“Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48). In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were commanded to love one another, shun vengeance, or avoid grudge against a fellow Israelite. This was the time when they were separated from other nations. They formed a community called peculiar people, a holy nation. They were to love their neighbors who were predominantly Israelites. They were not to behave like people of other nations they came out from or the ones in the land they were going to possess. Neither were they to eat, dress, marry or do shady business like them.
The Pharisees and Sadducees in their interpretation of this principle have distorted its true meaning. They teach that the word ‘neighbor’ refers to Hebrews only. So, the Pharisees taught the Jews to love themselves and to regard all other people as sinners and enemies who should be hated. No wonder, when the Hebrews came back from the market, they had to perform ceremonial rites of washing before they could be adjudged clean.
As believers, one way of making our calling and election sure and standing approved before the throne of God is by loving our enemies. Our love should not be a discriminating one. God is love. He loves all men. When we were sinners and unlovable, God loved us, “…God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” . To love those who are our fellow Christians should be as natural as finding such love even among sinners also. As Christians, we are to prove to the whole world that we are children of God. We are to care for all and show great concern for the good of all.
Our Lord mentioned a few of the characteristics of the enemies that we are to love: “them that curse you”, “them which despitefully use you and persecute you”, “the evil”, “the unjust”, publicans”. We can justly call all of them sinners of all categories all over the world. In our families, neighborhoods, marketplaces, businesses, and all over the world, there are sinners who at present are not part of the commonwealth of Israel (believers). Missionaries demonstrate love by leaving the conveniences in their countries for foreign countries. Driven by passion, some have suffered untold hardship, persecution, and death in the hands of the people they try to win for Christ.
In like manner, we are to prove to the whole world that we are children of God by loving all the people. We may not be able to go to mission fields, but every believer has a part to play in loving our enemies. We are to bless them, pray for and share the good news with them so that their souls can be saved.
No one can practice this principle without true sanctification. After the salvation experience, there is a need for everyone to pray to the Lord to be sanctified. This experience of entire sanctification will make the believer not be sensitive to self and his opinions, preferences, and tastes. He will be dead to the world as the world is dead to him.