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Dissolve the issues of love and hate
Today we will look at the sixth issue: love and hate. Read Matthew 5:43-48. Learn from the Law What "you have heard" has come from the Pharisees, hypocritical religious rulers who were masters at misusing the Law of God. Jesus quotes them as getting it half right. To be half right is to be wholly wrong. To pick and choose what you will obey and disobey from the Bible is to put yourself in the same shoes as the religious hypocrites who were strongly condemned by Jesus. For example, to claim to be faithful to Christ and then be unfaithful to the church is a half-truth hypocrisy. To pay your bills honestly then rob God of tithes and offerings would fall into the same category. Disciplining your children for not honoring their parents then slandering your boss, or your community or church leaders, would be the same thing. Living lives of half truths is wholly unacceptable to God. Yet this is what the Pharisees were teaching in Israel in Jesus' day. They said, "Love your neighbor," which is a quote directly from the law in Leviticus 19:18. But then they added their own ending, "hate your enemy," which is found nowhere in scripture. Furthermore, the religious hypocrites defined "neighbor" as a person who shares your race and strict religious viewpoints. Everyone else was an "enemy." On the other hand, Jesus teaches us to love everyone. Christians are to love likeminded Christians. Christians are to love other Christians whose biblical interpretations may differ from our own. Christians are to love non-Christians. How can we live a life loving and pleasing God if we do not begin by loving other people? Live by the Spirit Jesus retorts the ridiculous logic of the Pharisees by issuing his own command. Then he offers some advice on how to obey it, a key reflection, and two rhetorical questions. Those who have his holy spirit will understand, obey, and take action. The command is simple and direct. "I say to you, love your enemies." Loving everyone in general is meaningless unless we love our enemies in particular. I think an "enemy" could be defined as someone who has done something bad to you, or at least holds the threat of doing something bad to you. So what do we do to them? We do them good. That's exactly what "love" means. It is not an emotional feeling, but a determined will. It is the decision to do good. But how? Begin with prayer. "Pray for those who persecute you," Jesus said. Nothing can precipitate repentance like prayer. Prayer changes especially the pray-er. Prayer is a concentrated thought, shared with God, that makes you think like God. And how does God feel about our enemies? He gives them grace, at least common grace. Sun and rain, life and health, money and material possessions seem to be distributed equally in this life both to the friends of God and his enemies. So when we decide to love and begin to pray, the spirit of God enables us to be like God, to be Christ-like, by treating even our enemies with dignity, fairness, and love. That's what we learn from the law, Jesus' law. That's how we can live by the spirit, a spiritual life. That's how we reflect the perfect righteousness Jesus requires. Practice real righteousness "Therefore" in my opinion summarizes not only Jesus' words in verses. 43-47, but all six of his statements in verses 20-47. The righteousness of the Pharisees Jesus rejected was halfway and hypocritical, skin-deep and superficial. Jesus demands more. He demands perfection. "Therefore," he said, "You are to be perfect." This is a somewhat difficult phrase to translate. But the best breakdown goes something like this: you are going to become something because something has been done to you. In other words, if salvation has really happened to you, if you have been transformed into a Christian by grace through faith in Jesus, you are going to become perfect. This sense of perfection can be taken in two ways. The first is indicative. The second is informative. It is obvious that all Christians go to heaven. When we get there, we will see Jesus. We will not only see him, but we will be like him. Then, we will be perfect! But I think Jesus' words also have meaning now. I think there is a sense in which we can see perfection developing in our lives now, if we are truly Christian. Note the word "perfect" can also be translated "mature," or "complete." It was said of Willie Mays that he was the perfect baseball player. Yet he was known to strike out and make an occasional error. What was meant by perfect in this sense is that he was the complete package for a player. He could hit for average and with power, run the bases and run down anything in centerfield. He could do it all. And so can you, if you are a real Christian practicing the real righteousness God requires. You can love those who love you and love those who don't. You can read the Bible and do what it says. You can be faithful to Christ and faithful to his church. You can act holy at church services and be holy in the world in which you live.
You can do it all, if you will learn from the law, live by the spirit, and practice real righteousness.
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