43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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; 45 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. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 KJV.
In this scripture apparently as believers, we have to do more than love just our neighbors or our friends (1). God’s test here is to love also our enemies, “an adversary, an enemy or foe; one who has enmity at heart or an opponent or antagonist [opposer (2)], as in a suit at law, or in single combat; and opposing litigant” (2). As believers, we can have enmity or “the quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will, hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence. It expresses more than aversion [hatred (2)] and less than malice [a disposition to injure others without cause (2)], and differs from displeasure in denoting a fixed or rooted hatred, whereas displeasure is more transient [not permanent (2)]” (2). This definition can include believers.
To counteract hate for our enemies, God commands us to love [in a social or moral sense (1)] our enemies. We are to bless or to find a way “to speak well of” (1) “them that curse (or execrate) you” execrate meaning “the primary sense of which is to separate….Literally, to curse, to denounce evil against, or to imprecate evil on; hence, to detest utterly; to abhor; to abominate” (2).
We are to “do good to them that hate you,” hate meaning those that persecute, detest (1) you. But above all to “pray [supplicate or to entreat for… address in prayer…to petition with earnestness and submission (2)] for them which despitefully use you,” despitefully meaning those that falsely accuse, threaten, insult or slander you (1), “and persecute you,” persecute meaning those that “ensue, follow after, suffer persecution, press toward” you (1). We are all, good or having the quality of evil, to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 3:14.
You have to know that as a believer how and what to suffer for. We are called to be the children or in kinship with each other as in the kinship with the Father(1), our “nourisher, protector, upholder” (3). The sun rises or refreshes and rests (1) on both the evil or the “degeneracy from original virtue” (1), and the good. O that we would all claim God’s rest and receive His refreshment. The Father sends us a shower or washes (1) the just or righteous (1) and the unjust or the unrighteous (1).
What kind of reward do we have if we only love those who love us, reward meaning “pay for services (literally or figuratively), good or bad” (1).
If we only salute or greet (1) our brethren or brothers and sisters (1), we are not doing too much of anything.
God commands us to be perfect or to have “growth, mental and moral character, completeness, of full age” (1), be “mature” (3). We are to be perfect as expressed in this scripture “even as,” even meaning “of an equal surface…calm; not easily ruffled or disturbed, elevated or depressed; as an even temper….Owing nothing or either side, having accounts balanced…We have settled accounts and now are even,” that is “even as your Father which is in heaven (as the abode of God, happiness, power, eternity) is perfect!
To God Be The Glory!
(1) The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible, by James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D.
(2) Noah Webster 1828 Dictionary
(3) Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words, by W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr.
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.