Note 24 at Mt. 5:48: Our standard of conduct and goal should always be perfection even as God is perfect (Gen. 17:1; Lev. 19:2; 1 Pet. 1:15-16). It's always a mistake to use anyone or anything else as our standard (2 Cor. 10:12). However, we cannot obtain sinless perfection through our effort. Even the apostle Paul had not obtained perfection (Phil. 3:12), but was still pressing towards the mark. We must be trusting the righteousness of God applied to us by faith and not our own righteousness (Phil. 3:9).