Matthew 5:38 and 39 say, “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” The old law was “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” This is fair, just, and righteous, but it is too low. The new law, given by the Lord Jesus in verse 39, is not to resist one who is evil. Here the Lord says that when someone strikes our right cheek, we should turn to him the other also. To do this indicates that there is no resistance and that we are not avenging ourselves.
In Matthew 5:40 and 41 the Lord continues, “To him who would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever shall compel you to go one mile, go with him two.” If someone claims your tunic, a shirt-like undergarment, give him your cloak also. This will prove that you have no resistance. To turn the other cheek to the striker, to let the one who sues have the cloak also, and to go with the compeller the second mile prove that the believers, through the resurrection life, have the power to suffer and to be meek instead of resisting and to walk not in the flesh nor in the soul for their own interest but in the spirit for the kingdom.
Loving our enemies is higher than loving our neighbors. In Matthew 5:43-45 the Lord Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens, because He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” Legally speaking, the old law—to love our neighbor and hate our enemy—is fair and righteous, for a neighbor deserves our love and an enemy deserves our hatred. However, in order to touch our natural being and to reveal how much the divine life can do for us, the Lord requires us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. This surpasses loving the neighbor and hating the enemy.
If we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we behave as sons of the heavenly Father. As sons of our Father, we should deal with the evil and the unjust as with the good and the just (v. 45), love not only those who love us but also those who do not love us (v. 46), and greet not only our brothers but also others (v. 47). To live in such a way is to be virtuous sons of the heavenly Father.
In Matthew 5:48 the Lord Jesus concludes, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” For the believers to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect is to be perfect in His love. They are the Father’s children, having the Father’s life and nature. Because the believers have the divine life and the divine nature, they can be perfect as the Father is perfect.
The demand of the new law of the kingdom is much higher than the requirement of the old dispensation. If we intend to live in the kingdom, we need to practice the high standard of morality revealed by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5. The requirements of this high standard of morality can be met only by the Father’s life, not by our natural life. The kingdom of the heavens is the highest demand, and the life of the Father is the highest supply to meet this demand. The requirements in Matthew 5 reveal how much the Father’s life can do for us. These requirements are actually a revelation showing us that the Father’s life can even make us perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Since we are sons of the heavenly Father possessing His life and nature, it is logical that we, His sons, should be perfect even as He is perfect. As believers in Christ, we are not only God’s creatures; we are also His regenerated children with the divine life and nature. Thus, we are not God’s creatures trying to imitate Him; we are the Father’s children living the Father’s life. We became children of God when the Spirit of God came into our spirit to regenerate us (John 3:6) and to make our spirit the habitation of God (Eph. 2:22). Now if we walk according to our regenerated spirit, we shall live by the Father’s life and spontaneously fulfill the righteous requirement of the law (Rom. 8:4). In this way we shall become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Eventually, through our growth in life we shall be the same as He is and live a life with the highest standard of morality for the expression of the kingdom in the divine attributes and with human virtues.