In the "Sermon on the Mount" Jesus gave the foundational teachings of Christian living. These were not suggestions but new commandments. He was thorough and what He did was to point out where sin begins. Notice when He quotes something from the Old Testament and then He contrasts it by saying "BUT I SAY TO YOU". He is giving NEW instructions that don't allow us any excuses. He raised the bar, He raised the standard that we all must obey.
Mat 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'
22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. NKJV
The key to this passage is "angry with his brother..."WITHOUT A CAUSE". God is saying that those who are angry at their brother without a cause is guilty of MURDER and nothing less. The intent here is not just any cause that we can justify in our own minds, but a cause that is righteous in God's eyes. That is the standard by which we ourselves are judged. God's standard.
Now reflect for a while and ask yourself if you have been angry at someone for anything whatsoever. Were you angry at someone because they disagree with something you believe? Were you ever angry at someone because of a perceived injury to someone you know? Were you ever angry at someone because you believed in a rumor or Gossip? Were you ever angry at someone because they bruised your ego or hurt your pride? Did you get angry at someone because they took your parking spot? The list can go on and on if you think hard enough. Well guess what? In God's eyes you are guilty of MURDER. This is a hard pill for some to swallow but it is God's word that speaks truth here. So how do you make amends if this is the case? It is interesting how Jesus gave us the answer in the very next verse as to what our responsibility is.
Mat 5:23 THEREFORE if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
In other words, you know in your heart that someone has something against you because of something you did or said or if you are or have been angry without a cause in God's eyes. To take it even deeper. Suppose you did or said things about a person that in God's eyes falsely maligned a persons character and they are not aware you did it? Same principle applies in my opinion.
24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
In other words you have to first go and make every effort to reconcile with your brother or sister before you can go boldly before the altar of God and present your gift. Notice that Jesus here does not just simply say to confess your sins and all is well. He said you have to go and reconcile. That my brothers and sisters is a true heart of repentance.
I hope that we all learn from the words of our Lord in this and press forward to the depths of His wisdom and love one another JUST AS Christ loved us.
John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."NKJV
I don't know about computers, but I really don't think a tech problem would do SELECTIVE deletions...on the board as well as from my message box. Only certain posts have been deleted and the others so orderly arranged as to corrrespond ... I don't think so.
BTW, Leon.. Even the post I wrote to Walter joking along with Lydia, to your comment about needing those edit and spell check buttons, and being illiterate has also disappeared. Unless my eye sight has indeed failed me, and I don't realize it... :winksmile:
Yeah, Walter... I receive a similar response. And I apologzie to CDFF if my comments are in error. However, it behooves me as to how database problems have so carefully deleted certain posts on these threads, as well as on other threads that we have posted... although my messages have returned, our posts on these threads still have not returned. This is just craaazzzzeee!...:rolleyes:
so many people are going to wonder where I come from after all these posts, but here it goes:
It is my understanding that in God's eyes all sin is equal. So when we are angry at someone it leads (as many people have mentioned or hinted at) unpure thoughts which is the same as commiting the act thus sinning. The anger in and of itself is not a problem (as the post which stated Jesus showed anger so beatifully stated). Another example often given is lusting after your neighbors wife. Your unpure thoughts are just as bad as commiting the act.
Now, I do have to say that I disagree with the make amends with every person you have wronged before you can present your gift at the alter. As I understand it you are reading into that verse as literally physically making amends, but that simply isn't always possible.
The obvious answer is that God makes acceptions. Well, before we reconcile with someone else we should reconcile with ourselves and in doing so we should also be reconciling with God. However, if it is possible to reconcile with the person I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to do so :) I've also heard some people say that 'brother' means Jesus.
My final thought on this topic is that no matter how you interpret what God is saying ultimately God is the only one that can judge an action and determine whether or not it was a sin and/or if it is forgiven. It is important to remember that some Christians are in a profession where deaths are very common and the line between murder and killing is miniscule to the casual observer.
You have some good points about not always being able to make things right with someone we have wronged. I think, like everything else with God, all we need to do is make a real effort. For one thing, they will not always forgive you.
We also sometimes forget when we are discussing these things, that Jesus died for all our sins, even not setting things right with our brother. We are forgiven, in spite of our shortcomings.
