Notes for a sermon preached at the Marbury Church of God on February 13, 2011
Parts of the following are taken from a previously published writing of this preacher.
The Law of Love, Part 1
Background: Fulfilling the Law (Matthew 5:17-20)
A Higher Standard (v 20)
In general, people settle for controlling behavior; but he wants us to look deeper. We tend to say, “Think what you want, feel how you want, say whatever you want, it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t hurt your neighbor.” But Jesus holds his disciples to a higher standard: for us it matters how we think, how we feel, and what we say. Control over behavior is the least, loosest standard; to gain control of our thoughts, our passions, and our words: this is in line with the blessings of verses 3-12.
First Example:
Murder, Anger, Conflict Resolution (21-26)
Nurturing anger is a danger zone; speaking out from it is worse; belittling another person is the worst of all. Compare James 3:13-18. Righteousness begins in the heart, and ends with proper behavior. Merely restraining the worst behaviors leaves us among “the least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19).
Thus in the very first instance, all anger is to be forsaken. This is reaffirmed numerous times in the New Testament: James 1:19, Ephesians 4:26, Colossians 3:8. Then, any occasion for someone else to be angry with us is to be dealt with: hence the reference to “if your brother has something against you” (v. 23): the mandate is, that if at any time we are in the wrong or are the offending party in any dispute, it is up to us to do whatever it takes to make it right: “go; first be reconciled.” Our own anger has long since been dealt with, but under the higher standard which exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we can make sure that to the extent that someone may be angry with us (rightly or wrongly, through our own wrong action, a misunderstanding, or any other reason) we will take the initiative to set the relationships right.
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