Dr Paul Allen

Image via Wikipedia "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." ( Matthew 5:44 )   The Lord never promised that the Christian life would be easy! If we are commanded to love our enemies, the presumption is that we shall have enemies. We must expect persecution if we are expected to pray for our persecutors.   This sermon was to His disciples, not to the multitude (see  Matthew 5:1 ), and the Lord is assuming they would inevitably have enemies, just as He did. "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. . . . If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you" ( John 15:18, 20 ).   He had even called such persecution a blessing. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness ' sake" ( Matthew 5:10 ). However, we need to be sure that any such persecution comes "for righteousness' sa

Image via Wikipedia In the Sermon on the Mount , when Jesus reveals to the Pharisees the depth of how they continually violate the spirit of the law (and so, fall short of righteousness on their own), He says, "[B]ut I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" ( Matthew 5:28 ). Was Jesus saying that lust is equal to adultery? We tend to think that sin is sin and that no sin is greater than any other.  We think of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that to lust after a woman is to be guilty of adultery. We are aware that the Bible teaches if we sin against one point of the law, we sin against the whole law.  These two biblical teachings can easily confuse us about the degrees of sin. When Jesus said that to lust is to violate the law against adultery, He did not say or imply that lust is  as bad as  the full act of adultery.  His point was that the full measure of the law prohibite

Image via Wikipedia "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ , not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." ( Philippians 1:29 )   Paul wrote in the previous verses that we are to conduct ourselves as though our only citizenship was worthy of the gospel message that we proclaim, and that in doing so we should be committed to a mindset held together by the Holy Spirit .  Then, he encouraged us not to be "terrified by your adversaries" ( Philippians 1:28 ).   Such adversaries--from the devil himself ( 1 Peter 5:8 ) to business ( Matthew 5:25 ) and family problems ( Luke 12:13 )--are part and parcel to those who would "live godly in Christ Jesus " ( 2 Timothy 3:12 ).  We should not be surprised when such challenges come; rather, we should be alarmed if all men "speak well of you" ( Luke 6:26 ).   Curiously, Paul wrote that we are "gifted" (Greek verb  charizomai , same idea as the related noun  charis ) with th

Image via Wikipedia "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." ( Luke 6:26 )   It is no compliment to say about a Christian that he has no enemies, for that is the same as saying he has accomplished nothing.  The apostle Paul had many bitter enemies, and they finally got him executed. In fact, almost all of the great heroes of the faith, through all the centuries since Satan gained his victory over Adam and Eve , have had to overcome bitter opposition from that wicked one.   So instead of resenting our enemies, we should thank God for them, for they enable us to become more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ ! Only through such experiences can we learn what it means to say, with Paul: "I am crucified with Christ " ( Galatians 2:20 ).  Only if we have enemies can we learn to obey Christ's difficult command to "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and