THE WORD OF TRUTH WEBSITE --
THE WORD OF TRUTH WEBSITE -- | |||
| CORRECTING COMMON BIBLICAL MISCONCEPTIONS |
| |
| OUR MINISTRIES THINGS YOU CAN DO HERE CONTACT US COMMENTARIES ANSWERS DEVOTIONS PRAYER | ||
 |
| | |||
| | |
"LOVING YOUR ENEMIES"....WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
MATTHEW 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" (KJV)
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
It surprises me greatly that so many preachers, teachers and believers in general put such a strong emphasis on 'loving your enemies". I hear this emphasized on the radio, TV, devotionals and many other forms of Christian writing and media. Yet I rarely ever hear anyone say a single thing about what that means. What does it mean to love your enemies? Some say it different ways.
(all statements are made concerning sinners)
"We need to just love them"
"Always remember to show them love"
"You are being too harsh, you need to be more loving"
What on earth does this mean? I wonder sometimes if the people saying these things could even answer the question. What ever we say it means it must fit with the rest of scripture. What we say these things mean cannot contradict other things God has said, if they do contradict then it is because we have not said it correctly.
WHAT IT DOES NOT MEAN
To start off lets go over what it does NOT mean....
1. Loving your enemies does not mean you have a strong personal affection for them. God catagorically said to NOT love the world (1 John 2:15), That he is angry with the wicked everyday (Psalm 7:11), That his face is against those who do evil (Psalm 34:16), that anyone who is friends with the world is his enemy (James 4:4) and that he Hates all workers of Iniquity (Psalm 5:5). If the Lord God almighty himself does not have personal affection for such people then it would not be reasonable for him to tell us to feel the opposite.
2. Loving your enemies does not mean you make friends with them. God said to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14), To seperate ourselves from unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:17), To save ourselves from this untoward generation (Acts 2:40) and to beware of evil workers (Philippians 3:2). As much as people would like for "loving your enemies" to mean "make friends" scripture does not support this corrupt interpretation. Today we are told to go make friends with the ungodly and save them that way. NO WHERE in the entire Bible does God EVER command the righteous to win the wicked over with friendship....NO WHERE.
3. Loving your enemies does not mean you are tolerant of their wicked behavior. God did not tolerate the sins of those who were in Noah's time (Genesis 6:6), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), Ninevah (Jonah 1:2) and many other cities. God also did not tolerate the sins of Er and Onan (Genesis 38:8-10), Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:5) or Herod (Acts 12:21-23), all these people were killed by God.
God also did not tolerate sin and disobediance in his people or chosen nation Israel. The Lord punished Moses for hitting a rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:11-12), Jonah for fleeing the task he had given him (Jonah 1:3-4), David for sinning with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:10-12), Adam for eating a piece of fruit (Genesis 3:23-24). Is this tolerant behavior? Loving your enemies cannot mean you tolerate their wickedness seeing the Lord himself Abhors it and wants nothing to do with it. We also must not just sit back and pretend that living in sin is not that bad of a thing.
So with this being established...what DOES it mean? The verse in Matthew answers that question. After Jesus says to "love your enemies" he expounds on what he means when he says that. Thus the following statements are listed.
BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU
1 PETER 3:9-11 "Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:"
As you can see this does not mean we call a blessing of God upon the person. This is speaking about not returning evil back to those who throw it at you. Cursings will stir up the flesh and can cause you to react poorly and respond in an ungodly manner, nullifying your testimony. Jesus himself had no guile found in his mouth when accused by others (Isaiah 53:7). When men came at Jesus with lies he would respond with truth, even when what he said was a harsh rebuke. The idea is you do not repond in a way that would have a damaging effect on you or the other person, rather you seek to respond in a way that would benefit the one cursing you. You do this of course so that others can see Christ in you. Also notice this is an ACTION not a feeling that is being talked about.
DO GOOD TO THEM THAT HATE YOU
1 PETER 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
This of course once again is an action, not affection. Like the verse above states we seek peace with others, not contention, even though they are more than content to have it with us. We do not do evil things to the wicked. We are to conduct ourselves well (Philippians 2:15), show kindness (Luke 6:33), be at peace (Hebrews 12:14). Here is more that Jesus said on the matter.
MATTHEW 5:38-42 "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."
Christ did sacrifice himself for mankind (John 3:16) and he asks us to be the same toward the ungodly. He expects us to be self-sacrificing for others. By showing acts of kindness we are showing the nature of Christ, this is a way we witness to others. This is showing Christ through what we do to others. You can do these things without having personal affection, being friends or being tolerant of their wickedness.
PRAY FOR THEM WHO DESPITEFULLY USE YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU
JAMES 5:16 "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
As the Lord himself does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11) neither do we as his people. When we see others living in sin and doing wrong to us we do not desire them to remain that way. So we pray to the Lord that they be changed and given repentance. Rather than praying for the Lord to destroy them, we pray that he will save them and change their hearts. The persons good is what is constantly in mind.
PUT THEM TOGETHER
All of these are actions and not emotions. It is a love that is shown or expressed, so this does not mean we have personal affection for our enemies. All of these things are done with the persons good in mind. We desire to better the person in someway. We desire to show them Christ through our conduct and behavior. THIS is what it means to love your enemies!
A SLIGHT COMPLICATION
Yet we read of some in scripture saying they actually hate people. David made such an expression in one of Psalms he wrote.
PSALM 139:21 "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies."
This seems to contradict what Jesus said concerning loving your enemies, but actually it does not. It DOES go against modern teaching but seeing it is spoken by a "man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14) we must be sure to accept this as from the Lord.
David is making it known who are his enemies. The enemies of God are his enemies as well. This is why Jesus referred to them as our enemies, because they are his and God's enemies! Also David is speaking about a specific type of enemy, those who hate God. It is one thing for a person to be against you personally, but it is quite another for them to be openly against the Lord himself! So David expressed that he hates them with a perfect hatred, that is with a divine hatred. This obviously beyond the shadown of a doubt means what it says. This is not a "lesser love" that David speaks of but an expression of utter abhorrance. David has no desire to be around such people, he detests their company, he wants nothing to do with them. God also does not desire to be close to the ungodly does he not? While men are wicked the Lord cannot have fellowship with them, David is making a similar expression by saying he hates them. The point is WHY they are David's enemies. What David said in here is not wrong or contradictory to anything Jesus said. Also David is living in the times of limited revelation, but we should not allow that fact to that take away from the truth of the statement he made. We are to utterly abhor evil and wickedness and not desire to be around it where ever it is! We do not go out of our way to be around it so to speak.
CONCLUSION
I do encourage you to love your enemies just like Jesus said. I encourage you to carefully observe the words of Christ and not rely on the words of men. When something God says is distorted it leads to a perverted view of him, not edification. So I pray that these words will minister to you and that you will not waver in your profession. Seek good and hate evil brethren and keep showing Christ in all that you do. Remember the nature of God himself and this you are becoming like him.