The Wise and Good
Counsel of Jesus Christ
by Danny Douglas
Everything
that Jesus taught and commanded was good and right. It is all something that is good for us. One such teaching is His command
to love, pray for, and do good to, our enemies. Jesus said:
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 (Matthew
Indeed, it makes us like the
heavenly Father when we follow this teaching, because He sends rain and
sunshine upon His enemies, the evil and the unjust.
Jesus
knew that the enemies of His followers can never get the best of them as long
as they follow this principle. Stephen
exemplified this when he was stoned by the Jews who rejected the truth (ct. Acts
While there are various
things that we may pray for concerning our enemies, the major thrust should be
our desire to see them repent, so that they will not be lost in eternal
destruction. Moreover, the fact that we
love them and pray for them does not negate our responsibility to mark or with
draw from them, or to refute their error, when necessary, God commands:
“Now I beseech
you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the
doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For
they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by
good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple... And have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them ... Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not
after the tradition which he received of us” (Romans 16:17-18; Ephesians
5:11; II Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15; Titus 3: 10-11; I Timothy
6:3-5; II Timothy 3:1-9).
It is not
loving to fail to do those things which God commands in order to bring
them to repentance, and to prevent other souls from being destroyed by their
leavening influence (ct. I Corinthians
5:1-13; Galatians 5:7, 9). This would include dealing with any personal
offences they have committed, in a Scriptural manner (cf. Matthew
Involved
in our love and concern for our enemies should be our pity upon their future
state in eternity, and perhaps even in this life, if they do not repent. It is important for us not to allow a vengeful
or malicious attitude to develop within our hearts toward them. Paul declared:
Let all bitterness, and
wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with
all malice ...” “But
now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth (Ephesians 4:31;
Colossians 3:8).
When someone commits an
injustice against us, or harms us in a painful manner, let us not give in to
the temptation to take that which does not belong to us, namely, vengeance. This belongs to God:
“For we know
him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will
recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his
people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God (Hebrews
No, it is not ours to
"even the score," as God is the avenger all evil: “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the
wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons" (Colossians
“To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time:
for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon
them make haste" (Deuteronomy
32:35).
The fact that man shall reap
as he has sown is set forth as proof that God is not mocked without severe
consequences:
“Be not
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of
the Spirit reap life everlasting (Galatians
6:7-8).
Based
on this principle, David declares how foolish and self-destructive it is for
the wicked to plot against the righteous:
For evildoers shall be cut
off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a
little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it
shall not be. But the meek shall inherit
the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and
gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The
Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have
bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of
upright conversation. Their sword shall
enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better
than the riches of many wicked. For the
arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous (Psalms 37:
9-17).
Indeed, the outcome of the
wicked is as the Psalmist declared: "He
made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch
which he made" (Psalms
In
conclusion, let us do good in the face of evil. Let us love, pray for, and do good to, our
enemies, and this includes doing those things which will help to save their
souls (cf. James