Commandment 4: Be Ye Reconciled
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Mt. 5:23, 24
This particular command reveals a part of God’s nature that we too often miss: relationship comes before rules. In fact, Jesus clearly shows us that rules and laws are for the purpose of relationship. God, being holy, righteous and without imperfection, is separated from us unless He makes a way for us to come to Him. This in fact, simply put, gives necessity for the death of Christ. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.” Without the remission of sin there is no potential for a relationship with God. (Heb. 9:22)
Note the special relationships that God had with men like Abraham, David, Noah, Elijah etc. Occasionally God would even allow for the breaking of his laws and rules for the benefit of relationship, as with David when he took consecrated bread from Ahimelech the priest to give to his men to eat (1 Samuel 21:1-6); or when Jesus allowed his disciples to eat from the grain fields on the Sabbath because they were hungry. (Mt. 12:1-8; Mk. 2:23-28; Lk. 6:1-5)
When the Pharisees reprimanded Jesus for breaking this written law, he told them clearly, “The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath.” Because the fallen nature of man tends to sin and disobedience, God gave the Law as a schoolmaster. (Gal. 3:24) Since we now have the Law written on the tables of our heart, God uses our inert sense of guilt, or lack thereof (our conscience) to bind us to rules and regulations that, when adhered to, reveal God’s nature to us, thus encouraging us to desire relationship with Him.
If we conclude that our obedience to God is for his benefit, we have sorely missed the Kingdom. “The gods of the nations are idols . . .” (Ps. 92) Though idols may require something of men to placate their natural desire to destroy them, God needs no such thing. He uses the acts of obedience, giving, and sacrifice, to test our hearts and teach us how to depend upon Him.
In this fourth command, we see Christ joining the old and new commandments together into one unit: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. There is no separating the mature believer from his fellow man. He cares for him and desires to be just and benevolent in all of his dealings with humankind and especially with relationships within the family of God.
When we try to replace relationship with sacrifice, it blinds us to the plight of other men, as well as to our own true condition. Similar to the Pharisee who prayed in the temple boasting of his faithfulness, while the publican kneeling nearby cried out to God saying: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” The publican (tax collector) went away justified, while the Pharisee neither received from nor gave anything of value to the Lord. (Luke 18:10-14) Because his religion was private, his heart was closed, offering no value to others or to himself, and certainly none to the Lord.
Christianity is not about being saved. If we live to ourselves and work to insure ourselves that we are doing well, we soon find we are living in a world that encircles our own narrow understanding of God. The Christian who lives only to be saved does not understand the finished work of Christ. It is repentance toward God and receiving his forgiveness through Christ that brings justification for sin, not sacrificing, giving, or even being faithful.
Everything that is required to save us from God’s wrath and give us eternal life was provided by the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Is. 53: 4, 5)
The mature Christian lives to be in relationship with God and to be useful to God for his plan of revealing himself to the world and his manifold wisdom to the fallen spirits via the Church. (Eph. 3:9-11) We cannot do this without taking into account our fellow man and doing all we can to be a reflection of Christ to him.
It is interesting that this command from our Lord doesn’t say if you have something against your brother, but rather ”if your brother has something against you.” It matters not who is at fault. What matters is that reconciliation takes place.
Like Christ, we as believers are expected to take the initiative. And why should it not be so? If you have received Christ into your life, you can see this as an opportunity to imitate the One who loves you so. When we love our neighbor as ourselves, are we not imitating Christ? When we do well to those who do wrong to us, are we not imitating Christ? If we forgive even when we are wronged, are we not imitating Christ? Since He did all of these things for us, does it not behoove us to follow in his way?
Peter wrote: “Finally all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” (I Pet. 3:8, 9)