As darkness closes in all around us and dread shapes and other evil forces are emboldened in their wickedness it would be all too easy to hate the wicked. But Luke 23: 33-43 as well as Matthew 6:9-13, the Lord’s Prayer where the Lord expresses His interest in the condition of our hearts warns us against giving into hate and unforgiveness.
Having been sadistically flogged and then brutally nailed to the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ nevertheless prayed for those who crucified him because He had come into this world to die for the forgiveness of sin.
The two thieves on either side of our Lord exemplify the different effects the cross of Christ would have upon hardened sinners in the preaching of the gospel. The heart of one thief remained hardened and his will turned toward self and evil to the very end. No amount of suffering could change his wicked will and heart, and Christ knew this because He knows our thoughts and what our motives are. The heart of the other thief softened in faith with a will turned toward God, and this Christ knew as well, so upon death of the thief’s body his immortal soul entered into Paradise.
All believers are on a journey of unknown duration from new birth to resurrection (justification, sanctification, glorification). While the thief journeyed very quickly through justification, sanctification and then glorification, for most believers the journey will play out over an entire lifetime. Thus, any one of us might sin at any time, for like Paul, we all have our thorns to bear. When this happens, our Lord commands us to forgive the one who sinned, and even the wicked, saying to us He will forgive our sins as we forgive the sins of others.
To not forgive is to hold onto bitterness, resentment, and criticism, thereby allowing these evils to fester and grow into hatred, rage, and vengeance, which can burn out the seeds of love God planted in our souls, said Augustine.
Only forgiveness is the spiritual antidote as our Lord knows.
2023@Linda
Yes indeed. Our consciences, if we’ve fostered virtue in them, should constrain us from doing evil.
Of course, those who are vice-ridden will default to evil.