Matthew 5:46 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 5:46

Comments

Christians must be different; there must be some respect in which they surpass the common civility that is seen among men in general. If their religion does not make any practical difference, what is it worth? True faith will show itself in various ways, but it does not require the grace of God to show love to those who treat us kindly and count us to be within their circle, for even tax-collectors love tax-collectors, and even thieves greet fellow thieves. God has left enough good will in the world to prevent it collapsing into complete anarchy; he has done that to only allow it to continue in some form long enough for his purposes to be fulfilled. Grace can go far beyond this and it must do so. God’s grace expresses itself in love towards those who render him no obedience, despise his person, and take all that he gives them for granted. Love shown to such receives no reward at all, and yet there is great strength in it. To give back to those who have already given to us is merely to repay a debt, but the Christian is to love those who have no intention of returning our love. It is better to give than to receive, because those who receive from men already have their reward, but those who do not receive from men will receive a far greater reward from the Lord.Christ expects the righteousness of his disciples to exceed that of the Pharisees, and if we do no better than the unbeliever, what assurance do we have that we have been changed by him. Common grace is not evangelical grace, and the ability to greet a brother does not rise above the natural. The religion of the true Christian is supernatural in nature, and it gives supernatural evidence. To love one’s enemy is far harder than to love one’s friend. To love an enemy is to love without expecting a reward in return. Only the Christian has the patience to wait for God to reward him and to forfeit the reward of men.

Application

You will be rewarded for every loss, so why be so anxious? You are people who are going to be eternally rewarded. We deserve no reward. But we are going to be eternally compensated and rewarded for every pain on account of Christ, every loss for his name’s sake. So why should we be so anxious about having our rights being treated properly, and require that people are punished in some overt way when they are unreasonable to us?

A greeting in all cultures is a sign of respect. To blank somebody and to refuse to acknowledge them is counted as an insult. You meet someone in the street, and as soon as you see them you remember the evil they did to you. How can you greet them? It will appear to say that you do not regard the evil they did to you as so great after all, but you do. Nevertheless, in the interests of grace and mercy, you overlook what they have done and greet them anyway; you do not look in another direction and avoid them. If that person is converted to God, which is in his hands not yours, you will be obliged to forgive many wrongs that person may have done you, just as God has forgiven them.

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Matthew 5:46 Commentary and Bible Study