The Bible is full of passages that direct followers of Jesus how to treat those that are our enemies. Of course this is pointing to those who do not agree with us or are not followers of Jesus themselves; in fact may follow another religion or belief system. As followers of Jesus how are we to treat those who seem to be our enemies?
As we read in Ephesians 6:12; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” So from this verse and the context of the passage our fight is not against other humans; whether they are from a different cultural or religious background. This fight is well beyond our comprehension to fully understand. So, as a follower of Jesus, our enemy is not someone who is an atheist, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, communist or any other possible “ism” but bottom line is that we are in a spiritual battle.
How or what are we to do with those who are considered our enemies or consider us their enemies? We must follow Scriptural truths!
The most powerful quote from Scripture comes from the mouth of Jesus Himself while He walked upon the earth: “You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven’” (Matthew 5:43-45a). What powerful words from our Savior, and we might be quick to add that it is easier said than done. It is true that it is easier said than done and in fact we cannot do this apart from Christ for we can do nothing apart from Him.
What Jesus said is not only in the New Testament for He knew the Old Testament verbatim. Proverbs 24:17 instructs us: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.” What we ought to do for one who is considered our enemy is what Proverbs 25:21-22 teaches: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.” I believe Jesus knew these few verses and was reiterating the principle to remind the apostles and us that His character shows forth in our actions toward those who are considered our enemies.
The Great Commission is our directive of what Jesus’ followers are to do to those who are not believers in Him: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” Matthew 28:19-20. We are commanded to make disciples of all nations as we go about our daily lives, whether it is in the United States or wherever God has placed us.
We take our cue from God who was motivated by love to send Jesus into the world to save sinners. Read the most famous verse out of the New Testament; “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” That is the Gospel or Good News in a nutshell and this is the marvelous message that followers of Jesus are to tell the world.
During these last days, which could also be called the age or days of grace, followers of Jesus should follow the instruction of Paul in Colossians 4:5-6. “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” When someone doesn’t agree with us we don’t lash out in anger at them, but we must remember the words of Scripture so that we might respond to them in a Christ-like manner. Now we might not always succeed in this, but we must continue to press on toward the prize of Christ Jesus.
We must know the Scriptures also, both Old and New Testament. Why? Peter sheds light on this in 1 Peter 3:14-15; “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” These are some weighty words from the apostle for us as we look at our world today and see how quickly our rights are dwindling. We must also consider the cultural context of the day where the Christians in that time were not popular or even legitimate in the eyes of the government or other belief systems. Those believers of the first century were taking much heat for following Jesus and this is how they were instructed to respond and did respond.
So knowledge of the Scriptures is paramount to knowing the Living Word Jesus Christ and for sharing our hope with others. When we respond with gentleness it does not mean that we’re soft but that we’re firm in our belief but not derogatory in our dialogue with others.
So what do we do with our enemies? We love them as Jesus does and as He modeled and taught us while He walked upon the earth as recorded in the New Testament.
Thanks to our Guest Contributor:
Pastor Ray Peters
Harvest Alliance Church
