"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." Mat. 5:38-42
What characteristics set Christians apart from followers of other religions?
Well, this could be one of the biggies. We who follow Jesus Christ are taught to turn away from the natural urges of "getting even." This is by no means an easy thing for us to accomplish. Even though we are saved, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, there is still a carnal, flesh-based side to us. And that side loves the thought of returning a bad with a bad.
However, as you can see in the passage above, we are not only told to not try to come out on top of a situation; in fact, we're shown to not even try to get a "fair deal." Christians are told to always go beyond the fair, and give to the excess. This is a sure way for followers of Jesus to show the world that our actions are NOT what is expected from people of the world.
If a person is held up at an ATM and made to surrender his wallet, he should offer to take the cash out of the ATM for the thief. No sane person would ever do this, right? Well, we Christians are not "sane" by the world's definition. We know that the material goods of this world are not ours--they belong to our God and Savior. Therefore, they should be used to advance His cause.
If a person threatens your life, anyone would say you should make every effort to defend yourself, even to the point of killing the person making the threat. Again, a Christian should not only not kill the person, but should make the effort to witness of the power of Jesus to that person. Even at the cost of one's life.
If a loved one is murdered, it is understandable that there would be a deep desire for revenge. Maybe this will be through personal efforts to seek recompense. Maybe it will be through the courts. Either way, this would be wrong. Think of the victory that can be won for our Lord when we turn away from what we want, and instead extend forgiveness to the transgressor.
Now, I know these are hard words.
First, you need to understand that, for a born-again Christian, these types of actions have NOTHING to do with salvation. Once you belong to Jesus, you never cease to belong to Jesus. Forever. Period. But, these do influence two things: your fellowship with Him and your fruits that you bare.
When we go that extra mile that Jesus has asked us to do, we produce a good work (with His direct help.) This is a good fruit, that is grown on the branch (us) that has been grafted to the Vine (Jesus.) And these fruit are the outward evidence of the inward presence of the Holy Spirit. It is public proof that we belong to Jesus, and are part of the family of God Almighty.
When we do not obey His command to give beyond what is asked, we don't lose our salvation. We just lose the opportunity to bear a good fruit.
Also, when we fail to obey His commands, we create a situation where our daily fellowship with Him is messed up. Have you ever been with a person after you've been in an argument with that person. You know you two are still good friends, but it's hard to get the conversation going. You want to talk, but the silence is deafening.
That's what can happen when we disobey. Until we repent (turn away) from that area in which we disobeyed, we can lose a certain closeness with our Savior. How wonderful is it that, when we turn back to Him, Jesus is always ready to forgive and forget.
And that is the true key to all of this. If Jesus can forgive and forget when we fail Him, can we do any less than to do the same towards the people around us?
Grace and Peace....
Well, this could be one of the biggies. We who follow Jesus Christ are taught to turn away from the natural urges of "getting even." This is by no means an easy thing for us to accomplish. Even though we are saved, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, there is still a carnal, flesh-based side to us. And that side loves the thought of returning a bad with a bad.
However, as you can see in the passage above, we are not only told to not try to come out on top of a situation; in fact, we're shown to not even try to get a "fair deal." Christians are told to always go beyond the fair, and give to the excess. This is a sure way for followers of Jesus to show the world that our actions are NOT what is expected from people of the world.
If a person is held up at an ATM and made to surrender his wallet, he should offer to take the cash out of the ATM for the thief. No sane person would ever do this, right? Well, we Christians are not "sane" by the world's definition. We know that the material goods of this world are not ours--they belong to our God and Savior. Therefore, they should be used to advance His cause.
If a person threatens your life, anyone would say you should make every effort to defend yourself, even to the point of killing the person making the threat. Again, a Christian should not only not kill the person, but should make the effort to witness of the power of Jesus to that person. Even at the cost of one's life.
If a loved one is murdered, it is understandable that there would be a deep desire for revenge. Maybe this will be through personal efforts to seek recompense. Maybe it will be through the courts. Either way, this would be wrong. Think of the victory that can be won for our Lord when we turn away from what we want, and instead extend forgiveness to the transgressor.
Now, I know these are hard words.
First, you need to understand that, for a born-again Christian, these types of actions have NOTHING to do with salvation. Once you belong to Jesus, you never cease to belong to Jesus. Forever. Period. But, these do influence two things: your fellowship with Him and your fruits that you bare.
When we go that extra mile that Jesus has asked us to do, we produce a good work (with His direct help.) This is a good fruit, that is grown on the branch (us) that has been grafted to the Vine (Jesus.) And these fruit are the outward evidence of the inward presence of the Holy Spirit. It is public proof that we belong to Jesus, and are part of the family of God Almighty.
When we do not obey His command to give beyond what is asked, we don't lose our salvation. We just lose the opportunity to bear a good fruit.
Also, when we fail to obey His commands, we create a situation where our daily fellowship with Him is messed up. Have you ever been with a person after you've been in an argument with that person. You know you two are still good friends, but it's hard to get the conversation going. You want to talk, but the silence is deafening.
That's what can happen when we disobey. Until we repent (turn away) from that area in which we disobeyed, we can lose a certain closeness with our Savior. How wonderful is it that, when we turn back to Him, Jesus is always ready to forgive and forget.
And that is the true key to all of this. If Jesus can forgive and forget when we fail Him, can we do any less than to do the same towards the people around us?
Grace and Peace....
