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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you,
and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
— Matthew 5:43–45
“Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”
— Luke 6:36
The central theme of this song, *Love Beyond Limits*, is the most searching and radical demand Jesus ever placed on His disciples: love your enemies.
This is not sentiment. It is not human kindness. It is a supernatural way of life that demonstrates one thing: who your Father really is.
Notice the purpose clause:
“that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:45).
Jesus does not present enemy-love as an optional extra for advanced believers. He presents it as a mark of true sonship, the evidence that we belong to the Father and carry His nature.
The song captures that contrast: the way people “twisted the law” versus the “whole new way” of the kingdom. The world runs on revenge. The kingdom runs on grace. The world says, “Hate your enemy.” Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Let us look at what the Word of God says and allow it to search our hearts, our relationships, and our reactions to those who oppose us.
---
These words occur in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and the parallel teaching in Luke 6 (often called the Sermon on the Plain). Jesus is speaking to His disciples, with crowds also listening, in Galilee.
### “You have heard that it was said…”
In Matthew 5, Jesus repeatedly uses this pattern:
He is not contradicting the Law of Moses. He is correcting misinterpretations and human traditions that had been built around the Law.
The Old Testament did indeed command:
But nowhere did God command:
That second phrase was a human addition—a religious distortion. It reflected the natural mind: *love your own, hate your enemies*. That is how ethnic, political, and religious hatred was justified—then and now.
Jesus confronts that corruption directly.
### The People Listening
Jesus is speaking to Jews under Roman occupation. Many in Israel deeply resented their Roman overlords and also their own collaborators (tax collectors). The social atmosphere was tense, charged with hostility, resentment, and nationalism.
To such a people Jesus says:
Humanly, this is offensive. It confronts our deepest instincts for self-protection and revenge. Yet Jesus presents this as the normal life of the kingdom.
### The Aim: The Father’s Likeness
“That you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:45).
Sonship in Scripture is about likeness and representation. To be a son of God means to bear His character and display His nature. Jesus is saying, in effect:
Luke’s parallel statement condenses it:
“Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)
The command to love enemies is not rooted in human ethics. It is rooted in the character of God.
---
To grasp the depth of this teaching, we need to examine two key words in the Greek text.
### 1. “Love” – *agapaō* (ἀγαπάω)
The word Jesus uses in “love your enemies” is from the verb agapaō, related to the noun agapē.
Agapē is the love Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13: patient, kind, not self-seeking. It is most fully displayed in God’s love at the cross:
“But God demonstrates His own love (*agapēn*) toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
When Jesus says, “Love your enemies,” He is not telling you to feel warm emotions. He is commanding a choice of the will, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to seek the good of those who oppose you.
### 2. “Merciful” – *oiktirmōn* (οἰκτίρμων)
In Luke 6:36 Jesus says:
“Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”
The word translated “merciful” is oiktirmōn. It speaks of deep compassion, a pity that moves to action. It is related to the Old Testament concept often translated “compassion” or “tender mercy.”
In Hebrew, God is frequently called rachum (רַחוּם) – compassionate.
“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious…” (Exodus 34:6).
To be *oiktirmōn* is not to be weak or indulgent. It is to enter into the heart of God toward the undeserving. It is to feel toward your enemy something of what God felt toward you when you were His enemy (Romans 5:10).
When the song repeats, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” it is not a sentimental call. It is a call to display the very nature of God in the face of hostility.
---
Now we will move through the themes of the lyrics and connect them to Scripture.
### A. “You have heard it said… but I’m giving you a whole new way”
> You have heard it said in the old days
> “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy”
> That’s how people twisted the law back then
> But I’m giving you a whole new way
This captures the essence of Matthew 5:43–44. The distortion was: love your neighbor, hate your enemy. Jesus unveils the kingdom correction.
This is consistent with the Old Testament, which already hinted at this broader love:
The kingdom is not new in essence, but new in clarity and scope. Jesus takes what was latent in Scripture and makes it explicit and inescapable.
### B. “Love those who stand against you, pray for the ones who make your life hard”
> Love those who stand against you
> Pray for the ones who make your life hard
This restates Matthew 5:44:
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you,
do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”
Notice the four commands:
1. Love your enemies – *agapaō* them.
2. Bless those who curse you – speak well of them, call down God’s goodness over them.
3. Do good to those who hate you – concrete actions, not just words.
4. Pray for those who persecute you – bring them before God’s throne.
Each step moves deeper:
This is the basic pattern of spiritual warfare in relationships. Instead of reacting in the flesh—resentment, anger, retaliation—we respond in the Spirit—love, blessing, active good, intercession.
Romans 12 echoes this:
The only way to overcome evil is with good, not with more evil.
### C. “If you only love those who love you back…”
> If you only love those who love you back
> What makes you any different?
> Even tax collectors do that much
This reflects Jesus’ words:
“For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46)
Tax collectors were despised collaborators with Rome—considered morally compromised. Jesus is saying:
The question is: What makes you different?
The kingdom life is distinctive. It reveals another source, another nature, another Spirit.
> If you greet only your own people
> You’re no better than the world around you
> God’s children show a higher kind of love
Jesus continues:
“And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?” (Matthew 5:47)
The phrase “what do you do more than others?” is crucial. Sons and daughters of God are marked by the “more”—the extra mile, the second mile grace.
This is not optional. It is the “higher kind of love” that proves we belong to God.
### D. “God causes His sun to rise… He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked”
> God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good
> He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike
> He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked
> Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
These lines bring together Matthew 5:45 and Luke 6:35–36.
Matthew:
“He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)
Luke:
“For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:35–36)
Notice two things:
1. Common grace: Sun and rain are given without discrimination.
2. Kindness to the unthankful and evil:
This is the pattern we are called to imitate:
The song states it plainly:
> This is how you show you belong to Him
Not by correct doctrines alone, not merely by spiritual gifts, but by enemy-love that mirrors the Father’s kindness.
### E. “The world runs on revenge, but we run on grace”
> The world runs on revenge, but we run on grace
> Return blessing for curse, embrace for a slap in the face
> It’s not natural—it’s supernatural power
> His love flowing through us hour after hour
This captures the contrast between the spirit of the world and the Spirit of Christ.
The world system operates on:
Jesus introduces another economy:
> It’s not natural—it’s supernatural power
Enemy-love is not produced by human determination. It is fruit of the Spirit:
Our task is not to manufacture this love but to yield to the Holy Spirit, allowing:
> His love flowing through us hour after hour
This is continuous dependence on the Spirit.
### F. “When we love the unlovable, the Father is seen”
> When we love the unlovable, the Father is seen
> And hearts that were hard begin to soften and lean
Here we see the missional dimension.
Jesus said:
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
And by extension, when we love enemies, we display the Father. We make Him visible in a hostile world.
“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” (Acts 7:60)
That is enemy-love in action.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
Such love has spiritual power to break hardness:
We are not promised that all enemies will repent. But we are promised that our obedience will bear fruit and that we will be like our Father.
### G. “That you may be children of your Father… Perfect in love as He is perfect”
> That you may be children of your Father in heaven
> Perfect in love as He is perfect and true
This echoes Matthew 5:45 and 5:48.
The “perfection” Jesus speaks of is not sinless flawlessness in every area. In this context, it is perfection in love—a love that is whole, complete, not restricted to those who please us.
God’s love is inclusive in its offer, though not all receive it. It extends to:
To be “perfect” as the Father is perfect is to allow the Holy Spirit to remove the limits we place on love.
> Love without limits, pray without ceasing
> For enemies near and the ones far from you
> This is the mark of the kingdom come
> Love like the Father—love everyone
This is eschatological—pointing to the kingdom come. Wherever men and women love enemies, the reign of God is manifested in a fallen world. It becomes a sign of the age to come, breaking into the present.
---
This teaching is not theory. It is a call to concrete obedience. We will consider four practical steps.
### 1. Identify Your “Enemies” Honestly
First, we must face reality. You may say, “I have no enemies.” But Scripture defines “enemies” functionally:
Ask the Holy Spirit:
These are the relationships where the command “love your enemies” becomes specific.
Write down names if necessary. Bring them into the light. Enemy-love begins where you are most wounded, misunderstood, or opposed.
### 2. Renounce Hatred, Resentment, and the Right to Revenge
Second, we must break agreement with the spirit of the world.
Romans 12:19:
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
When you release the right to revenge, you free yourself from a spiritual prison. Demons feed on bitterness. They lose their ground when you forgive and release.
Make a deliberate choice: “I forgive [name] in the name of Jesus. I release them from my judgment. I hand them over to God.”
You may not feel it at first, but forgiveness is not a feeling. It is an act of the will in obedience to God.
### 3. Obey the Fourfold Command: Love, Bless, Do Good, Pray
Third, we must move from inner forgiveness to active obedience.
1. Love – Choose their good.
2. Bless – Speak words of blessing.
3. Do good – Look for practical acts of kindness.
4. Pray – Intercede.
Persist. Sometimes the breakthrough comes not after one prayer, but after consistent obedience.
### 4. Rely on the Holy Spirit, Not Your Strength
Fourth, we must acknowledge that this is beyond human capacity.
Make it a daily habit:
In this way, loving your enemies becomes not a single act but a way of life, a flow of the Spirit through you.
---
### Proclamation of Faith
Speak this aloud as an act of alignment with God’s Word:
> I affirm today that I am a child of my Father in heaven.
> He loved me when I was His enemy.
> He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
> He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good,
> and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
>
> In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
> I choose to love my enemies.
> I choose to bless those who curse me,
> to do good to those who hate me,
> and to pray for those who spitefully use me and persecute me.
>
> I renounce all hatred, bitterness, and desire for revenge.
> I lay down my right to judge and to repay evil.
> Vengeance belongs to the Lord.
>
> Holy Spirit, pour the love of God into my heart.
> Let the love of the Father flow through me
> to friends and enemies alike.
>
> By Your grace, I will be merciful,
> just as my Father is merciful.
> I will love without limits
> and pray without ceasing,
> that the world may see the Father in me
> and know that I belong to Him.
>
> In Jesus’ name. Amen.
### Prayer
Father in heaven,
We come to You through the blood of Jesus, Your Son, who loved us when we were Your enemies and gave Himself for us.
We confess that in many ways we have limited our love. We have loved those who loved us and avoided those who hurt us. We ask Your forgiveness for every thought of hatred, every word of cursing, every desire for revenge.
Lord Jesus, You commanded us to love our enemies. We acknowledge that in ourselves we cannot do this. We ask You now: fill us with Your Spirit. Pour out Your love in our hearts. Give us Your eyes for those who oppose us.
Right now we bring before You those who have wronged us, resisted us, or persecuted us. [Pause and name them before the Lord.] We choose, in obedience to Your Word, to forgive them. We release them from our judgment. We bless them in Your name. We ask You to work in their lives for their good and for Your glory.
Father, make us true sons and daughters who reflect Your nature. Let our lives demonstrate that we belong to You. Let Your kingdom be manifested in us as we overcome evil with good.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
Amen.
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