Confessor
Puritan Board Senior
In Theonomy and Christians Ethics, Bahnsen establishes in detail the abiding validity of God's law as Jesus espoused in Matthew 5:17-20. Bahnsen then says that Jesus restates the requirements of the law (not adding anything).
I was thinking, since one of the examples is Jesus' command to love our enemies, how does that play out given the immutability of God's law? Was not hatred of God's enemies justified during the time of Israel (cf. Psalm 139:21), and are we not going to hate God's enemies with Him for all eternity once the righteous and wicked are eternally separated (cf. Revelation 19:1-3)? This question is interesting because it seems there is some sort of change (from hatred of enemies to love of them), but Jesus is establishing the abiding validity of the law. So, it seems there should be continuity when there is a sort of discontinuity.
I have a feeling what the answer is: that we are always to hate enemies of God, and that enemies of God cannot be conceived apart from residing in human form (i.e., it would be wrong to say that humans cannot be enemies of God just because we are dealing with spiritual warfare), do not negate the fact that we have no idea who the elect are among unregenerate men. Seeing as this is the case, even in Israel David could not tell which Gentiles might enter the covenant community in the future, and he was therefore still required to treat his neighbors with love. Therefore, the general moral principle set forth (love of God and hatred of things contrary to Him) would be consistent, but with a different application in different dispensations (since we would have better knowledge of who His enemies are after the eternal separation).
But I would not be surprised if this answer is wanting or otherwise inappropriate, so I would appreciate some input on this topic.
EDIT - I just came across a sentence of Bahnsen's that is very pertinent: "At one point not only does what is quoted have additions to the Older Testamental law, it blatantly contradicts the law of God (cf. Matt. 5:43)."
And then I saw this verse in my Bible linked to Lev. 19:18, an explicit command to love one's neighbor.
Therefore, I guess now that my questions now are, 1. What passages speaking of hating one's enemies, if any, are there in Scripture? 2. How are we to interpret these? 3. Are we called to hate our enemies after the eternal separation?
I was thinking, since one of the examples is Jesus' command to love our enemies, how does that play out given the immutability of God's law? Was not hatred of God's enemies justified during the time of Israel (cf. Psalm 139:21), and are we not going to hate God's enemies with Him for all eternity once the righteous and wicked are eternally separated (cf. Revelation 19:1-3)? This question is interesting because it seems there is some sort of change (from hatred of enemies to love of them), but Jesus is establishing the abiding validity of the law. So, it seems there should be continuity when there is a sort of discontinuity.
I have a feeling what the answer is: that we are always to hate enemies of God, and that enemies of God cannot be conceived apart from residing in human form (i.e., it would be wrong to say that humans cannot be enemies of God just because we are dealing with spiritual warfare), do not negate the fact that we have no idea who the elect are among unregenerate men. Seeing as this is the case, even in Israel David could not tell which Gentiles might enter the covenant community in the future, and he was therefore still required to treat his neighbors with love. Therefore, the general moral principle set forth (love of God and hatred of things contrary to Him) would be consistent, but with a different application in different dispensations (since we would have better knowledge of who His enemies are after the eternal separation).
But I would not be surprised if this answer is wanting or otherwise inappropriate, so I would appreciate some input on this topic.
EDIT - I just came across a sentence of Bahnsen's that is very pertinent: "At one point not only does what is quoted have additions to the Older Testamental law, it blatantly contradicts the law of God (cf. Matt. 5:43)."
And then I saw this verse in my Bible linked to Lev. 19:18, an explicit command to love one's neighbor.
Therefore, I guess now that my questions now are, 1. What passages speaking of hating one's enemies, if any, are there in Scripture? 2. How are we to interpret these? 3. Are we called to hate our enemies after the eternal separation?