In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples the necessity of a godly or godlike love. The Jews were familiar with the Old Testament charge “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:17). But Jesus wanted to show that the true expectation of that commandment contemplated all people, even one’s enemies. In fact, the love with which God loves us is most clearly manifest in the love that we show to our enemies.
We will all have enemies in our lifetime, those that are against us for some reason or another. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them which despitefully use you” (Luke 6:27-28). This is a tall order and, but for the grace of God, is beyond our capability. The human heart is full of pride and does not suffer the ill will of others charitably. But doing good, blessing, and praying is the expectation of God. He would have us know that anything short of such behavior is unworthy of Him.
This call to a godlike love is repeated often in Scripture. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “Bless those that persecute you, bless, and curse not” (Romans 12:14). He added to this in summary fashion “if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink…be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20-21). The Apostle Peter commanded his audience likewise “love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing” (I Peter 3:9).
The ability to love our enemies is godlike because it is both like God, and it is of God. First, it is like God because it is exactly how God acted toward us as sinners. The Scriptures teach “God commended [proved or demonstrated] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). All sin is against God. We may think of our sins as merely against one another, but all sin is an affront to a holy God. Thus, while we were actively rebelling against God, Christ died for our sins. Paul’s letter to the Colossians testifies to this. “And you, that were sometime [in the past] alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he [God] reconciled” (Colossians 1:21). We are to love our enemies because God loved us when we were his enemies and sent his Son.
Second, loving our enemies is godlike because it is of God. We cannot love our enemies unless his love reigns in us and is manifested through us. This enabling is the unique privilege of the children of God. Returning to Christ’s teaching in his Sermon on the Mount, he pointed out that those who love their enemies testify to their relationship with the Father. “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36; emphasis added).
Paul’s command to the believers in Ephesus briefly summarizes these considerations. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1).
From the Chaplain 