Burnishing Bigotry - 3rd edition

Lucy #087: With regards to 1 John 2:5, I would humbly recommend reading this in
light of the words of Jesus over all others – especially his words in the Sermon on the Mount,
which is the teaching of Christ that most readily bears by far the best Spiritual Fruit.
―Whoever keeps His Word, in him the love of God has been perfected.‖ ~ 1 John 2:5
―Blessed are the poor in spirit [i.e. the humble], for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven … Beware of
practicing your piety before others … Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the
judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do
you notice the speck in your neighbor‘s eye, but do not notice the log in your own? … You hypocrite! First
take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to help remove the speck from your
neighbor‘s … Not everyone who says to me, ‗Lord, Lord,‘ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the
one who does the will of my Father in Heaven … Be perfect [in Love], therefore, just as [the Love of] the
heavenly Father is perfect.‖ ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:3 + Matthew 6:1 + Matthew 7:1-5 + Matthew 7:21
+ Matthew 5:48)
Lucy #088: And finally, as far as the concept of LOVE is concerned, Jesus is not talking
about emotional sentimentality, or ―butterflies‖ in one‘s stomach, or sexual yearnings, or even –
as you claim – ―salvation and sanctification‖ (which was actually Paul's limited understanding of
―love‖) … No, my dear Friend, if you truly wish to ―obey Christ‖, then you will have to obey his
version of LOVE – which was a verb; which was & remains courageously & actively Caring for
others, especially those you consider to be your ―enemies‖*!
―But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be
children of your Father in Heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you only love those who love you, what reward do you
have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what
more are you doing than anyone else? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect [in your Love],
therefore, just as your heavenly Father is perfect [in His] … I give you a new Commandment: that you
Love one another. Just as I have Loved all, so should you also Love one another.‖
~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:44-48 + John 13:34)
*And remember: Jesus 2 nd Commandment
(which is just as important as his first – see Matthew
22:37-40) told us all that we are to ―Love our
neighbor as ourselves‖ … And interestingly enough,
Jesus defines ―neighbor‖ only once in the entire Bible
– in the parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke
10:29-36) – where he does so by equating the
―neighbor‖ we are to Love with a Samaritan; at that
time one of the worst cultural enemies of the Jews! …
And why in this parable was the Samaritan a
―neighbor‖? Because he was nice? – or friendly? – or
even kind? No! … He was a ―neighbor‖ because he
―showed mercy‖ – something that can only be done
for someone who has wronged us … Think about it!
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