How to Love Your Enemies

By Matt Watson

Matthew 5:43-48

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is 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. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Real Enemies On a Cosmic Scale

In his great work Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that nowhere in the Old Testament will we find “Love your neighbor but hate your enemy.” And yet, this was a teaching of the Pharisees, who hated any non-Jew with incredible zeal. As the passage in Luke 10 makes clear, they thought only Israelites were their neighbors (Lloyd-Jones 265). Jesus turns this whole concept upside down, expanding our views of neighbors and enemies, and how to relate to them. It is not just people in our own ideological tribe that are our neighbors, but also all those outside whom we would call enemies.

We must define what is an enemy because often times our perceived enemies are not our true enemies. We tend to get tribal, moving together in like-minded cliques, developing an “us vs. them” mentality. Whether black or white, BLM or cops, trans or cis, conservatives or progressives, capitalists or socialists, statists or libertarians, these are not true enemies in an ultimate sense. Some may be enemies in an earthly sense, as enemies do exist that hate you and your country, the things you love, and the God you serve, but the Bible would argue these different groups listed above are actually our neighbors (Luke 10:29-37) rather than enemies.

While these earthly enemies do exist, and at times should be resisted, the truer and more ultimate enemy, as is the truer and more ultimate war, is spiritual, not necessarily against nation-states or people groups. Paul says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). Our true enemies are Satan, our sin, and death, all the opposing axis forces against God’s kingdom. Thus, those we perceive as our enemies on earth really aren't in an ultimate or eternal sense, and so they need the love and forgiveness of Jesus as much as we do.

Remember, we ourselves were once called enemies of God. Romans 5:10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Think about that for a second, Christian. There was a point in time when you were still an enemy of God rather than his son or daughter. Yet Christ loved us (John 3:16), prayed for us (John 17:1-26), and then died for us (John 19:16-30), even while we were his enemies. If Christ loved his enemies in this way, who are we to deny that same love to our earthly enemies when they should be considered our neighbors? Therefore, as sons and daughters of God in heaven through Christ (Matt 5:45), we too must love our neighbors as Christ loved his. Even in war, even in defense.

Lloyd-Jones says, “The only thing that enables a man not to hit back, to turn the other cheek and to go the second mile, to give his cloak as well as his coat when that is forcibly demanded, and to help others in desperate need, the vital thing is that a man should be dead to himself, dead to self-interest, dead to concern about self. But our Lord goes very much further here. We are told we must positively love these people. We are even to love our enemies. It is not simply that we are not to strike back at them, but that we must be positive in our attitude towards them. Our Lord is at pains to have us see that our ‘neighbor’ must of necessity include even our enemy” (Lloyd-Jones 267-268).

Calling Our Enemies to Repent

We love our earthly neighbors by proclaiming the good news of Jesus, that he came to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15), and thus calling them to repentance. Repenting means turning away from sin and turning towards God. According to Luther in his 95 Theses, this is a lifelong activity for, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Mattt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” By proclaiming the gospel of Jesus and calling for repentance, we are calling our neighbors to do as we have done through Christ, and be enemies no longer.

The most loving thing anyone can do is to share he who is the most valuable in all of the universe — Jesus — to another person. Paul says this is a war, so sometimes confrontation, correction, and conflict are necessary. Therefore, those who do not share the gospel hate their neighbors, families, friends, and even enemies. Those who do share the gospel love their neighbors, families, friends, and even enemies.

Let me also add the caveat that loving your neighbor is not staying in an abusive relationship, or letting violence be done to you or your family, but rather how you respond and reflect Jesus to your enemy. As with anything, our “yes” to something must be a “yes” to God, and our “no” to something must be a “yes” to God. No, it is not loving your neighbor to let a hostile country invade your country unopposed. No, it was not “loving your neighbor” for German citizens to allow their Jewish neighbors to be kidnapped, tortured, and executed by the Nazis. It is not loving to allow a child molester to work in the children’s ministry. But it is also not loving your neighbor to hate them because they voted for Trump or Biden, marched downtown for Black Lives Matter, or are white, or that they put on a blue uniform with a badge and gun. Rather, it is loving to call them to repent from their sin and put their faith in Jesus alone.

That was highlighted by Jonah’s sinfully refusing to go to Ninevah to prophetically call them to repentance. Nineveh was a capital city in the Assyrian empire, which wreaked havoc upon Israel and Judah. In the book of Jonah, God calls the prophet to go to the enemy of his country, to those responsible for killing people Jonah knew and calling them to follow God. That would be like a combat veteran of Afghanistan going back to preach the gospel to the Taliban. It is absurd to think about; utterly counter-cultural and counterintuitive. And yet it is unequivocally Christlike.

So we pray for repentance for our neighbors because Jesus himself prayed that God would forgive those crucifying him, even while they were doing so, for they did not know what they were doing (Luke 23:34). Likewise, we pray so that the thing we should not wish on our worst enemy would not happen to them, that is an eternity in hell separated from God. If we do not do this when Jesus did this, then we are like the wicked servant forgiven of his uncountable debt who then beat another servant for owing him a much smaller debt (Matt 18:21-35). Yes, they deserve God’s wrath, but so did we.

Overcoming Evil With Good

At first, it may seem that this positive and active love towards an enemy is unjust or weak-willed. But instead, it is actually good and justified warfare. Romans 12:19-21 says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We overcome evil with good. We do not need to answer our neighbors with hate, because God will take care of their just punishment if they remain unrepentant. God will take care of his children. What father would not go to war against anyone that would hurt his children? So much more does God punish those who punish his own. So instead, we wage war against Satan and all the powers opposed to God with our good works of love to our earthly enemies. The Holy Spirit uses that to heap burning coals of conviction on their heads, leading our neighbors to the same salvation in Christ that we enjoy.

Putin needs to be loved enough to be called to repentance. So do Biden, Trump, people who hold to critical race theory, and people who burn books because they teach critical race theory. Our tribal enemies are our neighbors, and Jesus is clear how we should treat them. Therefore, let us follow the lead of our Lord Jesus, both in his life and his death on the cross. He has called us to die to ourselves. But that command also includes those who hate and persecute us for his sake. Trust in the goodness of the Lord, and call your enemy to do the same that they would be enemies no more. How do we love our enemies? Only through the Spirit of God. What is impossible for man is possible with God.

For further reading, see:

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. 2001. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans.