MJJ

Jesus calls us to rise above our imperfect love to his perfect agape love. The word translated "Be perfect" in verse 48 is Greek teleios, "complete, perfect," from the verb teleō, "bring to an end, finish, complete, carry out, accomplish. God's love for the just and the unjust is the end or purpose or goal of our love. Christ's death on the cross for our sins is perhaps the best example of all. We Christians cannot settle for a love that only loves friends. Instead we are to embrace a greater love, impossible unless the Holy Spirit grows this love within our hearts. We aspire to a love that forgives the unforgivable, a love that bridges the enmity of decades, a love that refuses to tire from rejection, a love that never gives up. This is the love we are called to. This quality of love is God's perfection and glory, and is to be ours as well. Verse 45 states : "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." God's love is perfect because He loves everyone of us indiscriminately.

There are times when you must clearly defend yourself and defeat evil, if you don't want it to prevail. A world war to right these wrongs and bring justice to the peoples of the earth was righteous. Sometimes we simultaneously are called upon as citizens here on earth to fulfill a dual role, such as a policeman, soldier, or judge, at the same time as we operate on a personal level according to Jesus' insistence on loving our enemies. For example, it is entirely possible that a victim will forgive an offence while the offender is sentenced by a judge to punishment for his crimes. We must separate the personal from the judicial or we get in trouble. Of course, the judicial function, too, is to be guided by God's laws. It should operate under God, not as a law to itself.

Jesus is calling his followers to a higher standard. Instead of retaliation and resistance against enemies, he calls them to a radical love, rather than turn on them with resistance and retaliation we are to -- in love for them -- give them more than they require.

They are all examples. They are not case law to serve as the basis of a new Christian legalism. The theme is non-retaliation. Jesus says: Do not set yourself against the evil person. Jesus wants us to do more than is required of us by our enemies, by those who are trying to use us, by those who are trying to take advantage of us. Rather than turn on them with resistance and retaliation we are to -- in love for them -- give them more than they require. Jesus isn't placing his followers outside the protection of justice, but he is calling them to a higher standard. Instead of retaliation and resistance against enemies, he calls them to a radical love.

The point here is to restrain man's vindictiveness, not encourage it. "Law of retaliation," simply stated says that you may not extract from someone who has injured you any more than you have lost. In other words, the punishment should fit the crime -- no more, no less. We find it first in the ancient Code of Hammurabi, a king who ruled in Babylon from 1728 to 1686 BC. It was designed for justice administered through a court of law.

Jesus asks us to be truthful and mean what we say. He is asking us not to play games with words with the intention of deceiving others. If we speak to deceive, then we are following the devil and not God. If we obeyed this command we would "speak the truth in love" like true children of God.

Jesus' words meant to convey to us that we are to take sexual lus+ with utmost seriousness. He intended us to understand that lus+ can lead us down the road to hell itself. Therefore, he is saying, unless you and I want to stand as guilty before God as one who commits physical adultery, we must repent rather than excuse ourselves. We must train our eyes to see as God sees with the love with which God loves, then it would be hard to look with lus+. The reason brothers & sisters don't usually lus+ for each other -- beyond a strong cultural incest taboo -- is because they care for each other as people. Their relationship goes beyond the physical exterior to the real person who has longings and disappointments, a person with potential and hope and pain. That is what "agape" (God's love) is all about.

I would advise him to Share with someone close to you your struggle with this sin and become accountable to this person. Ask for this person's prayer support and confess your sins to him (James 5:16). Seek counsel for your problem from a pastor or Christian counselor. Use the weapons of prayer, scripture reading, and fasting. Throw out any pornographic materials you possess. Get rid of anything in your home that triggers this ****. To prevent temptation over TV - ask the cable operator to block those channels or just disconnect cable TV. To prevent temptation over internet - use software that blocks such websites.

There are lots of things wrong with pornogr@phy. 1. Pornogr@phy helps men view women as mere sex objects. 2. Pornogr@phy lowers moral values in individuals and society resulting in the acceptability and/or legalization of prostitution, fornication, adultery, and other sexual perversions. 3. Pornogr@phy creates unrealistic expectations of sex and sexual practices that spouses may be unable or unwilling to fulfill. 4. Pornogr@phy isolates sexual fulfillment from a caring relationship with another human being, rendering it essentially selfish. 5. Pornogr@phy exploits young women's naivet

The sex drive is a good thing given by God, but only good when it is exercised within the boundaries God has set, namely, marriage. Natural desire for the opposite sex is normal and necessary. Men desire women and vice versa, families are formed, children produced. That is what God intended. Outside of marriage, sex may "feel so right" but bring a harvest of bad fruit. We read in Genesis 2 about a man and a woman. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife [literally, "woman"], and they will become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24) This unity of husband and wife is the basic unit. Like any good gift, however, Satan is quick to pervert or twist it into something God didn't intend - like ****, prostitution, unchastity, fornication, homosexual behaviour.

The point of similarity is that as per The Tenth Commandment both lus+ and adultery are caused by desire. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17). The point of difference is that while lus+ is the desire, adultery is the actual act of being involved with someone other than the spouse.

The theme of Jesus' teaching is that God is seeking those who do not let anger and hatred live in their hearts at all. He is seeking those who will show mercy, those who will forgive, those who will LOVE. This is why Jesus said "Love your neighbor as yourself." That is the aim of the whole law, straight from the mouth of God himself in the Person of Jesus Christ.

In this mini-parable, Jesus is saying, settle quickly, before you get to court. Settle quickly or you'll be stuck for every last cent that is due. Jesus is teaching his hearers to reconcile quickly with those they have wronged and not to put it off. The implication is that if they wait for God to settle the matter at his bar of justice, that judgment will exacting and harsh punishment. Jesus' mini-parable is only a thinly-veiled picture of us having to stand before God for every one of our sins unless we repent now.

Jesus' clear point is that worship -- seeking to honor God by bringing an offering -- is a mockery if we don't first repent of our sins and carry out that repentance to its logical conclusion. That point isn't radical. It is taught throughout the Scripture in such passages as: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). "Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God..." (Joel 2:13). "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Psalm 51:16-17). Sometimes we have hurt someone deeply and it is fully our fault, but when we go to humble ourselves and seek forgiveness we are snubbed. We may be snubbed, but we must still go and seek reconciliation.

Jesus goes to the heart of the Law as he expounds the motivation behind murder -- anger, and because of this Jesus classifies anger as bad as murder as they both come from the same root. Jesus is saying that we are guilty before God for a heart that lashes out in anger and venom. If we believe that an angry attitude is viewed by God as murder, we would not insult others or speak rudely and harshly to them. Insulting words crush the spirit and affect us sometimes for life.

I would not say that the church has abolished the law of the old testament, although there are some laws that are not followed in the church today. Christian legalism in the church exists when some people pass judgment on others and when they feel superior to others. The church must have moral standards since we have Jesus as our example. A church without moral standards would be a church that does not emulate Jesus.

If we use the preservative analogy, we would say that Christians by their very presence help preserve the world and hold back the wrath of God against it. I believe that God's mercy on our sinful world is due to the prayers and presence of the saints on earth. Christians have awakened the conscience of society through the ages. Christians paved the way for the abolition of slavery in the United States. Christians led the way toward a non-violent protest against racial discrimination. Christians fight for the life of the unborn child. Christians being the salt of the earth, salt has to do with witness and conversation. We're under so much pressure to give up our differences and blend in with society. We must not allow our lives to become compromised, worthless, insipid, tangy-less and good for nothing except like salt that has lost its saltiness, which is fit to be thrown on the pathway to keep the grass from growing on it. Instead we must live a life of witnessing for Christ.

The relationship b/w verse 13-16 with verse 10-12 is that Jesus' teaching on salt and light follows hard on the heels of the Beatitudes, which closes extolling the blessedness of those who are persecuted for Jesus' sake. Together, the Beatitudes and the Parables of Salt and Light form a kind of profile of the Spirit-filled disciple. Both salt and light are worthless if they are salt less or hidden from view. The reason for a Christian's witness: "that [men] may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Therefore we must not hide our light. Glory and persecution go hand in hand because persecution means that people see enough of Jesus in us to be worth resisting and persecuting, so we should count it as a badge of honor, and the portent of a great reward in heaven. Christ's suffering was necessary in order to fulfill God's will, and Jesus was resurrected in a Glorious way. Our suffering too is necessary to let our light shine so clearly that people can see God clearly in our works and in our deeds, and evoke praise to him. Romans 12:12 "Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer." This verse tells us not to despair in persecution, but instead to rejoice and not lose hope.

Jesus is referring to making one's witness uncompromisingly clear. Jesus says we must let people see our good works rather than hiding them. The reason for a Christian's witness: "that [men] may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Jesus warns us against compromise and then says that when we live good lives we must let our good works shine forth without fear of being persecuted.

We're under so much pressure to give up our differences and blend in with society. When we give up our standards and compromise, we lose our saltiness. When we don't stand for our values and when we mildly claim of our Christianity we act as a counterfeit of the real salt. Nobody is perfect, everyone loses their saltiness at times but the moment we realize we must act quickly and return to the Christian way of life and must be willing to bear our witness, even though it may bring persecution.

Jesus tells us to look at what they are saying and laugh. Not at our tormentors, but in the glory of God that we anticipate. We are to laugh the laugh of faith. Jesus tells us to rejoice because : "For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." And in our pain we begin to understand. Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted in that we receive a prophet's reward. No, we have not been elevated here by our own blind and selfish zeal. But by God's grace we are enabled to enjoy a wonderful privilege, to be counted among the choice ones of God. Jesus says the persecuted will inherit the kingdom of heaven because though they are discriminated against and attacked by men, yet God will bless them for remaining true to the righteous living that they stand for. They refuse to back down in the face of threats because they are sold out to God and God will honor them for it. They may have earned the hatred and malice of men, but they have earned the favor of God himself for their courage and he will reward them with possession of the kingdom of heaven.

Purity of Heart referred here is the willingness to do the will of God just as Jesus served his Father fully and always -- purity of heart with courage, purity of heart when in danger for his life. We see purity of heart in Jesus. Sinners cannot see God because their lives are filled with compromise and conformity, **** and licentiousness cannot see God. They cannot know him. We obtain purity when our hearts are cleansed and made pure by Christ himself and when we actively seek that purity that and intimacy with the Lord. Our hearts will be pure when we prefer closeness to God to the allurements of sin.

The world makes fun of those who desire to do what is right, to tell the truth, to seek real justice. Those whose ideals get in the way of success are mocked. Those who refuse to compromise, even to their detriment, are scorned. This is what puts one at odds with the world. Jesus offers a blessing to those who seek righteousness with all their heart, who thirst for it. And he promises that they will be filled with it. It means that we should hate the sin in us and long to be righteous. Desire it, ache for it and it will be given to us.

The world does not understand meekness. Those in the world who want to make something of themselves don't value meekness. Instead they push themselves in front of others, promote themselves, and climb the ladder to success at the cost of others. Humility is important to Christlikeness because Christ our King embodies love at its highest, courage at its greatest, humbling himself to the lowest, in order to save to the uttermost those who are lost. Those who trust in themselves rather than God will be left with nothing, blessing-less, while the meek, the humble, the ones who trust in God, will inherit the earth and God's blessing.

As a Christian we mourn in our emptiness and purposelessness and pain, and are comforted by Jesus' salvation and the presence of his Spirit. We mourn with Jesus, too, and are comforted by his Return and the consummation of his Reign. We mourn when we see degradation and unrighteousness and injustice around us. Sometimes we weep over the delay in justice, as did the martyrs.