Bible Question: After doing some personal study,I discovered that the whole sermon of the mount was talking about the perfect righteousness that a true Christian should seek in his life to enter the kingdom of God, as opposed to the "righteousness of the Pharisees"(Matt 5:20). If this is truly the context of the Sermon of the Mount, then what does Jesus mean when He says: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."? Does it mean that we must love Satan too? How does the the earlier verse which says, "do not resist an evildoer" fit into this context of kingdom righteousness and loving Satan? |
Bible Answer: When Jesus says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, He means exactly what it sounds like! We are to love everyONE and to pray for the people who DON'T love us. I don't think we should love the devil, because in James (chapter 5, I think!), it says to "resist the devil, and he will flee from you." |