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Sins of the Heart: Hatred · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. We're diving deep again, looking
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at biblical sources to help shape well informed Christian
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living. And today we're picking up on a
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request many of you made. We're focusing on Christian
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efforts, specifically the sin of hatred and how it connects to
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the 6th Commandment. You shall not murder.
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Yeah, that's the plan. We want to breakdown what
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Scripture really means by murder, look at where it starts
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deep down in the heart, and then talk about the gospel cure.
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And what really jumps out from the sources, I think, is how
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sneaky hatred can be. Exactly.
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It's not usually obvious, like clenched fists or shouting.
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If it were, we'd spot it. Instead, it kind of hides.
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It operates more subtly, maybe as cool contempt or just saying
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nothing when you should speak up.
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Or that carefully worded sarcastic comment, you know,
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Yeah. Or even just that secret wish
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inside that someone you're upset with just fails.
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It's a surprisingly common problem, spiritually speaking,
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because it grows best where we least expect it, inside our own
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thoughts and feelings. So to really get a handle on how
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serious this is, we have to start where Scripture does right
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with what the law tells us. Yes, the law's diagnosis.
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OK, so let's talk about the law's job, particularly the
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moral law and the 6th Commandment.
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Within that, our reform standards teach that the law
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shows us our sin, right? It convicts the conscience by
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revealing how pervasive sin really is.
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It's not just outward stuff. That's correct.
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And when we get to the 6th commandment, you shall not
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murder. The mistake people often make is
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thinking it only applies to, well, actually killing someone.
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But Jesus tackles his head on. He does in Matthew 5 verses 21
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and 22. He just blows that limited view
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wide open. He shows the command reaches way
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deeper, right into the soul. He says the root, the seed of
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murder, is actually found inside us in the heart.
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Yes, specifically as angry contempt.
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That hidden attitude is where it begins.
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So Jesus is sitting a much higher standard here.
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It's about what's going on inside, not just what you do or
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don't do physically. How does he illustrate that?
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In Matthew 5? He mentions specific kinds of
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speech, doesn't he? He does.
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He contrasts the old way of thinking, you know, murder lands
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you in court, with this clarified standard.
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He says that even being angry with your brother without cause
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perhaps makes you liable to judgment.
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And then he escalates it. Right, the level of danger goes
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up depending on the contempt shown.
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So first just anger, then he mentions calling someone Raqqa.
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What's that about? Raqqa.
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It's a nasty Aramaic insult. It means something like empty
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head or worthless person. It's just pure scorn, dismissing
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someone's value entirely. Like saying they're nothing.
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Pretty much. And Jesus, that using that kind
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of contemptuous language puts you in danger of the Council,
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the Sanhedrin. And the final step?
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He mentions calling someone you fool or murr in Greek.
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He says that puts you in danger of the hell of fire.
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But why is that even more serious?
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Well, that term murrah seems to carry more than just
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intellectual insult. It's often seen as a deeper
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moral or even spiritual condemnation, like calling
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someone apostate or utterly wicked beyond hope.
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So Jesus is showing this progression.
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Escalating contemptuous anger coming out in words proves that
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a murderous disposition is already there in the soul.
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The words and the potential actions spring from the same
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poison source. So the law convicts by showing
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the gods looking at the attitude, the heart, not just
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the physical act. And the apostles pick up on this
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too, right? They confirm this idea of heart
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level murder. Very.
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Clearly. Oh absolutely.
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Jared is incredibly direct about it in First John 3.15.
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He just lays it out. Everyone who hates his brother
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is a murderer. No wiggle room there.
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None. You can't hide your malice from
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God. If that settled attitude of
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hatred is inside you, the law identifies you as a murderer,
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even if you never physically harmed anyone.
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OK, that helps define what this forbidden attitude actually is.
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The Westminster Larger Catechism gives a helpful summary here,
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doesn't it under the 6th Commandment?
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Yes, WOC 136 is very clear. It forbids things like sinful
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anger, hatred, and desire of revenge.
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And hatred, as we're talking about it here, isn't just, you
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know, being annoyed for a moment.
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It's deeper than that. It's a chosen stance, a settled
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posture of ill will towards another person, someone made in
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God's image. And this ill will it might
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actively seek their harm, or maybe it takes pleasure if they
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stumble or are diminished somehow.
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Or, and this is the part I find really challenging, it just
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withholds their. Good.
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That's a crucial part of the definition.
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Withholding their good. It means hatred doesn't always
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look like obvious aggression. It can be very passive, almost
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cold. Like a calculated indifference.
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Exactly. Think about work.
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Maybe someone you don't like gets ahead.
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Hatred might not be shouting about it, but it could be
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deciding, consciously or not, not to give them information
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they need to succeed, or feeling a little bit pleased when they
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make a mistake later on. Or in family life, maybe
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refusing to pray for someone or just not offering a simple word
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of encouragement when it's obviously deserved.
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Yes, that pulling back, that refusal to do the positive thing
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you should do for them as a fellow image bearer, that
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functions as malice. It's hatred in action, or
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rather, in action. And this hits at why it's so
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serious. It's not just bad manners or
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being unkind. It's theological.
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It attacks who? That person.
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Precisely. It's a theological offense
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because every neighbor bears the Imago day, the image of God.
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They have this dignity given by God Himself.
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So when you attack them, even with contempt or by withholding
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good. You're effectively striking at
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God's reflection in them. You're dishonouring the Maker.
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James 3.9 talks about this. How can we bless God with our
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mouths and then turn around and curse people made in his
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likeness? It's a contradiction.
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When we hate someone, we're basically refusing to
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acknowledge God's signature on them.
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Yes, it's a denial of their God-given status.
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That's why the sources consistently talk about it as
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heart level murder, an attack on God's own image.
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Any kind of contempt works to dehumanize, and dehumanizing is
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always an assault on the one who gives humanity its value.
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OK, so the law shows us the problem, this hostility deep
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inside. But if the heart is where it
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starts, as the outline says, what's really driving it?
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What's going on in there? Well, Scripture talks about the
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heart lub in Hebrew, cardia and Greek, not just as the place for
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feelings like we often think of it today.
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It's more like the the Control Center.
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The source of everything. Yeah, our thinking, our
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desiring, our willing. It all comes from the heart.
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Proverbs 4.23 says the springs of life flow from it.
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So our intellect, our will, our emotions, they're all
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intertwined there. That's the inner self the law is
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diagnosing, and that's where hatred is born.
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So hatred isn't just a momentary slip, it comes from something
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deeper, from that fallen nature, the flesh being hostile to God
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and his law. That's the general source, Total
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Depravity, but the sources we looked at point some specific
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sins that really act like fertilizer for malice.
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They till the soil, so to speak. What are those key routes?
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3 Stand out. First, there's pride.
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Pride just cannot stand being slighted or contradicted or
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feeling less important than someone.
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Else so any challenge feels like an attack.
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To the proud heart, yes. Any challenge to its status, its
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reputation, its self-image feels like a major threat.
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So hatred becomes this defensive reaction, trying to diminish the
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person who made the proud heart feel small or threatened.
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Pride turns every little offense into a big personal battle.
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OK, prides the first route. The second one mentioned is
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envy, the Greek word phonos. How does envy lead to hatred?
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Envy is interesting. It's related to coveting, but
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slightly different. Coveting wants what someone else
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has. Envy.
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This Thanos resents the fact that the other person have the
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good thing in the first place. Like their success, or their
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good reputation, or even their spiritual maturity.
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Exactly. The other person's goodness,
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their righteousness, somehow feels like a personal criticism
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to the envious heart. It shines a spotlight on their
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own lack. And Cain is the classic example
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here, isn't? He the perfect example.
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Cain didn't kill Abel because Abel took something from him.
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He killed him because Abel's offering was accepted, his deeds
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were righteous, and Cain's weren't.
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Abel's goodness made Cain look bad.
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Right. Abel's goodness was like a
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mirror showing Cain his own failure.
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And instead of dealing with his own failure, Cain hated the
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mirror. He wanted to destroy the
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standard that exposed him. So envy fuels hatred by wanting
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the other person's good to be gone, to be destroyed.
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That's a powerful connection, tearing others down because
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their goodness, it makes us feel bad instead of aiming for that
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goodness ourselves. OK, pride, envy, and the third
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root. Unforgiveness.
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This is what really cements the Malice let's it harden.
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It's the refusal to let go of a real offense or debt someone
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earns you. The sources used a striking
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image for this. Yes, the unforgiving person is
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like a prison keeper who sleeps inside his own cell.
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It's powerful, isn't? It it really is.
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You think you're keeping the other person locked up in your
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bitterness, but you're actually imprisoned by it yourself.
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Exactly. Replaying the offense over and
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over in your holding onto that debt that becomes the fuel that
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keeps the hatred alive. And that constant replaying,
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that rumination, seems especially relevant today,
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doesn't it, Particularly in the digital world.
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The sources talked about technology and theology coming
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together here. Let's get into digital hatred.
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Yes, digital contempt might be the most visible, widespread
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form of malice we see now, and it's actively encouraged by what
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the sources call an outrage economy.
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An outrage economy? What does that mean?
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It means the platforms, the algorithms, they're often
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designed to maximize engagement, and what gets clicks and
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comments and shares most reliably.
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Strong negative emotions. Anger, scorn, outrage.
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So the system actually benefits when we get angry and lash out
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online. In many, many cases, yes, it
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rewards negativity because negativity drives interaction,
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which drives ad revenue or whatever the platform's goal is.
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This environment taps right into our existing capacity for anger
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and very quickly sorts us into these opposing camps, this
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partisan tribalism. And when people become just
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labels, leftist right winger libtard maggot, it's easier to
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hate them. Much easier.
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They stop being complex individuals, neighbors with real
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lives, and they become these simplified avatars to be
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dismissed. It's far less costly emotionally
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to hate an avatar than a person you know.
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Which fuels that performative scorn we see everywhere online.
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People putting on a show of contempt.
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Right. It's not always even genuine
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anger about an issue. Sometimes it's about performing
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superiority, intellectual superiority, moral superiority,
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for your own side, for your tribe.
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You signal your loyalty by showing how much you despise the
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other side. And that performance itself
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shows the malice is often about boosting yourself, not actually
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seeking truth or justice. Precisely.
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It confirms that self righteousness is often driving
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it. OK.
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So that's the digital context. But how does this malice hide in
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just everyday life? Let's talk about the purely
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internal side first. Rumination.
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Rumination is the hostile inner habit where you just keep
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replaying hurts or offenses, like a liturgy, as one source
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put it. It's like a ritual of
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resentment. Exactly.
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You rehearse the slight. You mentally draft your perfect
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comeback. You appoint yourself prosecutor,
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judge and jury over the person who wronged you, all inside your
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head. That sounds exhausting, frankly,
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but also really damaging because it leads to keeping score,
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doesn't it? It leads directly to what the
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sources call a vindictive Ledger.
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You're meticulously keeping track of every wrong done to
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you. Which is the exact opposite of
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love as described in First Corinthians 13, the.
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Polar opposite love keeps no record of wrongs.
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Constantly reviewing that internal Ledger just hardens
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your heart and makes any kind of reconciliation feel impossible.
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It keeps the wound fresh. So besides the internal stuff,
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hatred can also show up in what we don't do right, Sins of
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omission. Yes, the law gives us a very
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practical definition here. Hatred can be defined as
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withheld mercy. First, John 3.17 puts it
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starkly. If you have resources and see
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your brother in need, but you close your heart or literally
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shut your bowels of compassion against him, how can God's love
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be in you? So seeing a real need and
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deliberately choosing not to help because you dislike a
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person, that is hatred in God's eyes.
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Functionally, yes, it's failing to perform the positive duty of
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care you owe another image bearer simply because of your
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personal feelings towards them. Then there's this other strange
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case, sentimental silence. This feels backwards.
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How can not confronting someone be a form of hatred?
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It comes from Leviticus 19.17. It says you shall surely rebuke
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your neighbor and not bear sin because of him.
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Scripture actually commands loving, restorative
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confrontation when it's needed. So avoiding that confrontation
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isn't always peaceful. No, this sentimental silence
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avoids the hard work of trying to restore someone if you see
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your brother or sister heading towards harm because of their
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sin, and you stay silent just because you don't want an
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awkward conversation or you secretly don't care if they
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crash and burn. The law says that silence is
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actually a mask for hatred. You're kind of OK with their
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failure. It exposes it as such.
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You're choosing your comfort, or perhaps your secret satisfaction
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at their impending failure over their well-being.
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You risk becoming complicit in their sin by not speaking up out
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of genuine love. That really reframed silence.
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It's often seen as taking the High Road, but it can be passive
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aggression. It absolutely can.
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True peace sometimes requires difficult conversations aimed at
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restoration. Silence out of genuine love
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might be temporary, waiting for the right moment.
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Silence out of hatred is just indifference or worse.
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OK, And the last subtle form disguised speech.
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Yeah, malice hiding in plain sight, even in polite company.
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Right, this is where Malice does its dirty work.
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Using things like sarcasm, cutting humor, maybe backhanded
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compliments. The speaker gets to land a blow
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while keeping up a appearance of being civil or even funny.
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The kind of joke that puts someone down, questions their
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competence, spreads doubt. Exactly, and if someone calls
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them on it, they can just retreat.
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Oh, I was only joking. Can't you take a joke?
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So it avoids open conflict, but still achieves the goal of
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diminishing the other person sowing discord.
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Yes, it still tears down rather than builds up.
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We always have to look at the function of the speech, not just
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the form. Is it intended to edify or to
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wound? OK, we've mapped out sinful
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hatred pretty thoroughly. Now we need to draw a clear
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line. Scripture does talk about a
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different kind of hatred, doesn't it?
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Righteous hatred. Yes, and this distinction is
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vital. If we don't make it, we end up
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condemning God Himself, who hates wickedness.
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Righteous hatred is allowed, even necessary, but it's very
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specific. And how is it different?
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It's principled and God referenced.
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Its target isn't the person the image bearer.
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Its target is wickedness itself, evil sin like.
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Proverbs 8.13 the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil, or
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Romans 12.9 abhor what is evil. The focus is the sin, not the
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Sinner. That's the crucial difference.
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And righteous hatred is always love saturated.
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It mourns the damage sin does, both to the person's descending
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and to God's honor. Its goal is always restoration,
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exposing evil to bring about healing.
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Whereas sinful hatred is personal, aimed at the
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individual, driven by revenge or self-interest.
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Exactly. Sinful hatred is settled and
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person targeted. Righteous hatred attacks the
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evil while still desiring the good of the person caught in it.
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This helps us understand righteous anger too, which often
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comes up here. The sources say that anger has
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to be really tightly controlled. Extremely.
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Any righteous anger, or maybe better, controlled zeal has to
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be narrow. It has to be slow to ignite,
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kept under control and temporary.
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Ephesians 4.26 warns us, be angry and do not sin.
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Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
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So don't let temporary displeasure turn into deep
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seated malice overnight. Right.
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And always remember James 1.2. Our human anger simply does not
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produce the righteousness God requires.
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We have to be incredibly wary of it.
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OK, before we get to the cure, there are a couple of tricky
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Bible passages we need to clarify.
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The ones that use the love hate. Yes, understanding this is key
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to reading certain texts correctly.
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It's a figure of speech common in Semitic languages like Hebrew
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and Aramaic. Hate in these contexts often
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means preference or loving less, not active hostility or malice.
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It's about comparison, about priority.
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Exactly. It's stating A comparative
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allegiance. The classic example, maybe the
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hardest one, is Luke 14.26 where Jesus says you have to hate your
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father, mother, spouse, children to be his disciple.
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That sounds shocking. It's meant to be shocking, It's
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hyperbole designed to make people stop and think hard about
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their ultimate loyalty. But it doesn't mean feel actual
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animosity towards your family. How do we know that?
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Because Matthews Gospel gives us the parallel passage Matthew
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10.37 which clarifies it perfectly.
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Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of
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me. See, it's about supreme
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allegiance to Christ. He must come first.
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Which means all other loves become secondary relative to our
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love for Him. It doesn't mean we stop loving
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them or start hating them. OK, that makes sense.
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It's about priority, not emotion.
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And this helps with Old Testament passages too.
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It does. Think about Leah in Genesis 29.
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The text says Jacob hated her, but the context clearly shows he
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simply loved Rachel more. It was a matter of preference.
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So we apply that that same lens to Romans 9.3 where Paul quotes
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Malachi. Jacob I love, but Esau I hate
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it. Right.
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This isn't primarily about God having some sort of emotional
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dislike for Esau the individual. It's mainly about God's
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sovereign covenantal choice regarding nations in the plan of
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salvation. It's about his electing purpose,
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choosing Jacob's line, Israel for the covenant promises, and
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judicially setting aside Esau's line in that specific historical
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context. It's a statement about a divine
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election, not a model for human emotional hatred.
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Got it. So we've got the diagnosis,
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heart level murder, rooted in things like pride and envy.
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The law shows us the problem, but it can't fix it.
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That brings us to part 4, the gospel cure.
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Where does the change come from? The law diagnosis, the
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hostility. The Greek word is ekthra, but it
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offers no power to overcome it. The cure is only found at the
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cross of Christ. Ephesians 2 talks about this.
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Yes, Ephesians 2.1416 says Christ killed the hostility in
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his flesh. He did it by perfectly obeying
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the law and then taking the penalty for our disobedience,
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our hostility upon himself. Through his shed blood, He made
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peace. Peace first between US and God.
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Right. He reconciles enemies us to God.
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That vertical peace is foundational, and then that
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reconciliation with God becomes the basis and the pattern for
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horizontal reconciliation between people.
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We can love our enemies because God loved and reconciled us when
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we were His enemies. That's the heart of it, and the
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power for this new way of living, this new obedience,
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comes through union with Christ. That's the engine of
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sanctification. What does that mean practically?
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It means believers understand themselves by faith as having
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died with Christ to their old self, the self that was ruled by
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malice and pride, and having been raised with Christ to a new
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life. We reckon that old self dead and
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the new self alive to God. This Union gives us a new
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capacity. But we need energy for that,
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right? It doesn't just happen
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automatically. Definitely not.
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We need supernatural power that comes from the indwelling Holy
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Spirit. Romans 5.5 says the Spirit pours
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God's love into our hearts. That love provides the energy
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for peacemaking, the motivation and strength we lack on our own.
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So sanctification is this process where the Spirit helps
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us gradually dethrone hatred and enthrone love in our hearts.
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That's a good way to put it. And the Spirit produces visible
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evidence of this change, what Galatians calls the first fruits
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of the Spirit, things like love and peace, which are the direct
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opposites of the works of the flesh, like hatred and strife.
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This means our practical growth involves actively putting off
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the old ways and putting on the new.
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What specifically do we need to put off?
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Colossians 3 tells us to put off bitterness.
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That's picria in Greek, a kind of settled, sour resentment that
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poisons everything, along with wrath, anger, slander and
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malice. These are the habits of the old
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self that need to be shed. And what do we put on instead?
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What are the contrary graces? The command is to put on
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compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and then
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Colossians 3.14 adds above all love, saying love binds all
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these virtues together in perfect harmony.
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These active qualities of reconciliation fill the space
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left when hatred is removed. OK, this leads us right into the
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final section, Cruciform obedience.
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The Gospel cure isn't just theoretical, it has to show up
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in how we actually live and interact, starting with what the
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source is called the liturgical priority of peace.
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This is that really radical teaching from Jesus in Matthew 5
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verses 23 and 24, The altar interruption.
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Tell us about that. Jesus says If you're coming to
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offer your gift at the altar, the height of religious
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observance, and you suddenly remember that your brother has
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something against you, what do you do?
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You stop everything. You stop, you leave your gift
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right there, and Jesus says go first, be reconciled to your
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brother, and then come and offer your gift.
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That's incredible. Reconciliation with others takes
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priority, even over formal worship.
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It shows that worship offered while neglecting peacemaking is
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basically hypocrisy in God's eyes.
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The horizontal relationship impacts of the vertical one.
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And this applies to our worship today too, like the Lord's
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Supper. Absolutely.
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The Lord's Table should be seen as a reconciling feast, coming
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to partake in the bread and cup, the symbols of Christ,
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peacemaking, sacrifice while you're nursing settled hatred or
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unforgiveness toward another believer.
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That's deeply contradictory. It profanes the sacrament.
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The table forces us to examine our relationships and seek
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peace. OK, in another practical aspect,
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refusing private vengeance and holding grudges, we need to be
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clear about justice here. Yes, the law is very clear.
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You are not allowed to take vengeance into your own hands.
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It's forbidden as a private project.
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We can't be our own judge and jury and executioner.
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So what are we supposed to do when wronged?
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Romans 12.21 gives the strategy Do not be overcome by evil, but
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overcome evil with good. We're called to refuse personal
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retaliation to yield our right to get even.
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So who is responsible for justice and punishment then?
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Two authorities, ultimately God, who says in Romans 12 vengeance
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is mine, I will repay. And second, God has delegated
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authority for earthly justice to the civil magistrate, the
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government. Romans 13 calls the governing
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authority God's servant to execute wrath on the wrongdoer.
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It's a public ordered system for justice, not personal payback.
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And along with vengeance, the law also forbids nursing
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grudges. Right, that word luciteur.
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Yes, that Hebrew term refers to holding a grudge, bearing
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resentment. It connects back to refusing to
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keep that vindictive Ledger we talked about.
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A grudge is just hatred simmering over time, a
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deliberate refusal to forgive as Christ has forgiven us.
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So to fight against this, we need to change not just our
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actions, but our words, adopting the vocabulary of grace.
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That's key. Ephesians 4.29 gives us the rule
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of edification. Our speech should aim to build
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others up, not tear them down. Which means refusing those
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contentious labels Jesus condemned.
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Exactly. No calling people Raqqa or you
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fool or their modern equivalents.
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Those words normalize dehumanizing the other person,
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making hatred easier. And it also means choosing our
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tone, like using a soft answer. Proverbs 15.1 says a soft answer
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turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
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That soft answer is described as an act of warfare against
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contempt. In our easily outraged culture,
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choosing gentleness is a powerful counter move.
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Especially online. Which brings us to that
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practical filter mentioned, the triple screen.
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Yes, a very helpful tool before speaking or typing, especially
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when feeling reactive. Walk us through it.
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What are the three checks? OK before you say it or post it
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one is it true? Have I checked the facts?
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Am I spreading gossip or misinformation?
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2 Is it necessary? Does this really need to be
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said? Will it actually help the
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situation, promote justice, or build someone up?
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Or am I just venting, trying to look smart or scoring points for
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my side? Their second one is tough.
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A lot of online comments wouldn't pass that test.
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Probably not. And the third check 3.
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Is it gracious, even if what I'm saying is true and maybe even
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necessary? Is my tone kind?
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Does it reflect the compassion of Christ, even towards someone
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I disagree with or who has wronged me?
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Or am I delivering truth like a weapon?
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Wow. If everyone used that filter,
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imagine how different online discourse and maybe even church
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life would be. It would be radically different.
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It forces self examination before we speak.
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OK, finally, let's talk about the most active, concrete
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practices to actually kill malice, what scripture calls
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enemy love. This is more than just not
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hating, it's proactive. Yes, it starts with particular
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confession. This isn't just vague guilt, it
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means naming the specific sin. I have harbored hatred towards
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person's name. My attitude was contempt,
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bitterness, envy. It resulted in specific thought
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word action. And crucially, connecting that
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confession to God's mercy to us. Absolutely.
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You confess your sin while remembering the immense grace
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you yourself have received from God, how He forgave your
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hostility toward Him. That perspective feels genuine
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repentance and the willingness to forgive.
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Forgiving people forgive. Then the second practice, which
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sounds incredibly difficult. Praying Blessing.
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This one directly attacks the root of malice.
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The sources suggest setting up a specific intercession rhythm,
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maybe praying every day for a month specifically for the
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well-being of the person you resent.
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Praying for them, not just about the situation, but for their
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good. Yes, asking God to bless them
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spiritually, give them repentance, faith, wisdom,
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growth, and grace. And asking for their temporal
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good too. Health provision, success in
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godly endeavors. It is incredibly hard, nearly
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impossible, to keep actively hating someone you are sincerely
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and consistently bringing before God's throne, asking for His
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best for them. Prayer changes the prayer.
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It actively starves the malice, and this internal work should
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lead to external action, tangible kindness.
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Right. Prayer needs to flow into deeds.
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This is how we overcome evil with good.
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It might be something small at first.
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Making a point to greet the person you usually avoid
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offering a genuine compliment. Quietly meeting a practical need
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they have as First John 3 suggests.
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Doing good for them without expecting anything back.
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Exactly That kind of unexpected, unearned kindness is a direct
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assault on the hatred in your own heart.
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It performs the opposite virtue. One last clarification point.
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The difference between setting prudent boundaries and malice.
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Sometimes boundaries are necessary, right?
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Absolutely critical, especially in situations involving abuse,
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danger, or ongoing destructive behavior.
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Proverbs 22.3 says the prudent see danger and take refuge.
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Setting firm boundaries for protection or seeking help from
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authorities like the church or the law is not hatred, It's
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wisdom and stewardship. So when does a necessary
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boundary become sinful? When does it cross into hatred?
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It crosses the line when the motivation behind the boundary
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becomes twisted. If the boundary is driven by a
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desire for revenge, by scorned, by taking secret pleasure and
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excluding the person, or by deciding you will never seek
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their genuine good, like their repentance and restoration, then
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it's not just prudence anymore. It becomes what the source is
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called, hatred and therapeutic dress, using the language of
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boundaries to mask simple spite. Precisely.
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Prudence aims to protect the vulnerable and uphold justice,
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always leaving the door open, however remotely, for repentance
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and God's restoration. Malice uses boundaries as walls
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to lock people out and lock bitterness in.
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The goal for the Christian, even in setting boundaries, must
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ultimately include the possibility of reconciliation,
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however difficult, not just permanent spiteful separation.
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This has been a really crucial, detailed look at the law, the
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heart and the gospel when it comes to this sin of hatred,
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this heart level murder. Let's try to pull the threads
27:57
together. OK, we set out to show that
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hatred isn't just extreme emotion.
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It's defined by scripture as heart level murder, often
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manifesting as contempt or withheld good because it attacks
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God's image in our neighbor. The law exposes this deep sin
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within us. But the law can't cure it.
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The cure comes only through Christ's cross, where he killed
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the hostility, reconciling us first to God.
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Right, and that vertical peace becomes the foundation and power
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through the Spirit and our union with Christ for horizontal
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reconciliation, for actually loving others, even enemies.
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So the mandate for us, for the church, is to actively move away
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from a culture that's often fluent in contempt, especially
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online, and become fluent in reconciliation.
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That means practicing things like the Alter Interruption
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principle, refusing vengeance, speaking grace, and doing those
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hard things like praying blessing for those who've
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wronged us. And we have to remember the
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serious spiritual danger involved if we refuse.
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The sources highlighted that harboring hatred leads to
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personal spiritual blindness and can even undermine our assurance
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of salvation. John says whoever hates his
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brother abides in death. That's a sobering warning.
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It really is. Which leaves a pointed question
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for all of us listening. Where in your own life may be
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hidden in a sarcastic online comment, a pattern of avoidance,
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or just that internal rumination?
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Where does performative scorn or settled bitterness reveal a
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refusal to be reconciled? And thinking about that, what
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one specific, maybe costly step of tangible kindness or
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courageous peacemaking will you take, starting today, to
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actively pursue peace?