Here we present Pastor Sheldon Emry’s essay “Should Christians Love The Wicked?” where he shows how there is no scriptural basis for Christians to unconditionally “love their neighbors” — and to treat everyone regardless of who they are and what they believe as their “brothers.”
Many critics of Christianity have rightfully pointed out that this so-called “commandment” to love thy enemies unconditionally — and to “turn the other cheek” –have indeed helped our enemies to subvert and destroy our Christian nations from within. Unfortunately, many of these critics choose to reject Christianity outright because of these false teachings — instead of actually investigating what the Bible does — and does not — say on these subjects.
“Should Christians Love The Wicked?”
We are being told by some churches — and by worldly publications — that Christians are to love everyone, especially those who are, “less fortunate than we are.” Quite often in the less fortunate bracket they include, not just the poor and handicapped, but the criminals and the degenerates, and even the enemies of the Christians. We are told that no matter what the person is or what he has done, we are to love him.
Is that a Scriptural concept or are Christians being given unscriptural advice in this important matter?
The most common answer to that question today would be, “Yes, Christians are supposed to love everybody.” If asked for the authority for that commandment, most would say “the Bible,” or they might say “Jesus Christ.” Some insist that not only are we Christians to love everyone, but that we are to help everyone — even those people or nations who have been killing our Christian brethren. To justify that, they will quote,
“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him.” (Romans 12:20)
And for good measure they will throw in, “We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.”
Is this a scriptural doctrine — that we are to love and forgive, and perhaps help the criminal, the degenerate, and even those who would destroy us? Or are we, Christians being misled by a wrong use or a wrong teaching of these Bible passages?
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is sometimes used to convince Christians that they must forgive wrong-doing under all circumstances:
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)
Without additional explanation, these verses seem to say that before Christians can have any grace and mercy from God, they must first forgive all other men all their sins.
If that is not enough, then sometimes this verse is quoted to convince us that we must forgive more than once.
“Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, ‘I repent,” thou shalt forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4)
If that is not enough times to be required to forgive, then they can quote,
“Then came Peter to him and said, ‘Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I for- give him? Till seven times?’ Jesus saith unto him, ‘I say not unto thee until seven times: but until seventy times seven.’” (Matthew 18:21-22)
The liberal church men and writers in secular publications say, “See, Christians are supposed to forgive everyone, over and over.” However, they miss the whole point of the command as to who it is the Christian is to forgive — and they completely ignore that forgiveness is required only when certain specific circumstances prevail. Let us examine those passages in more detail and find out just what Jesus taught.
Is Everyone Your “Brother”?
I think you will see it is quite different than the liberal churches and our secular propagandists say it is. The person to be forgiven is identified in Jesus’ own words,
“If thy brother trespass against thee.” and then later He says, “Forgive him.” (Luke 17:3)
The person who is the subject of Peter’s question is right in the question for all to see,
“Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?” (Matthew 18:21)
Both Jesus and Peter were talking about other Christian brothers, not about non-Christians. The word ‘brother’ is used in the New Testament almost 100 times. And except for those cases where it is talking about physical brothers — sons of the same mother — it always means believers in Christ Jesus.
Those ministers — and our enemies — who claim Jesus taught that Christians are to forgive non-believers their trespasses are teaching error. Except for those passages where near-blood kin are meant, the word brother and brethren, in the New Testament, always means followers of Jesus Christ. They have no application to non-Christians. In addition, these passages are not a blanket command to always and under any circumstances forgive even our Christian brother.
There is something stated or implied in both passages which that brother must do — and that word is ‘Repent!’ Jesus said of His brother, “If he repent, forgive him,” and then He said that if the brother said seven times in a day, “I repent,” then the Christian was to forgive him seven times.
Jesus taught no such nonsense, that if any- one trespasses against you, that you are to forgive him. He spoke only of fellow Christians, and forgiveness was commanded only if the wrong-doer repented of his trespass against you. Jesus does not use the word ‘repent’ in reply to Peter’s question; however, it is plainly implied in His teaching which preceded the question, and which obviously prompted it from Peter.
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” (Matthew 18:15)
This is an instruction to a wronged Christian, however it does make it plain the wrong-doer here is also a Christian brother. Then Jesus says,
“But if he will not hear {thee, then} take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” (Matthew 18:16)
Since Jesus uses the phrase ‘his fault’ it is certain He means to say the other brother is in the wrong. Therefore when He uses the phrase “if he will not hear thee,” He obviously means if he will not admit his error and repent — even though Jesus does not use the word ‘repent.’
After you’ve gone to your Christian brother with one or two witnesses, and the result is not one of acknowledgement of wrongdoing and repentance, Jesus commands,
“And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell {it} unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church,…”
…then forgive him anyway because, after all, you are a Christian. Oh, oh, Jesus didn’t say that, did He? No! Jesus said if this Christian brother who has wronged you refuses to admit his error and repent, after the church has been told of it, then,
“…let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” (Matthew 18: 17)
Isn’t that something? We are told by all and sundry that we Christians are to forgive everyone — and everything relating to sins and trespasses against us. Yet Jesus told us we are not even to forgive a Christian brother if he refuses to repent of his wrongdoing. Certainly we have no more responsibility to forgive and forget the sins of unrepentant non-Christians than we do the sins of unrepentant Christians.
Paul uses a stronger word than ‘heathen’ in his letter to Titus — a word we seldom hear in modern Christendom:
“A man that is an heretic after the first and sec- ond admonition, reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” (Titus 3:10-11)
And of course, this familiar passage,
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)
In verse 15, unbelievers are called ‘infidels’ — another word one seldom hears nowadays, although our land is filled with them.
We have touched on only a very few of the New Testament passages by which we are commanded to have no fellowship nor communion with the heretic, the unbeliever and the anti-Christian. In spite of that, it is commonly taught in many churches — and by many evangelists and, of course, by our enemies — that we Christians are not to speak against, nor to oppose, nor to avoid entanglement with unbelievers, but are instead to love them, forgive them when they trespass against Christians, and even help them in their nefarious works.
Do you realize what this false doctrine of love everyone and forgive unrepentant sinners has done to us? It has made us tolerant of all sorts of evil and of evil-doers. Instead of acting like our Christian forefathers, who would not tolerate open and unrepentant sin and wickedness in the community, but who instead punished the evildoers, or drove unrepentant sinners from the community; so that they could not injure and destroy the Christians.
We have been conditioned not to react to blatant sin. We put up with and tolerate and condone, and justify all kinds of sin and sinners in our neighborhoods, in our cities, in our states and our nation because we have been fooled into thinking that rooting out, and driving out wicked and evil people from the land is somehow not what Christians should do. “Why, we must love and forgive them, not hate and deport them” — and all sorts of other nonsense that comes from not understanding the true teachings of Jesus Christ. Our nation is being destroyed for lack of knowledge — for lack of knowledge of what true Christianity really is.
Our Christian forefathers of past centuries obeyed the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. They loved the brethren — their Christian brethren — not the wicked non-Christians, and they stopped the anti-Christians and the unbelievers from defiling their land and their people. In the 1600’s, when the first Christians settled on this continent, they would not even allow non-Christians to live in their colonies. Men and women who committed evil acts against the people were punished — and if they did not repent and mend their wicked ways, they were driven out, exiled, banned from the Christian community (ecclesia), and told not to return.
Even in this century, until less than 60 years ago, it was a common practice for the law authorities in a community to actually pick up criminals and known wrong-doers, escort them to the borders of the community, or city, and tell them to get out. I personally know this was done in many cities long after WWII. Were these authorities somehow evil for doing these things? No! They were protecting their children from evil, not fawning upon anti-christs, murderers, thieves, sodomites and rapists.
These same forefathers of ours — citing God’s laws for the punishment of evildoers — executed murderers and rapists and punished those who would destroy the morals of their children. As recently as 30 years ago, it was common to hear of the arrest of someone for “corrupting the morals of a minor.” Who ever hears of such a charge today? Instead the drug pushers, the printers and distributors of pornography, the makers of filthy movies, sex-perverts and blasphemers have the run of our land. They corrupt the minds of millions of our children every year destroying their morals and then their lives all without punishments.
If Christians really get upset and want to do something, along comes the clergy and propagandist, and smoothly reminds us that, after all, Christians must not judge. Christians must hate the sin, but love the sinner. And Christians must forgive, forgive and forgive. So the wicked prosper. Truth is fallen in the street — and wrong rules the land. We blame the criminals and the wicked for it, but who is really to blame? Is it not the Christians who have abdicated their duties to Jesus, to their country, and to their children?
After all, it is Christians who are to be a light to the world, not the non-Christians. It is Christians who are to establish their society that it might be as a light set upon a hill, that all men might seek after it. It is Christians who are to be God’s witnesses to His righteous and immutable laws. Nowhere in the Holy Word of God does God charge the heathen and the infidel with establishing a righteous nation. Always, and forever, His Word is to the believer, the follower of Jesus Christ.
Before we go on with what our relationship is to the wicked, I want to read a few passages in the New Testament where the word ‘brother’ is used. This is especially for new Christians who might still think that their ‘brother’ is their ‘fellow man,’ rather than their fellow Christian. There are scores of these passages in the New Testament. Jesus used “brethren” — the plural of “brother” — when He asked this question,
“Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?” (Matthew 12:48)
His answer was to point to His disciples and say,
“Behold, my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:49-50)
The same is repeated in Mark 3:33-35. In Acts 9:17 and 22:13, we find that Saul — a persecutor of Christians — was called “Brother Saul” immediately upon his conversion. In Romans 14 the word ‘brother’ is used 4 times in reference to a fellow believer. In 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul refers to a fellow Christian worker as “Sosthenes, our brother.” In 2 Corinthians 1:1, Paul writes of Timothy, “our brother” — Timothy was not Paul’s blood brother. Like Sosthenes, Timothy was a fellow believer in Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 2:13, Paul calls Titus, “my brother.” Again the word ‘brother’ means ‘fellow Christian.’
Paul writes of an unnamed person this way,
“And we sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 8: 18)
There is no other identification of the man, except he was a brother. Why was he a brother? Because his praise was in the Gospel; he was a Christian believer. In verse 23, Paul uses the term ‘brethren.’ Like all other places in the New Testament it refers to fellow believers. ‘Brother’ and ‘brethren’ are used scores of times in the New Testament.
Some we will read later when we discuss the commandment to love our brother. You should look up the word ‘brother’ in your Concordance and read the references. The word ‘brother’ is used for only two things – a real ‘blood brother’ or a fellow Christian. Never is it used in the New Testament to mean a non-Christian.
Don’t let anyone fool you by telling you that non-Christians are brothers to Christians. The Bible does not teach that at all. Some may ask, “But Pastor Emry, aren’t we Christians com- manded to love our neighbor as ourselves.” The answer is, “Yes, we are” — however, who is our neighbor? Well, that is also made plain in the New Testament — we will find that just like everyone is not our brother, neither is everyone our neighbor — even if he does live next door to our house, or next door to our country.
Is Anyone or Everyone Your Neighbor?
The Holy Word of God tells Christians they are to love their neighbor as themselves. Jesus gave that as a command in Matthew 19:19 and Matthew 22:39 — and both Paul and James repeated it their epistles. But, does that command really mean Christians are to love those who fit the scriptural definition of ‘the wicked’? Are they to love unrepentant sinners who continually commit sin and wickedness? The answer is “No!” — Christians are commanded to do no such thing.
In fact, the forgiveness was commanded only if the brother repented of his wrong-doing. Instead today, when Christian people speak out against sin and iniquity in the land, and suggest that the criminal should be punished, they are often told, “Oh you shouldn’t feel like that — you should forgive them. After all, if you are a Christian, you must love and forgive.” Then they will throw in something about loving our neighbors as ourselves, and the Christians are shamed into silence as if they were the wrong-doer instead of the criminal.
What about loving our neighbor as ourselves? In Matthew 19 we’ll find out two things:
— How do we fulfil the command to love our neighbor as ourselves?
— Just who is our neighbor according to this scripture?
“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 19:16-19)
Most Christians recognize the first five of those as the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and fifth commandments in that order; however, many think the last phrase — “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” — was an addition by Jesus. That is not so. It is from the original Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. Jesus gave much more emphasis on that command to love one’s neighbor, seeming to make it more important than the last six of the original Ten Commandments.
“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Mas- ter, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40)
To help us understand what Jesus meant by that, seeming to make only two commandments instead often, we need to refer back to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:117. You will see that the Ten Commandments are of two different types. The first four define man’s relationship to God, and the last six define man’s relationship to man. The first four are:
No.1. No other gods,
No.2. No worship of graven images,
No.3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain,
No.4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Those four have to do with the relationship between God and man, then the rest with the relationship between man and man.
No.5. Honor thy father and they mother.
No.6. Thou shalt not kill, (Jesus quoted, “Thou shalt do no murder,” which is more correct).
No.7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
No.8. Thou shalt not steal.
No.9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
No. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife, nor his manservant nor his maidservant, nor his ox nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.
Now by reading those Ten Commandments, we can see that when Jesus gave only two commandments, He really condensed all ten commandments into two phrases. The first four commandments — establishing the right relationship of man to God — he summed up by saying, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.” If a man were to do all those things, he certainly would not have any other gods, nor carve graven images, nor use God’s name in vain, nor desecrate God’s Sabbath. The last six commandments, the ones dealing with a man’s right-doing to other men, Jesus summed up with “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
By that, He meant that to really love your neighbor as yourself, you would honor your father and your mother; you would no not murder; you would not commit adultery; you would not steal; you would not bear false witness against your neighbor; and you certainly would not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his other possessions. Jesus was not putting aside any of the Ten Commandments — rather, He was in truth verifying them totally. He simply stated them all in two condensed phrases — one for each of the subdivisions of the whole. Then when He added “…on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,” He obviously meant these two divisions of the Ten Commandments support all the law and the prophets.
And of course they do. The other two parts of the law in the books of Moses — the statutes and the judgments — are all based and hang on the original ten. Also, all the messages of the prophets who came to Israel were based on the same Ten Commandments for they all came with the one message to Israel: Obey God’s Laws!
It is obvious that many in Christendom have been deceived into thinking that Jesus somehow in this passage put aside the original Ten Commandments and instituted instead some esoteric new law, embodied in the phrase, “all you have to do is love Jesus, and love your fellow man” for that is the sum and substance of much modernistic preaching. We seldom hear the cry of the ancient Israel prophets to His people: “Turn from your wicked ways, Turn from your transgression. Turn and obey God’s Holy commandments.”
Instead we hear endlessly how we are to love Jesus — how we are to be ‘filled with the spirit’ — and how we are to love the sinners and the wicked and all unrighteous. This kind of modern preaching has fooled many into thinking that if they evidence some sort of nebulous emotion- al attachment to Jesus Christ and to all other human beings, then that is enough to fulfill Jesus’ command to “love God and to love their neighbor as themselves.” They have not been told — nor have they found out for themselves — that if they really love Jesus, they would obey His commandments. Jesus said,
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
John wrote,
“Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4)
“For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:3)
That would seem to say that a professing Christian who claims to love Jesus but who refuses to obey God’s commandments is not a Christian.
If loving our neighbor is obeying God’s Laws, look how we are not loving our neighbor in the economic realm. Paul wrote,
“But if any provide not for his own house (the margin says his own kindred), he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1 Timothy 5:8)
If we have been misled by wrong teaching, about who our brother is, or about how we are to love our neighbor, perhaps we have something to learn about loving our enemies, too. Perhaps we can even reconcile that command with John’s words,
“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into {your} house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” (2 John 1:10-11)
And with King David who wrote,
“Do not I hate them 0 Lord (Yahweh) who hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them my enemies.” (Psalm 139: 21-22)
LOVING YOUR ENEMIES?
You cannot find any passage in scripture which commands Christians to call anyone by the term ‘brother’ or ‘brethren’ — except blood kindred or fellow Christians. The so-called “brotherhood of man” is not a biblical doctrine, but a doctrine of those who would destroy Christianity by diluting it with other religions. By corrupting the Christians with pagan doc- trines, ruining pure Christian education and eventually destroying Christian government, they will bring in humanism and man’s laws instead of faith in Jesus Christ and God’s Laws.
Earlier I read passages which verified we are to ‘love our neighbors as ourselves’ and we say that was an Old Testament command. “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” was a summary commandment of the last six of the original Ten Commandments; those which have to do with one’s relationship with one’s fellow man. Jesus summed up the first four Commandments, those which command Israel to have only one God, in the phrase,
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.”
(Matthew 22:37)
Then when he said the Second Commandment was, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” He was summing up the last six Commandments of the original Ten; those which define the right relationship between man and man.
To prove this biblical principle further, I will read a few passages in the New Testament about fulfilling the law.
Some anti-law preachers quote these and attempt to prove that fulfilling the law means ending it. Before we get back to the word “neighbor,” I want to read a few verses from Bible Law about capital punishment.
“He that smiteth a man so he dies shall be surely put to death.” (Exodus 21:12)
Here is the law on those who kidnap for ransom:
“And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus 21:16)
God forbids a fine, imprisonment or damages to be paid, to free the murderer from death.
“Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of the murderer which is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death.” (Numbers 35:31)
The command “Take no satisfaction” referred to the common practice among the heathen that a murderer could pay a sum of money to the relatives of the victims and then be free. God does not allow His people to have any part in such a horrible practice, but commands that murderers are to be executed. God tells us that our well-being as a people requires the execution of murderers.
“Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee.” (Deuteronomy 19:13)
The next two verses are sometimes used to teach that the ‘whole law’ which Christians are to obey is simply to love all other men.
“Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
“If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,’ ye do well:” (James 2:8)
On their own, these verses seem to say that all Christians need to do is have some sort of emotional attachment to their neighbor — some neighborly love — and they have done all that God’s Law requires. However let us read these verses with associated verses, and we will see a different meaning emerges.
“Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled he law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet: and if (there be) any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- self.” (Romans 13:8-9)
When you read both verses, it is easy to see what Paul was saying, ‘he that loveth another fulfills the law by obeying’ – and then he lists what Christians are to obey – ‘the law.’ That is what the phrase ‘for this’ means. It could be paraphrased, “To do this, — loving your neighbor — thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal,” and so on. In other words, “Thou shalt obey the law.”
That is what we discovered earlier — that obeying the commandments of God toward your neighbor is the act which proves your Christian love. If you claim you love him, then physically abuse him by stealing from him, or coveting his property, or allowing others to do so in disobedience to God’s Law, then that would be no love at all. That is why we read,
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be {ye} warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what {doth it} profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” (James 2:15-17)
The same is true of love. Putting Paul’s and James’ words together. “If you say you love your neighbor but do no acts of good toward him, nor refrain from doing him harm, what does it profit? Even so, ‘love of your neighbor,’ if it have not works, is dead.”
Let me insert a question here. Which do you think is a manifestation of brotherly love: to save murderers, rapists and child seducers alive, so they can wreak havoc on our neighbors and our neighbors’ children? Or would we be showing more genuine Christian love toward our neighbor if we put murderers, rapists and child seducers to death and saved our neighbors from them? To say we ‘love our neighbors’ — then to transfer that love to those who destroy our neighbors — is not Christian love. It is insanity. God condemns just such foolishness when He says to a rebellious people,
“And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear {your} lies?” (Ezekiel 13 : 19)
God is saying that when Israel keeps alive those that should die, and thereby causes the death of those who should live, they are polluting God among His people. What a charge for disobedience; the very disobedience we manifest today under the false flag of “We must love everyone” — even those criminals who destroy our neighbors and our neighbor’s children – we have loved our neighbor’s enemies rather than our neighbor. Paul had said we were to obey the commandments as proof we loved our neighbor, then he concludes the thought,
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love {is} the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10)
Again to make this clear, we could paraphrase that sentence, “Love does no harm to your neighbor because love is doing the law.” What law? The law Paul listed in the previous verse – the commandments. Now Pastor Emry is not teaching salvation through obeying the law. Salvation does not come from obedience to the law. It never came from obedience to the law in the Old Testament. Abraham and all the Israel fathers were saved by faith; by believing God, not by their obedience.
Salvation will not come in the future by obedience to the law. Salvation is the free gift of God; it is by grace and not by works. What we are talking about here is not our salvation but our right relationship in this life with what is called “our neighbor” and “our brother.” That comes from one thing — from obedience to the precepts of relationships called God’s law. Here is some more proof that to fulfill is to obey. Jesus said,
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
Since He denied that He would end’ or destroy the law, He must have meant that He had come to do the law — to obey it. And we know He did obey it because Jesus was without sin. Since “sin is the transgression of the law,” that means Jesus did not transgress the law. Instead He did the law; He obeyed it; He fulfilled it.
Paul concludes Romans 13 with this exhortation:
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14)
You could insert the word ‘do’ in that last phrase and it would read “Make no provision for the flesh to do the lusts thereof.” It would give the true sense. You can substitute the word ‘do’ for ‘fulfill,’ ‘doing’ for ‘fulfilling’ and ‘done’ for ‘fulfilled.’ Here are some examples:
“{This} I say then, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.’” Galatians 5:16. “Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not do the lust of the flesh.”
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2. “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so do the law of Christ.”
“Now all this was done, that it might be ful- filled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,…” Matthew 1:22. “Now all this was done, that it might be done which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying.”
“… that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord.” Matthew 2:15. “That it might be done which was spoken of the Lord.”
“That it might be fulfilled (done) which was spoken by Esaias the prophet.” (Matthew 8: 17)
There are 35 other passages in the New Testament where the word ‘done’ can substitute for ‘fulfilled.’ You should read them. I am belaboring this point to be sure you understand that when you read that someone had fulfilled the law, it does not mean he has ended the law. It simply means that he has done the law — that he has obeyed the law.
When you understand that, and then read Paul in Romans 13 where he wrote, “Love is the fulfilling of the law,” you will know he definitely, absolutely, unconditionally and positively was saying, “Love is the doing, or the obeying of God’s Law.” Once you get that in your mind, and some modernist or liberal theologian, or an anti-christ university professor comes along and says, “All Christians have to do is love, love, love,” or says “Christians don’t have to obey God’s Law, all they have to do is love,” you will know that man is a deceiver. You will know that true Christian love is the doing or the obeying of God’s Law.
CONCLUSION
We have seen that God’s Law requires that we put to death those who kill our neighbor and our neighbor’s children, else we deny our neighbor our love. Therefore, the murderers could hardly be our scriptural neighbors, could they?
Who is our neighbor, according to the Bible?
The story of the good Samaritan was told by Jesus Christ specifically to answer that very question. The lawyer asked Jesus in Luke 10:29, “…Who is my neighbor?” Here is Jesus’ answer:
“And Jesus answering said, a certain (man) went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded (him), and departed, leaving (him) half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked (on him), and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion (on him), And went to (him), and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave (them) to the host, and said unto him, ‘Take care of him: and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.’ (Luke 10:30-35)
That is the end of the story Jesus was telling.
Then Jesus asks,
“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)
Jesus approved his answer. But if everyone is our neighbor, wouldn’t all men in the story be neighbor to the injured man? Yes. But you see everyone is not our neighbor. Jesus didn’t even include the thieves in his question, yet they were probably local inhabitants. They were given no consideration at all as being neighbors.
Look who the others were who were excluded from the definition: a priest and a Levite. Certainly their position in the community would make them scriptural neighbors? No! Only the one who gave aid to the injured man — the one who obeyed God’s Law was a neighbor.
You have probably heard parents or older people use the term neighbor in this true sense. They will say of a good person, “He certainly is very neighborly,” or “He is a good neighbor.” They will complain of a nearby unfriendly resident that, “He is not very neighborly.” They didn’t mean he lived far away — rather they meant he was not Christian-like in his acts and attitudes; they denied him as a neighbor. They were using the term correctly according to Jesus.
That the word “neighbor” as used by Jesus for the Samaritan referred only to his character and acts, not his residence, is obvious from the story. It says the Samaritan was on a journey — and he was so far from home he had to take the injured man to the local inn to have him cared for, and then had to leave him with the host. Obviously, the Samaritan did not live nearby, but he was the only one called “neighbor.”
The word “neighbor” — like the word “brother” — is named only on those of good character; those of Christian action and those with a Godly relationship to those in need. We cannot call murderers, thieves and disobedient priests and Levites our neighbor. Since Christians are commanded to love only their neighbors, then neither Jesus, nor the disciples, ever commanded Christians to love the wicked and the ungodly.
Someone is sure to ask, “But Pastor Emry, what about Matthew 5? “Turning the other cheek” — giving your cloak if a man sues you for your coat — and going an extra mile with one who commands you to go one mile with him?” Smiting a man on the cheek is not a deadly assault with intent to maim or murder. It was a common way of one man claiming his honor against another who had insulted or injured him. The one being struck was the one who had committed the original offense.
Jesus was telling his followers, If you have done a man wrong, and he accuses you by smiting you on the cheek, do not respond with an invitation for a duel, as the heathen do, but turn away and acknowledge your offense. If you were sued at law and lost your coat, obviously you would have been the one at fault. Jesus is telling his followers: If you have been found to lawfully owe another something, pay him more than you owe — pay more than the law demands.
Has anyone compelled you to go a mile? It could have happened then, since it was Roman law that any Roman soldier could compel a citizen to carry his baggage up to a maximum of one mile. Again what is the instruction here? Simply this: Christian, you do more than you are asked to do — you go that extra mile. Jesus was telling His followers, “You do more good than the unbeliever.”
None of these are instances of mortal danger, robbery or of physical persecution. Jesus is not commanding us to accept any and all attacks on our person or family without resistance — that is not the object of Matthew 5 at all.
The tragedy is that so many false teachers among us try to use such passages to make pacifists and door mats of Christians. By them, they prevent Christians from stopping the antichrist and the murderers among us. They trick us into believing that Jesus has told us not only that we must love the wicked, but that we must not resist his wicked ways. Jesus has done no such thing — Jesus has not commanded Christians to love the wicked.
Certainly when Christians were told in 2 Corinthians 6 to “be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, to have no fellowship with the unrighteous, and to come out from among them and be separate and touch not the unclean thing,” we should have known better than to accept the false philosophy that Jesus Himself commanded us to love and forgive, protect and defend the wicked. No! Christ commands Christians to love, forgive, protect and defend their brethren — their brothers — their neighbors — and their fellow Christians. Our forefathers obeyed Christ in this. May God help us to do the same.
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