After some time on other Christian forums I quickly found something very disturbing. It seems that the soldiers of Christ have allowed themselves to capitualate to the enemy. Now I do not say this to belittle anyone or to cause strife but rather to remind my fellow brothers and sisters that we are spiritual soldiers.
2Ti 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
As soldiers we have a duty to our King to do what He expects of us. One the one hand we are to love everyone. Our God, our neighbours and even our enemies. What we are not to love is evil and all of its fruit. The issue is that as we begin to love what God loves we naturally hate what he hates. And make no mistake God hates things. Sin being the source of that hate. Many of the verses dealing with love also outline what God hates.
Psa 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Psa 119:128 Therefore I esteem all [thy] precepts [concerning] all [things to be] right; [and] I hate every false way.
Psa 119:163 I hate and abhor lying: [but] thy law do I love.
Pro 6:16 ΒΆ These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Zec 8:17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these [are things] that I hate, saith the LORD.
To revel in the acts that are described above are to show contempt for God and His ways. This sinful lifestyle is an expression of loving the things God hates. And those that revel in their sin hate God and his ways as well as anyone who loves Him and His ways. The verses below are especially relevant to "martyrdom" in Islam.
Pro 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
Pro 29:10 The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.
The command to love are reserved for the sinner. Not the sin. Why then should we be afraid to speak out against that which God hates?
Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Luk 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
The most common issue I have seen in many of the forums I have visited is this ecuminical view of ALL religions. That we all ultimately serve the same God. This attitude is similiar to that of the Nicolations. They were responsible for introducing all manner of heresy to the first century ekklesia. And Jesus made it abundantly clear that Jesus does hate these ideologies that conflict with His word.
Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Rev 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Now I do not wish to sound as if I exalt hatred. I would like to point out that the word love occurs 331 times in the KJV and the word hate occurs only 87. So God is definitely a God of love and wants us to experience that love in the hopes of a day when those things He hates will be no more. Here are some of the most relevant verses dealing with the love of God.
Lev 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I [am] the LORD.
Lev 19:34 [But] the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.
Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deu 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
Deu 10:19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deu 11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Jos 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Jos 23:11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
Psa 31:23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: [for] the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
Psa 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Pro 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Pro 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
Pro 27:5 Open rebuke [is] better than secret love.
Isa 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul [delivered it] from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Isa 61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Mat 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 19:19 Honour thy father and [thy] mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mar 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love [his] neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Luk 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luk 6:32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
Luk 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and [to] the evil.
Luk 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Jhn 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Jhn 13:35 By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Jhn 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Jhn 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Jhn 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Jhn 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Jhn 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Jhn 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Rom 12:9 [Let] love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love [is] the fulfilling of the law.
2Cr 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
Gal 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Phl 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and [in] all judgment;
Phl 1:17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
Col 3:19 Husbands, love [your] wives, and be not bitter against them.
Jam 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
1Jo 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jo 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1Jo 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.
1Jo 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.
1Jo 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jo 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jo 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1Jo 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1Jo 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1Jo 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1Jo 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
2Jo 1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
2Jo 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
For those of you who still have some misgivings against speaking out against those in error remember that we are to love one another as Christ loved us John 13:34. Jesus shows how that love manifests itself when one of His children are in error.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
So if you truly love your brother speak up and correct him in the spirit of love. It is true it may lead to confrontation but fear of confrontation should never prevent you from expressing this godly love. And never sacrafice truth on the altar of convenience.
God bless and keep you all.
