These Words of our Lord Jesus align seamlessly with His Statutes; His Law of Liberty. As He has instructed; His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light.” All believers can live in the freedom of Christ; providing they abandon the idea of retaliation in the case that someone hurts them, but instead simply submit to Him and He will enable us to “put away” the offense:

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)

In part 1 of “The Law of Liberty,” we concluded that freedom in Christ liberates us from the bondage of the written law.

In this second part of our study, we will look at Scriptures connecting loving others to forgiving others, for if we love them, we will be tenderhearted toward them:

“He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends” (Proverbs 17:9)

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

In addition to this Precept, Jesus teaches us that loving people who love us is easy, even for the unsaved, but loving the unlovable is of the LORD:

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” (Luke 6:32-33)

Moreover, there are many who seek counsel for the anger and bitterness in which they cannot seem to find freedom, even Christians. Unfortunately, they fail to understand the simplicity of God; simply submitting to Him will enable us in a way that we can never have ability within ourselves. All the counselling in the world will not help one bit if the counselling fails to include the ease of Christ and His Yoke influencing and enabling our hearts and minds.

Therefore, inasmuch as the law cannot justify us and we cannot overcome our human nature to desire revenge on those who rise up against us; to be without Jesus, is to be without hope:

“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”  (Acts 13:38-39)

Therefore, in facing adversity, we need to also learn to let God be God, rather than trying to fill His Shoes and avenge ourselves!:

“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)

Believers must abide in Christ, particularly when it comes to loving others. See Romans 13:8. This is because the Spirit of the Lord indwells all believers with the anointing, which enables us to do those things in which God Commands; we fulfill God’s Laws only when we first submit ourselves to Him in unfeigned commitment.

Through the story of the woman who committed adultery in the Book of John, chapter 8, we see the Lord’s Mercy. Without condoning her actions, He teaches the people, most particularly the Pharisees, that His Mercy trumps judgment, as we read in James 2:13:

“For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

“The one who has shown no mercy.” This is a case-in-point, as the Pharisees did not show mercy to that woman who was guilty of adultery, and consequently, the Lord judged them:

“So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7)

Furthermore, when we contemplate the concept of mercy, we recognize that those who have a heart of mercy, will undoubtedly demonstrate compassion for others and will also be equipped to see their own faults and be sensitive to the Lord’s chastisement of them, with a willingness to change. In other words, they will have a tender heart.

Then once He has told the woman she was forgiven, He acknowledges that she did in fact sin, by telling her to “go and sin no more.” See John 8:11b)

Why did the Lord not judge her? He had Mercy. And why did He have mercy? He knew her heart, which must have been filled with the torture of remorse….

Then He turns back to the people and says:

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12b)

This verse in John also parallels the Precept of the topic verse of this article; that through submission to Him, we can rest on His strength and power to forgive and do all else that He leads us to do. The Lord’s “yoke is easy” and His  “burden is light.”

If we follow the Lord, making certain we stay submitted to Him, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh:

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:16-18)

How wonderful it is that those who walk in the Spirit we will not be weighed down in the fight against temptation, but have the freedom to grow in the Spirit of the LORD; developing Christlikeness, or ‘the fruit of the Spirit!:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

And yet another parallel in Philippians says the following:

“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

And still another parallel, from our Lord Jesus:

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; foe without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

 

 

 

NKJV