"You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not kill,' and whoever kills will be liable to the judgment.
But I say to you that whoever gets angry with his brother without cause will be liable to the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Empty-head!' will be liable to the council. But whoever says, ' fool!' will be liable to the fiery hell.
Therefore if you offer your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Make friends with your adversary quickly, while you are on the road with him, lest your adversary hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be cast into prison.
Assuredly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. Mat 5:21-26 English Majority Text
That is No Little Sin
We noticed in the last post that Jesus Christ did not agree with the Roman Catholic church that there are mortal and venial sins. James wrote, For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of all. James 2:10. All sin is sin!
Let us not flatter ourselves into thinking that those things we call "little sins" will be overlooked by The Just Judge. They must be accounted for and Paul wrote, the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 6:23.
Life after sin is possible but it cannot be achieved by hours of penance, self-torture, or paying indulgences. It is available to us only because Christ Jesus died and rose again and we must be willing to accept that as the only payment for our sins.
Life after sin is possible but it cannot be achieved by hours of penance, self-torture, or paying indulgences. It is available to us only because Christ Jesus died and rose again and we must be willing to accept that as the only payment for our sins.
Christ continues with the topic of "big sins" versus "little sins". You have heard whoever kills (commits premeditated murder) will be liable to the judgment. (such an one must be put to death ... "by the house of judgment", the country's highest court system.) Gill.
Note that this word kill does not include a soldier's actions in a war. I have more about this in:
https://wwwthinkagai.blogspot.com/2012/07/is-pacifism-biblical.html
Note that this word kill does not include a soldier's actions in a war. I have more about this in:
https://wwwthinkagai.blogspot.com/2012/07/is-pacifism-biblical.html
Anger
Christ continues, But I say to you that whoever gets angry with his brother (fellow human) without cause will be liable to the judgment. Certainly, Christians are allowed to be angry when there is a reason for it, but not without cause.
Road rage is a good example of this. Someone pulls in front of us, into the space which we rightfully thought was ours, and immediately we seeth. This is anger without cause. It might have been the other driver's innocent mistake, but even if it wasn't, so what if he is ahead of us rather than behind us. No big deal! Keep your cool.
It seems strange that Christ said that we will be brought to court for being angry about something. The idea could be that we won't be taken to court for being angry but because of how we act in our anger and, in the example above, attack the other driver with a tire iron, or worse, and so we end up in court on a murder charge.
It sounds as if Christ is speaking of slander because He says whoever says to his brother, 'Empty-head!' will be liable to the council (in Christ's day council meant the Jewish Sanhedrim. Strong G4892.) The Supreme Council of the land.
Instead of Empty-head the KJV uses the word Raca and some Bible commentators say that this word represents the worst that any person could call another person.
But whoever says, 'fool!' will be liable to the fiery hell. The word fool, in this case, designates a person as morally worthless and an apostate. If a person takes it upon himself to judge another's character that way, he, himself, should receive a punishment fit for a rebel against God, that is, everlasting destruction. New World Commentary. We may judge another person's actions but we may never judge another person's character!
Road rage is a good example of this. Someone pulls in front of us, into the space which we rightfully thought was ours, and immediately we seeth. This is anger without cause. It might have been the other driver's innocent mistake, but even if it wasn't, so what if he is ahead of us rather than behind us. No big deal! Keep your cool.
It seems strange that Christ said that we will be brought to court for being angry about something. The idea could be that we won't be taken to court for being angry but because of how we act in our anger and, in the example above, attack the other driver with a tire iron, or worse, and so we end up in court on a murder charge.
Slander
It sounds as if Christ is speaking of slander because He says whoever says to his brother, 'Empty-head!' will be liable to the council (in Christ's day council meant the Jewish Sanhedrim. Strong G4892.) The Supreme Council of the land.
Instead of Empty-head the KJV uses the word Raca and some Bible commentators say that this word represents the worst that any person could call another person.
Judgement
But whoever says, 'fool!' will be liable to the fiery hell. The word fool, in this case, designates a person as morally worthless and an apostate. If a person takes it upon himself to judge another's character that way, he, himself, should receive a punishment fit for a rebel against God, that is, everlasting destruction. New World Commentary. We may judge another person's actions but we may never judge another person's character!
Therefore, (because, if the previous statement is true), if you offer your gift on the altar, (or your tithe in the offering plate) and there you remember that your brother has something against you, (this is important because your eternal welfare depends on this) leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Mat. 5:23-24.
All of a sudden, during the church service, you remember that a fellow human being is upset with you so don't put off making things right with him/her. If necessary leave the church service right then, as soon as you think of the problem, and be reconciled with your brother. Later you come back and worship the Lord, with a clean slate.
I am sure that almost every one of us knows someone who refuses to seek reconciliation with someone else. To them, Saint John writes Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15 New World.
If someone is threatening to take you to court do your level best to placate him. Make friends with your adversary quickly; if you don't, the judge may find you guilty and you end up in jail and there you will stay until the whole debt has been paid. You are much further ahead to just swallow your pride, try to avoid a court case, and not spend your income-earning years in prison.
As far as a Christian taking a fellow Christian to a non-Christian court, St. Paul made it very clear that such a thing is not allowed. Does any of you, having a matter against another, dare go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
So is there not among you a wise man, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brother and another? Rather than taking a Christian to a civil court, find a wise man, in your church and accept his decision. But brother goes to court against brother, and this before unbelievers (to a civil court)!
First of all, it is actually a defeat for you that you have lawsuits against one another (a Christian against a Christian).
Secondly, Why not rather accept wrong? Why not rather accept being defrauded?
Thirdly, you wrong and defraud, and these things to your brothers! 1 Cor. 6:1-8. It completely destroys a church's testimony when non-Christians hear about Christians cheating Christians and then taking the poor defrauded brother to court.
All of a sudden, during the church service, you remember that a fellow human being is upset with you so don't put off making things right with him/her. If necessary leave the church service right then, as soon as you think of the problem, and be reconciled with your brother. Later you come back and worship the Lord, with a clean slate.
I am sure that almost every one of us knows someone who refuses to seek reconciliation with someone else. To them, Saint John writes Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15 New World.
Going to Court
As far as a Christian taking a fellow Christian to a non-Christian court, St. Paul made it very clear that such a thing is not allowed. Does any of you, having a matter against another, dare go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
So is there not among you a wise man, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brother and another? Rather than taking a Christian to a civil court, find a wise man, in your church and accept his decision. But brother goes to court against brother, and this before unbelievers (to a civil court)!
First of all, it is actually a defeat for you that you have lawsuits against one another (a Christian against a Christian).
Secondly, Why not rather accept wrong? Why not rather accept being defrauded?
Thirdly, you wrong and defraud, and these things to your brothers! 1 Cor. 6:1-8. It completely destroys a church's testimony when non-Christians hear about Christians cheating Christians and then taking the poor defrauded brother to court.
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