Actually what it seems to me
@EleventhHour is with his constant use of Matthew 5:48 that there is more to it than that and it is possible that there is an agenda rooted in something, perhaps bitterness. Although I do appreciate you trying to see eye to eye with the poster.
I know that when I've tried to wrap my mind around a scripture in my flesh it can get to this level.
Essentially this verse could present an impossible command, "
be ye perfect ..." Any sin is imperfection, therefore this standard is impossible. Any time you get low or down or feel like giving in, you strap your pack (cross) and dig in and war against the flesh in a lifelong struggle toward that perfection. How can one have assurance if they fall short of perfection?
"...for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" This verse doesn't say all do sin, merely all have. Can I draw from that sentence that it is indeed possible and that there is a way to lead a sinless life and be "perfect"?
You see how you can take a lot of "troubling" lines of thinking down on many unproductive trails...and indeed I've lived out "brute force righteousness" but by doing that personally, I end up being unable to contain other things and still fail when I do it in myself and the process of letting the Lord work his righteous in me by following him, abiding, picking up my cross is a bit harder to discern, and it something like watching your hair grow in a mirror. The less you focus on it, the more you seem to notice...you can definitely see it reflected in others at times...or at least I have and I hope others have had a similar experience.
Personally, this particular verse (Mt 5:48) has been accusatory at times based of the above line of thinking. So I would ask at present
@Sudakar is what does perfection mean in context with this verse?
Where are you going? No offense, but questions with very little interaction with the responses looks like baiting. If not, you seem to be desirous of driving a point home but consider that the Lord has used many different ways of shining a light on our understanding and yet hiding it from some at the same time. Perhaps a different method?
In regard to faith and how "assurance" works. Faith and human sight (that which can be seen/observed/divined/experienced) are integrated in a unique equation that is impossible for me to describe. Some days I have doubts, and others I don't. There's
a lot more to be said for doubt both intellectual doubts and our own spirit's doubting, but I've been rather long in posts lately, so I'll just skip that unless someone would find it useful.
I don't have a lot of the perfection verse figured out, except that perfect love seems to be the context. I think we most certainly are vessels at times for the Lord's perfect love displayed either to us privately, or to others by many ways. So if his love be in us, we can walk according to that perfect love and perhaps in his sight that is perfection.
Of COURSE that said within context of being a sheep following the good shepherd