Jesus ended his part of his sermon by saying;" Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(verse 48)

Jesus' statement is emphatic.
He did not tell us to grow in perfection; he told us to be perfect now.
Perfection does not have degrees---either we are or we aren't perfect.
We cannot attain godly perfection on our own by carefully following regulations.
Instead, we must be granted this perfection by what is called justification.
Justification occurs when God pronounces a believer righteous in his sight.
Rather then being earned through obedience, justification is granted as a gift when Christians repent
and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.