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Matthew 5:46-48: “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
See also Luke 6:33-36, Matthew 5:38-41, Luke 6:29-30, Matthew 5:43-44, and Romans 12:20-21:
- Luke 6:33-36: “And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
- Matthew 5:38-41: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.”
- Luke 6:29-30: “And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.”
- Matthew 5:43-44: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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;”
- Romans 12:20-21: “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
When it comes to the commandments, we want to know what it requires practically. How far does it go? How much must I do? If I am to work hard as unto the Lord, how hard must I work? The world is quick to provide answers; we all know those answers intuitively. We grew up with those answers, and they surround us every day. The world has a picture of hard work, and of neighborly love, and all the virtues found in God’s word. Not only have we heard it said, but we have seen it lived. But Jesus is not impressed with these standards. The religious establishment was taken with it; the scribes and Pharisees had preached this lax morality to the masses Jesus addressed in Matthew 5 and Luke 6. The religious leaders set their bar according to the standard of the world around them, and today we are prone to do the same. We have our reasons.
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Yet if I go only as far as any non-believer would go, what difference has God’s grace made in my life? How is God’s presence seen when I live to the same standard as the rest of the world around me? No, beloved, I must work more diligently than my unbelieving peers. I must be more considerate of my employees and do better by them than the competition. I must show a greater love to my neighbor. Indeed, I must even love those who hate me. This is what Christ did, and continues to do. We are all former enemies of Christ whom He loved enough to die for. If He would do so much for us, what shall we refuse to do for Him?
In many ways, the latter portion of Matthew 5 expands the idea of Romans 12:2. We are born in conformity to the world; it is our first teacher, fostering the selfishness of our flesh, with demonic forces aiding us ever deeper into the false standards of the fallen. It is a broken standard, often doubled, fragmented, and ever rewritten. Heaven’s standard is fixed, eternal, and consistent. When we pursue that more excellent way, we are the salt of the world, preserving the good and enhancing it. When we pursue God’s standard of living, we are the light of the world, shining into the darkness. The world desperately needs both salt and light.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. Matthew 5:13 ESV
When we settle for the world’s ideas of what love is, or how business should be conducted, or what constitutes murder, we lose our saltiness. I find it especially disturbing when the world’s ideas infiltrate the church. I have been in several meetings where a church cited Forbes more than Scripture in conducting its business affairs. If we do it at church, we will do it at home. If this is our way in our homes, and in our churches, what are we doing at work, and in the public square?
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 ESV
We are made to stand out like a lamp in a dark room. That is a daunting prospect if ever there were one. Drawing that kind of attention is uncomfortable. We like to fit in, blend with our society. This is one reason we need to reinforce the fellowship of the society of salt and light in our local church, and we need it more than two or three times a week. A fellowship that is earnestly pursuing God’s standard by studying every dot and tittle of the Bible, praying without ceasing, and living together in Christ is worth every effort to belong to. Outside of that society, the pressures of the world, flesh, and devil will easily overwhelm us and move us into lockstep with the way of the godless. We will find ourselves saying, “It is enough to do the bare minimum; it is as much as anyone else does; it is all that is asked of me.”
No, beloved, you are asked to go beyond, to rise above as a beacon of hope for the dying. You must live the difference, so that they might know there is a difference. Here, brothers and sisters, is my question to us all, a question that came to me in a song. That song, The Difference by Jonah33, also answers our question.
How can they see clearly if there’s no evidence? They believe when they see; each day we live the difference.
Be holy, set apart, as your Father in Heaven is Holy. Be holy, perfect, as your Father in Heaven is holy. We achieve the first as we pursue the second; God help us. Amen.
Ah, but I must not leave you beloved with an admonition devoid of encouragement, for that would be a heavy yoke, and our Lord’s yoke is easy. What He calls us to; He also provides for. So, we have His standard of living in every arena of life through the clear teaching of the Bible. We have the Holy Spirit Himself as our indwelling helper, so that the life which made all the difference is in us and making a difference both in us and through us John 15:5. We have the ear of the Father in prayer, and our Lord Jesus prays for us, and also the Holy Spirit. We have a great cloud of witnesses to encourage and admonish by example. We have the teachings of the
saints throughout history to enhance our understanding of God’s word. We have the camaraderie of our fellow saints in the local church. We have the Lord’s Supper to remind and to nourish our souls with the reality of Christ’s communion with us and sacrifice for us. We have baptism as the outward sign of the inward reality of new life in Christ. We have Christ beloved; we have all that is in Christ. We have all we need, and glory awaits.
You see the glory ahead, the glory, which is already and not yet, when held close, makes the difference. This is what I leave you with: the difference is not something we do; it is who we are. It is not hard to live out your nature, and we have this new nature in Christ by grace. The old nature clings on, but it cannot overcome God’s grace in us. Now, I am convinced that one of the great differences between believers and unbelievers is that believers fall, confess, repent, and by grace rise to walk the more excellent way again.
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