I think that it’s going to take us a while to learn how to think and live with and around righteousness.
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matt. 5:6)
No more errant thoughts followed to the conclusion of sin, no more desires of our old nature, demanding attention, envy, greed, lust, jealousy, all gone. A new experience that I personally do not believe will come naturally, it will, in a sense, arrive only by experience, by being in a position that is familiar to us, but with entirely different results.
Loving God and our neighbor as ourselves may take some time as well, for we will have spent decades having attempted to do that, which in all reality, is impossible for us to fulfill completely, for again, our old nature hinders us at nearly every turn.
“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;” (Matt. 5:44)
In our eternal home this verse will hold no meaning for us, for we will have no enemies, that sinful nature will be gone from every one of our family in Christ, no spite, no harsh words, no anxiety of non-acceptance. These things will all be new to us, and I believe it’s going to take a while to adjust to them.
It is this verse then, in light of all presented here so far, that I would like to draw your attention to.
“And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10)
These people are in heaven, they are the ones that will be killed for their testimony, their faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ during the days of Jacob’s Troubles, and they want to be avenged. That means they do not love their enemies; it means they want the Almighty to punish those who killed them.
So, I ask you, again, in light of all the verses you can recall about how we are to respond to those who cruelly abuse us, mock us, even have killed some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, should we ask the Almighty to avenge us, to make them suffer for their evil deeds?
If not, why will those under His throne do so?
I believe that one of the purposes of these letters to you is to assist you in seeking the face of God for His glory by asking questions that most people do not want to attempt to answer, much less contemplate at length. Stephen asked the Lord, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:60) The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
These people want the Almighty to exact vengeance upon those who killed them, they want to be avenged.
There are some people who, wrongfully, believe that the further along we read in the Scriptures, that certain verses override previous ones, that if it is in the Book of Matthew, but states in a different way in 1st John, the latter book supersedes the previous.
It would be wrong to think that way.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2nd Tim. 3:16)
“For I am the LORD, I change not;” (Malachi 3:6a)
Others believe there is one set of rules in this regard for the Old Testament and another for the New, again, incorrect.
So then, after all is said and done, I leave you to your contemplations with no definitive answer. We are to love our enemies, not with an emotional love as you do your spouse or children, but with the acts of kindness that reveal the love of the Living God to them, yet these will ask the Almighty to avenge their deaths.
Should we do the same?
These types of letters to you my friends are not meant to cause you to stumble, but to contemplate, not to doubt, but to consider the truths of what some call the deep things of the Word of God.
I leave you then to your thoughts.
