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The fifth commandment Moses received was a ban on
murder. "Thou shall not kill" is fairly easy to obey. One just has
to abstain from killing other people. But then Jesus took it further
by stating it was also necessary to get rid of hate, which is the
most common reason for murder. In addition, Jesus said you have to
be more righteous than the Pharisees, which was astonishing because
the Pharisees were the personification of holiness. This virtue is
only available by applying the righteousness that comes through
salvation.
Jesus also addressed the problem of holding grudges and not being
willing to forgive other people. Being unwilling or unable to
forgive is completely unacceptable in the Kingdom of God and it is
useless to try to worship the Lord when a condition of unforgiveness
exists. Jesus warned about the need to settle disputes on this earth
and not letting them carry over into eternity. It is difficult to
reconcile our sin nature with the Bible and our emotions often
betray us. Regardless what caused the dispute, it is up to you make
the effort to settle the matter or Jesus will be forced to deal with
it at the Judgment Seat of Christ. |
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