After correcting the misinterpretation about Lex Talionis, Rev. Sang Ho Bae directs our attention to what someone describes as the kingdom's hardest command, that is, the command to love and pray for your enemies, to extend grace to the unlovable.
Jesus Christ, in Matthew chapter 5, sharply revealed how far the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees—who were regarded as the religious leaders of that time—had departed from the essence. Their wrong understanding and teaching of Scripture resulted not only in their own failure to enter the kingdom of heaven but also in blocking the way for others. Teaching the Scripture correctly is the most critical matter that separates life and death, and this fact remains unchanged today.
Today, there are too many churches that distort the Scripture and teach falsely. Especially those churches that follow the liberal theological line. They hang a church sign, yet instead of saving souls, they are hunting them. Not every church that bears the name “church” is truly a church, and not every sermon is the proclamation of biblical truth. Choosing a sound church is more important than any other decision in life, and encountering a wrong church is not a mere failure but an issue directly connected to the life of one’s soul.
Matthew 5:43–48 is also a passage where Jesus corrects the distorted teachings of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is not merely a teacher who interprets the Law but God Himself, who is the Word (John 1:1). The One who spoke through the prophets is He. He Himself is the One who gave the Law, and because He knows most accurately the original intent and depth of the Law, His interpretation carries absolute authority.
The scribes and Pharisees taught, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But nowhere in the Old Testament is there a statement saying, “Hate your enemy.” Rather, Proverbs 25:21 says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” Yet they taught that one should hate enemies because they misunderstood the declarations of judgment against enemies in the Psalms as expressions of personal vengeance. But the imprecatory psalms are not outbursts of personal emotion but spiritual appeals seeking God’s justice. Calvin explains in his commentary on the Psalms that “David’s curses are not personal anger but prayers desiring the realization of God’s justice.” That is, judgment upon enemies is a judicial declaration, not a justification for personal revenge.
The Jews’ contempt for Gentiles and their viewing them as enemies arose from misunderstanding God’s Word. God required Israel to live a separated life so that they might reveal God by living as a holy people. But they turned separation into exclusivism and holiness into a sense of superiority. God chose Israel as a channel of salvation for the Gentiles (Gen. 12:3), but they misunderstood this choice as a privilege, despised the Gentiles, and even regarded them as fuel for hell. This distorted, exclusive sense of chosenness provoked the resentment of other nations and became a cause for bringing suffering upon themselves.
Jesus commands:
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:44).
The teaching of Scripture is consistent. A Christian must not have personal enemies. There may be those who oppose the church and God, but one must not have personal enemies. Every person is an object of love, and even those who do evil are under the influence of evil spirits working behind them (Eph. 2:2). Therefore, instead of hating them, we must pity their souls and seek God’s mercy for them.
Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Stephen, likewise, as he was being stoned to death, prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). The record that his face was like the face of an angel (Acts 6:15) shows the spiritual beauty that appears in one who forgives enemies. We must not look only at a person’s actions when we look at an enemy. We must see the power of sin, the wounds, the weaknesses, and the ignorance behind them. Then hatred turns into compassion, and anger into prayer. Prayer for one’s enemy may change the other person, but above all, it changes the one who prays. Prayer melts hatred, softens the heart, and gives us God’s perspective.
The biblical teaching not to repay evil with evil but to overcome evil with good is the principle of the believer’s life. John Stott said, “Loving one’s enemies is the pinnacle of Christian ethics.” Loving one’s enemies is imitating God. God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). God does not show partiality, and He gives food and clothing even to the wicked. Therefore, God’s children must not discriminate against people based on skin color, wealth, academic ties, regional ties, or social status.
If a Christian loves only those who love him, he is no better than unbelievers. A citizen of heaven is one who does more than unbelievers. A believer has received greater power than unbelievers, has received the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and has experienced the love of God. Therefore, loving one’s enemies is not beyond the believer’s ability but is possible in the Holy Spirit. Jesus commands, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). This does not demand flawless moral perfection but calls us to resemble the perfect character of God.
God’s love, that is, agape, is not a love swayed by emotion but a volitional love. In Greek there are several words expressing love, but agape is distinguished from the kinds of love that arise from human affection or emotion. Loving a friend or a flower comes from emotional attraction, but agape is love that decides to love and puts that decision into action. Whether the other does well or poorly, whether we like them or not, we love because we have chosen to love.
God decided before the foundation of the world to love and save His chosen people. Therefore, even if they fail or sin, God does not change His plan or withdraw His grace. God does not change His mind according to emotion, and thus His love is eternal. The reason we are saved is this unchanging, volitional love of God.
We Christians likewise must love not by emotion but by will. We cannot love someone we dislike by emotion. But because the Lord commands us to love, even when our hearts are unwilling, we decide to love and put that decision into action—that is agape. A mature person is not shaken by emotion but fulfills his duty and responsibility regardless of how he feels. This is the mark of volitional love and the way of love God desires from us.
As I reflect on Jesus’ command to love my enemies, I realize how far this love goes beyond my natural instincts. It is easy to love those who are kind to me, but Christ calls me to see even those who hurt or oppose me as people in need of God’s mercy. When I remember how Jesus prayed for His persecutors and how Stephen forgave those who killed him, my heart is challenged to move from anger to compassion. I see that prayer for my enemies does not excuse their wrongs, but it frees my heart from hatred and aligns me with God’s perspective. Loving my enemies is not about feelings but about choosing, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to reflect God’s agape love, which is steady, forgiving, and purposeful. In doing so, I grow to resemble my heavenly Father, who loves without partiality and overcomes evil with good.
Check out Love Beyond the Hurt, an inspirational Christian song version of this article generated by AI here.
