETA: You stated: "Nothing is impossible with God". Can God be immoral? Can God not be omnipotent or omniscient? Can God go against His own nature?

Scripture says Nothing is impossible with God. Is it immoral for God to perfect man, is it immoral for God to free us from our sin, is it against God's nature to sanctify His chosen?

 

[archierieus]

Ok, so lets start with Matthew 5:48. I will be using the KJV translation. Here is the passage:

48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

In Greek:
ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειος ἐστιν.

Let me direct you to ἔσεσθε which is translated as "Be ye". The morphology is future middle indicative second person plural.

Extraordinary. Future middle indicative ordinarily would be descriptive. However, surprisingly, the LXX indeed uses future indic. as language of command, and Jesus IS quoting from the OT. Amazing!

This, then, IS a verb of command, although it occurs as such in the LXX.

The verb is used in conjunction with perfect τέλειοι which translates as "having reached its end" "complete".

This is a nom. plu. masc., not a verb, meaning, as you note, complete or perfect.

The context relates to Jesus speaking to a multitude composed of Jews.

Yet not just for the hearers, but for all people.

The immediate context is Jesus telling them that the command to love their neighbor extends to their enemies also.

Agreed.

Jesus is making a contrast to the perfection found only in the Father.

I note a contrast between what the Jews were doing and what Jesus called them to do, but do not find any language such as 'perfection found only in the Father.'

Jesus is teaching that love and kindness should be extended to not just those within their own country but to all including those that they naturally hate, ie tax collectors and other 'brethren".

Agreed.

Now we need to theologically interpret the verse in light of evidence presented in scripture. Perfection, as it relates to the Father, is not attainable given the human nature described in scripture. There are many verses that exhorts us to confess our sins. It is also evident that not even the apostles were able to attain perfection in this life. This is evidenced by the many references to being imperfect by both Paul and Peter. I can post some of those verses if you need me to.

Once going beyond exegesis, it becomes rather more fuzzy. I would like to stick with the Scriptural passages, pls do cite the ones you are thinking of.

1 John 1:8-10 tells us:
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Looking at the immediate context of this passage:

" 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. 1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for[a] the sins of the whole world.
3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love[b] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. "

The surrounding passage seems to shed a different light on the question.