"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 cloke 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. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, 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."
The first part of today's quote relates how Old Testament law required equally fitting the punishment to the crime, "eye for an eye" etc. The demands Jesus makes in the new law of faith, require even more of us than that. He said we are to replace punishments of vengeance, "eye for and eye" etc, with love and forgiveness, even in the most extreme of circumstances.
The new method is much harder for mankind to accomplish than was the old because of the inherent sin nature of humanity.
If we have been wronged, or offended, instead of lashing out at our offenders as would be the natural human way to respond, we are to give our opressors whatever they want, always treating them with the same love and respect that we desire of them.
In the last sentence of today's quote, Jesus placed a seemingly impossible demand on His followers, He said; "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
You should make note that I said it is a "seemingly" impossible demand. It is, in fact, a very easy demand to obey. All one need do to be "perfect" before God is to accept the perfection of Jesus Christ through absolute faith in His soul cleansing sacrifice by receiving the perfect righteousness that is imputed into those of us whom have placed our faith in Him.~
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