Loans from Heaven
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and evil men. Luke 6:35
Is Kind – On one side, the Bible recognizes the need for consequences. Sin deserves punishment. But God never administers correction without compassion. If you and I don’t understand that, we will always end up in legalism. The rules were never intended to just be rules. They were intended to bring about repentance so that God’s great love could shine once again.
The formula is really pretty simple:
- Actions always have consequences.
- Forgiveness removes my guilt, not sin’s consequences (in this world).
- God is just (consequences) and compassionate (forgiveness).
- God corrects in order to bring me into alignment with Him.
- God always acts in order to promote my best interests – even when it hurts.
Jesus clearly understood the divine perspective on truth and consequences. He knew the verses in Deuteronomy and Proverbs that required chastisement. But He also knew Exodus 34:6 and Leviticus 19:2. He understood both sides of the battle. He entered the heart of darkness with the light of compassion. He tells us that the Most High God, the One Who has every right to demand recompense, still treats evil men (not just repentant ones) with kindness. The Greek is chrestos estin. This is present tense action (estin) of a particular kind. The key is the word chrestos. It comes from chraomai, a verb that means, “to lend, to make use of, to make the most of.” In our context, it means something like providing what is needed.
Do you see why Jesus can say that God is kind even to ungrateful and evil men? In spite of what they really deserve, God provides what they need to survive. The rain falls on the unjust. But notice the deeper meaning of the word. God loans them what they make use of. Life is a loan from God. He retains ownership. We like to say that life is a gift, and in one sense, that’s true. We didn’t earn it. But it is not a gift in the sense that once given we take ownership of it. It is a gift in the sense that we have the right to use granted to us, until the owner returns!
God is kind to evil men. He lends them life. All that they need to make something of what they have comes from His hand. He gives it freely. He does not require payment in advance. He does not restrict His benevolence to only the godly. Thank Him for that. If He did, none of us would qualify.
Chastisement and compassion – you might think of them as loan adjustments. Does that help you understand what it means to be kind to all men?
