Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
If you come to worship God and remember that another holds something against you, leave your gift before the altar, go first and be reconciled to him, and then return to offer your gift. No prayer, thanksgiving, or religious service is acceptable while that repairable breach is left unaddressed. The duty binds even when you think you have done no injury and even when the other has done the greater wrong, and it must be done at once as the first work before expecting God's blessing. Go to him directly and privately, confess your own wrong in humility, ask forgiveness, and make restitution where due. For the law reaches the thoughts and intents of the heart, so hatred and unforgiveness already break it and shut out blessing, while faithful reconciliation restores fellowship with God and with one another so the offering is accepted.
Setting and Wording
The verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, delivered especially to the disciples while the assembled multitude also heard it. That sermon sets forth the principles governing the kingdom of divine grace rather than promising earthly power or restored national glory. Its teaching stands against the self-righteous doctrines and practices of the scribes and Pharisees and corrects their misrepresentation of God as stern and without compassion, mercy, or love. There Christ shows that failing to walk in the light of God's revealed will separates people from God, with darkness coming in proportion to the light allowed to shine upon the path.
The gift brought to the altar includes prayer, thanksgiving, free-will offering, and petitions, and is spoken of as brought to the altar of prayer. When something is remembered as standing between a person and God or between a person and others, the gift is to be left before that altar while what Christ commanded is done to take the wrong out of the way. Money placed in God's publishing work is such a gift laid on the altar and therefore belongs to God and must be left there. To demand back invested stock or to withdraw even one dollar for claimed necessity or selfish advantage is to withdraw a gift from the altar, upon which no blessing of God can be expected. This is especially so when the institution has sustained great loss, because withdrawing hinders the moving of the publishing work to a great center of influence, cripples the work, and opens the way for lawyers to make their power felt.
The altar-gift setting calls for wholehearted giving, with the offering to be the best of one's means in willing self-denial and sacrifice. The best is not to be kept for oneself while the poorest is given away. A lame or useless gift is not acceptable, and an offering given grudgingly does not please God.
Sins between the soul and God alone are to be confessed to God alone without publicity. But if a brother or sister has been wronged, the gift brought to the altar must be left before the altar and reconciliation with the brother must come first, and only then the gift offered. No one is to come to the altar unprepared where a known difference exists between himself and another person. If such a difference is seen and known, the gift must be left there while the person goes and seeks reconciliation first, a course that changes conduct toward one another and brings believers into line as the Lord requires. Differences with a brother must likewise be adjusted and set right before taking part in the holy ordinances of the Lord. Until this is done both are unprepared, for wrong may be on both sides and both need to be softened and subdued, while little misunderstandings can be removed easily when each does all he can to do his part, saving a vast amount of evil speaking and bitter feeling.
Reconciliation Before Worship
If while bringing an offering to God a person remembers that another has a grievance against him, he must leave his gift before the altar, go first and be reconciled to his brother, and then come and offer his gift, the offering waiting while reconciliation is sought. Worship must wait while a brother has anything against the worshiper, requiring attention to the broken relationship before presenting the gift, going to the brother to explain misunderstanding if possible and remove its cause so fellowship can be restored. This is to be done directly and privately between themselves alone in Christian love, not through others and not by spreading the difficulty, and faithful effort to make things right prepares both persons to receive blessing.
Worship, prayer, thanksgiving and religious service are not acceptable to God while this duty is neglected, and religious service does not excuse leaving a repairable conflict unaddressed. Hatred and revenge begin in the heart and already set a person on the path of murder, making offerings unacceptable, so bitterness and animosity must be removed and profession of faith while keeping an unloving spirit is empty. Believers must confess faults, correct misunderstandings, and remove obstacles to peace and unity rather than allow envy or suspicion to grow.
The duty applies even when the other person rather than the worshiper holds the grievance, and is especially binding in the church when differences can be resolved. Even if the worshiper believes he has done no injury he must still go, and the responsibility is not lessened even if the brother has done a greater wrong than was done to him. If not at fault, explanation must still be made to remove misapprehension and every stumbling-block from before a brother, so union and happiness are preserved.
The wrong must be addressed promptly, without delay, at once without letting a day pass, diligently pursued and not left unresolved. Reconciliation is the first work and the first missionary work to be done, coming before other work and before expecting God's blessing, with no alienation left among brethren. No unsettled difference is to remain even if sudden death should come, but hearts are to be kept in fellowship with peace and pardon. This curing is to be done at the first of the meeting, not brooding over, resenting or nursing suppositions, but humbling the soul, confessing instead of vindicating hasty action, and leaving no wound unattended to corrode and break forth afterward.
Seeking to conciliate others and remove misunderstanding must be done without giving up principle and without sacrifice of principle. It means not retaliating, removing so far as possible all cause for misapprehension, avoiding even the appearance of evil, and doing all that lies in power to conciliate others. The worshiper must do what he can, so far as possible, to ease the other's mind, relieve resentment and remove bitterness and animosity. He should ask what he has done and what is wrong so it can be cleared away, avoiding blaming or criticizing his brother, and doing all he can to remove the difficulty so the gift may then be offered with acceptance.
How to Make Peace
The one remembered to have a grievance must be gone to directly, privately and alone, to deal frankly between themselves in Christian love. The matter is not to be taken through others, nor laid open to others, nor passed from one person to another. There is to be no watching for faults, no repeating the report to a third person, no spreading the difficulty before the church, and no making the alleged wrong public to cause disturbance. Accusations are to be addressed with the person concerned, with private, tender effort to remove any impression of injustice that could lead to alienation, and those wronged are to be ready to forgive and restore the relationship. Going in this way requires the grace of Christ in the heart and proves doers of Christ's words rather than careless, inattentive, unfruitful hearers, preventing suffering, alienation and division, closing the door where Satan wounds the soul, keeping from offending God's little ones, and in nearly every case healing the difficulty and winning the brother instead of discouraging or destroying through criticism or evil reports.
Going means trying to explain away misunderstanding where possible and removing its cause so fellowship can be restored. Every charge is to be laid plainly before the one witnessed against, with opportunity given him to clear himself, instead of spreading evil surmisings, evil-speaking and false accusations that work like leaven to destroy unity. The one who goes is to ask what he has done and what is wrong so it can be cleared away, without blaming or criticizing his brother, and to do all that can be done to remove the difficulty and take the trouble from his mind. Every stumbling-block is to be removed from before a brother, including the stone of stumbling placed before his feet when the fault is on the goer's side, and every root of bitterness fully by the roots lest it spring up to poison others and turn the lame out of the way. Done faithfully with humbling of the proud heart, this places both in right relation to one another and to God so He can bless them, preserves union and happiness, and brings quick settlement with kneeling and reconciliation.
One who professes to serve God and yet wrongs or injures a brother misrepresents God's character to that brother. The wrong must be acknowledged to be sin in order to be in harmony with God, by in humility confessing personal sin and asking to be forgiven. Confession is to be made personally to the one injured, with forgiveness sought and restitution made as fruit of repentance, and the difficulty cleared away before asking Christ for pardon. Hatred toward another blocks approach to God and must be put away, with the heart humbled and personal wrongdoing confessed rather than another's, and then God forgives and accepts the offering. Griefs caused are to be confessed with unchristian feelings put away, and everything thought to be an injury forgiven because Christ has forgiven the goer's own mistakes, with talk with God about own dangers and defects bringing wonderful change and oneness before petitions are offered in unity.
If at fault, faults must be confessed heartily and wrong impressions removed. If not at fault, explanation must still be made to remove misapprehension, without reference to what the brother has done. Even one who believes he has done no injury must still go and ask what is wrong, judging not the brother's motives. The duty is to rise superior to slights and supposed injustice and wrong, to act calmly and go right along doing duty without talking of difficulties, keeping calm under provocation with only wise and gentle words, showing tender compassion and practicing Christ's virtues, and leaving it all with Jesus. Pardoning a supposed injury brings peace and pardon to one's own soul, gives vantage ground over the enemy, keeps brethren in fellowship, and leaves no unsettled difference even if sudden death should come.
The verse forbids anger without cause and contemptuous speech against a brother, with condemning without hearing all the facts correctly forbidden and every effort required to clear the guiltless. It applies especially to injury done by discouraging and disheartening words, wicked prejudices, unkind interpretations, false reports, judging without right, and evil speaking against fellow workers, which must be confessed and made right with cleansing of the heart from defilement before service to God is acceptable. Fault-finding and accusing fellow believers instead of treating them in a Christlike way is condemned, and unwise words that give place to envy, suspicion and evil-surmising are not to be spoken. Cherishing enmity and refusing to seek reconciliation disobeys Christ's directions for working faithfully with those doing harm by clearly identifying the harm.
The work calls for earnest, tender efforts to help one another, including talking and praying together, which clears up misunderstandings and encourages hearts. It belongs to Christ's lesson on the conduct of His followers calling for unity, love and Christian fellowship. It is part of instruction for addressing wrongdoing and restoring right relationships, with one acknowledging unchristian feelings, asking forgiveness, and offering prayer together in unity.
Law Reaching the Heart
Christ spoke this instruction as part of His exposition of the ten-commandment law in the Sermon on the Mount at the opening of His ministry, magnifying the law and making it honorable, stripping away the traditions, customs and useless exactions laid on it by Jewish teachers and bringing its pure principles to light. There He revealed its far-reaching claims and presented it in its true light rather than as a cold code of commands, sweeping away the theories of the scribes and Pharisees. The law thus exalted is a perfect system of morality based on love to God and to men, whose claims do not abate one jot through all generations to the close of time, remaining the believer's rule of life and the sinner's condemnation. Obedience to its precepts is the whole duty of man, which Christ perfectly exemplified and illustrated by His life and made honorable by perfect conformity to its requirements, demanding a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Its requirements demand perfect obedience and condemn every evil action.
That law does not concern outward actions merely but has to do with the heart, reaching even to unspoken thoughts, taking cognizance of the soul itself. It reaches beyond outward acts to thoughts, feelings, desires, motives, purposes and intents of the heart, and must be obeyed in its full spiritual meaning rather than narrowed to its smallest outward demands. Hidden hatred and other evil passions are condemned by that law even when they never become outward acts, and hidden sins condemn even when never acted upon, so that a person can violate it inwardly without outward behavior. Strenuous efforts to subdue the sinful heart cannot by themselves remove sin's condemnation or break its power, for inward holiness and not merely correct outward conduct is needed. The state of the heart regulates the life and character, and meeting the claims of the law requires having the spirit of the law in the heart; self-love therefore transgresses the law.
Murder begins in the mind, and hatred, revenge, jealousy and other evil passions beginning in the heart already set a person on the path of murder and break God's law. Hatred is already a transgression of God's law, and giving hatred a place in the heart obstructs approach to Him. The offerings of one who gives hatred place in the heart are abhorrent to God.
The offering expressed faith that through Christ the worshiper shared in God's mercy and love, so professing faith in God's forgiving love while keeping an unloving spirit is empty. When impressed that something stands between him and God or between him and others, he must leave his gift before the altar of prayer and first do what is commanded to take the wrong out of the way, and must not proceed as though nothing stands in the way of his relationship with God. This reconciling work comes first, before worship is accepted and before the blood of Jesus Christ can be effective in his behalf. Confessing and forsaking sin brings close union with Jesus in which believers are one with Christ, restores close fellowship with Jesus, gives the world evidence that God sent His Son to save sinners, allows the light of the glory of God to be revealed when conviction of sin comes, and produces hatred for the sin that separates the soul from God.
Doing this work requires the grace of Christ in the heart and humbling of the proud heart, for His blessing cannot be received while unwilling to do what can be done to make things right. Hidden sins and a hard or unmerciful spirit must be put away so they do not obstruct the blessing of Christ's righteousness, through confession, making wrongs right, and reconciliation. A faithful effort to remove misunderstanding places both persons in right relation to one another and to God so He can bless them.
The words in Matthew 5 are to be often dwelt upon so divine virtues are brought constantly into life and the will of God and true doctrine are known by doing it. Such dwelling corrects unkindness conscious or unconscious, retaliation, and strife that grows from misapprehension, breaks up the many words that tend to separate friends, holds the standard high, and makes words and attitude and actions represent Christ altogether lovely until all done in the cause and work of God is without spot or wrinkle.
The verse is one of the rules laid down for church fellowship and discipline, requiring that the offense remembered at the altar be faced and made right. Bringing an offering calls for self-examination: if wrong feelings toward a fellow believer, hatred, evil-speaking, or variance exist, reconciliation must be sought, and cherishing hatred, speaking evil, and leaving discord unresolved are contrary to God's will. This duty applies to women as well as men, and making peace with the person one is at variance with, with reconciliation diligently pursued, is part of keeping the church free from error and defilement. Those pursuing transgression are to be visited and labored with, and those who refuse to repent are to be separated from fellowship so the saints are not held accountable for their evil deeds and the church is kept pure, with those stubbornly at variance suspended until they can live in harmony.
It is part of the explanation of God's law showing that love for God and neighbor must govern business dealings and everyday life: someone who unjustly gains at another's expense has not met the law's holy standard, even if he claims to serve God. The verse calls for making things right with the person wronged as part of genuine repentance and cleansing of the soul. Those who instruct new converts must impress these far-reaching principles upon them, or their labors will be lost.
Unity Blessing and Obedience
Faithful effort to make things right comes before the gift is presented, for the offering waits while reconciliation is sought and is not accepted while that duty is neglected. When worship is about to be offered and a fellow believer is remembered to have a grievance, the worshiper must go to him, explain the misunderstanding if possible, remove its cause and take the trouble from his mind so fellowship is restored. Such faithful effort places both persons in right relation to one another and to God so He can bless them, and it may require humbling of the proud heart. Making peace removes bitterness and allows the offering to be made with a clear conscience. This reconciling work comes first, before worship is accepted and before the blood of Jesus Christ can be effective in behalf of the worshiper. Confessing and forsaking sin brings close union with Jesus in which believers are one with Christ, gives the world evidence that God sent His Son to save sinners, allows the light of the glory of God to be revealed when conviction comes, and produces hatred for the sin that separates the soul from God. Confessing wrongs and showing regard even to one who has done wrong prepares the worshiper to approach God in faith and confidence, whether kindness is accepted or not, and then God accepts the offering and restores close fellowship with Jesus.
Harboring resentment and an unforgiving spirit conflicts with God's Word and hinders prayer. Cherishing resentful feelings and feeding upon them destroys appetite for reading the Scriptures, because the Scriptures condemn letting the enemy control the feelings so that resentment is harbored. The Lord cannot answer the prayers of anyone who cherishes an unforgiving spirit, with envy, suspicion and evil-surmising.
Doing this work requires the grace of Christ in the heart and proves believers are doers of Christ's words and not careless, inattentive, unfruitful hearers and readers. It prevents suffering, alienation and division among the children of God, closes the door where Satan enters to wound and bruise the soul, and keeps from offending one of God's little ones. In nearly every case it heals the difficulty and wins the brother, saving souls instead of discouraging or destroying them through criticism or evil reports. Those at variance must deal directly with each other rather than through others, not laying matters of difficulty open to others but speaking frankly between themselves alone in the spirit of Christian love. This means not watching for faults, not repeating the report to a third person, not spreading the difficulty before the church, and not speaking unwise words that give place to envy, suspicion and evil-surmising, but going directly and kindly to the one concerned, alone, not to condemn but to seek reconciliation in love as Christ loved. If at fault, faults must be confessed heartily, wrong impressions removed, and forgiveness sought; if no injury is believed to have been done, explanation must still be made to remove misapprehension, asking what is wrong and what has been done so it can be cleared away. Every cause of variance, every hindrance and every stumbling-block from before a brother must be removed, so union and happiness are preserved and evil speaking is prevented. Settlement will come quickly with kneeling and reconciliation. This obedience creates unity, harmony, comfort, love and new power in Christian experience, with cheerfulness instead of grumbling and faultfinding. It requires not standing as a block in another's way, removing every root of bitterness fully by the roots so it cannot spring up again to poison friends and neighbors, and removing every stumbling-block lest the lame be turned out of the way. The lame are church members who make a mote into a mountain and overlook great goodness and grace in others. Church members are responsible for one another's spiritual good, not for fault-finding, and correcting error should aim to restore the brother and protect others from stumbling.
Thorough conversion requires making wrongs right with others by confession, seeking out a brother or near relatives with whom one has been estranged and has not spoken for years and asking them to come so that wrongs can be confessed and reconciled, even in the last days of life when preparing for death and the future life. When a gift is brought and someone is thought to have something against the giver, the giver must go right to that person to tell him reconciliation is wanted, humbling even to kneel and ask forgiveness and to wrench the hindrance out of the way, and few can stand against such a plea. Letting such breaches pass along comes from lack of meekness. Taking oneself in hand in this way fits a person to inherit the purified and cleansed earth, to have a home in the city of God descended from heaven upon the earth, and to be a member of the royal family and child of the heavenly King. It produces a sweet atmosphere, love, shining countenances, and praise and glory ascending to God and to the Lamb forever and ever.
Curing must be done at the first of the meeting, for the first work is to be reconciled to a brother before expecting the blessing of God. If words have been spoken and feelings of dissatisfaction are cherished because of supposed wrongs, they are not to be brooded over, resented and nursed as suppositions, but the one thought to have erred or to have injured is to be gone to and spoken to alone. He must be told the rubbish of disunion must be removed, anyone who has a grudge must be invited to present it, the soul must be humbled before God, and hasty harsh action must be confessed instead of vindicated, clearing the King's highway. No wound is to be left unattended and no obstruction left to corrode and break forth afterward, and no variance with brother or sister is to remain, with respect for the conviction of the Spirit of God. This softens hearts, conquers pride, heals mind, spirit and soul with the oil of grace, and makes the Word preached tenfold more precious.
Bringing an offering calls for self-examination: if wrong feelings toward a fellow believer, hatred, evil-speaking or variance exist, reconciliation must be sought. Anger and hatred toward a fellow believer obstruct worship, and that hindrance must be cleared away before presenting an offering by humbling the heart, confessing personal wrongdoing rather than another person's, and seeking forgiveness. God accepts the offering and forgives the sin when the person confesses his own mistakes rather than another's. Every root of bitterness must be removed fully by the roots so it cannot spring up again to poison friends and neighbors and turn the lame out of the way. Cherishing hatred, speaking evil and leaving discord unresolved are contrary to God's will, and those who do so would not value God's blessing as they desire, while this instruction helps keep the church free from error and defilement. Reconciliation is the first missionary work to be done before other work, requiring no alienation among brethren but working in perfect harmony with love for one another, without superiority, criticism or harsh words toward those who love God and keep His commandments, with the ministry and the medical missionary work combined as one work the world over.
If you come to worship God and remember that another holds something against you, leave your gift before the altar, go first and be reconciled to him, and then return to offer your gift. No prayer, thanksgiving, or religious service is acceptable while that repairable breach is left unaddressed. The duty binds even when you think you have done no injury and even when the other has done the greater wrong, and it must be done at once as the first work before expecting God's blessing. Go to him directly and privately, confess your own wrong in humility, ask forgiveness, and make restitution where due. For the law reaches the thoughts and intents of the heart, so hatred and unforgiveness already break it and shut out blessing, while faithful reconciliation restores fellowship with God and with one another so the offering is accepted.
Setting and Wording
The verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, delivered especially to the disciples while the assembled multitude also heard it. That sermon sets forth the principles governing the kingdom of divine grace rather than promising earthly power or restored national glory. Its teaching stands against the self-righteous doctrines and practices of the scribes and Pharisees and corrects their misrepresentation of God as stern and without compassion, mercy, or love. There Christ shows that failing to walk in the light of God's revealed will separates people from God, with darkness coming in proportion to the light allowed to shine upon the path.
The gift brought to the altar includes prayer, thanksgiving, free-will offering, and petitions, and is spoken of as brought to the altar of prayer. When something is remembered as standing between a person and God or between a person and others, the gift is to be left before that altar while what Christ commanded is done to take the wrong out of the way. Money placed in God's publishing work is such a gift laid on the altar and therefore belongs to God and must be left there. To demand back invested stock or to withdraw even one dollar for claimed necessity or selfish advantage is to withdraw a gift from the altar, upon which no blessing of God can be expected. This is especially so when the institution has sustained great loss, because withdrawing hinders the moving of the publishing work to a great center of influence, cripples the work, and opens the way for lawyers to make their power felt.
The altar-gift setting calls for wholehearted giving, with the offering to be the best of one's means in willing self-denial and sacrifice. The best is not to be kept for oneself while the poorest is given away. A lame or useless gift is not acceptable, and an offering given grudgingly does not please God.
Sins between the soul and God alone are to be confessed to God alone without publicity. But if a brother or sister has been wronged, the gift brought to the altar must be left before the altar and reconciliation with the brother must come first, and only then the gift offered. No one is to come to the altar unprepared where a known difference exists between himself and another person. If such a difference is seen and known, the gift must be left there while the person goes and seeks reconciliation first, a course that changes conduct toward one another and brings believers into line as the Lord requires. Differences with a brother must likewise be adjusted and set right before taking part in the holy ordinances of the Lord. Until this is done both are unprepared, for wrong may be on both sides and both need to be softened and subdued, while little misunderstandings can be removed easily when each does all he can to do his part, saving a vast amount of evil speaking and bitter feeling.
Reconciliation Before Worship
If while bringing an offering to God a person remembers that another has a grievance against him, he must leave his gift before the altar, go first and be reconciled to his brother, and then come and offer his gift, the offering waiting while reconciliation is sought. Worship must wait while a brother has anything against the worshiper, requiring attention to the broken relationship before presenting the gift, going to the brother to explain misunderstanding if possible and remove its cause so fellowship can be restored. This is to be done directly and privately between themselves alone in Christian love, not through others and not by spreading the difficulty, and faithful effort to make things right prepares both persons to receive blessing.
Worship, prayer, thanksgiving and religious service are not acceptable to God while this duty is neglected, and religious service does not excuse leaving a repairable conflict unaddressed. Hatred and revenge begin in the heart and already set a person on the path of murder, making offerings unacceptable, so bitterness and animosity must be removed and profession of faith while keeping an unloving spirit is empty. Believers must confess faults, correct misunderstandings, and remove obstacles to peace and unity rather than allow envy or suspicion to grow.
The duty applies even when the other person rather than the worshiper holds the grievance, and is especially binding in the church when differences can be resolved. Even if the worshiper believes he has done no injury he must still go, and the responsibility is not lessened even if the brother has done a greater wrong than was done to him. If not at fault, explanation must still be made to remove misapprehension and every stumbling-block from before a brother, so union and happiness are preserved.
The wrong must be addressed promptly, without delay, at once without letting a day pass, diligently pursued and not left unresolved. Reconciliation is the first work and the first missionary work to be done, coming before other work and before expecting God's blessing, with no alienation left among brethren. No unsettled difference is to remain even if sudden death should come, but hearts are to be kept in fellowship with peace and pardon. This curing is to be done at the first of the meeting, not brooding over, resenting or nursing suppositions, but humbling the soul, confessing instead of vindicating hasty action, and leaving no wound unattended to corrode and break forth afterward.
Seeking to conciliate others and remove misunderstanding must be done without giving up principle and without sacrifice of principle. It means not retaliating, removing so far as possible all cause for misapprehension, avoiding even the appearance of evil, and doing all that lies in power to conciliate others. The worshiper must do what he can, so far as possible, to ease the other's mind, relieve resentment and remove bitterness and animosity. He should ask what he has done and what is wrong so it can be cleared away, avoiding blaming or criticizing his brother, and doing all he can to remove the difficulty so the gift may then be offered with acceptance.
How to Make Peace
The one remembered to have a grievance must be gone to directly, privately and alone, to deal frankly between themselves in Christian love. The matter is not to be taken through others, nor laid open to others, nor passed from one person to another. There is to be no watching for faults, no repeating the report to a third person, no spreading the difficulty before the church, and no making the alleged wrong public to cause disturbance. Accusations are to be addressed with the person concerned, with private, tender effort to remove any impression of injustice that could lead to alienation, and those wronged are to be ready to forgive and restore the relationship. Going in this way requires the grace of Christ in the heart and proves doers of Christ's words rather than careless, inattentive, unfruitful hearers, preventing suffering, alienation and division, closing the door where Satan wounds the soul, keeping from offending God's little ones, and in nearly every case healing the difficulty and winning the brother instead of discouraging or destroying through criticism or evil reports.
Going means trying to explain away misunderstanding where possible and removing its cause so fellowship can be restored. Every charge is to be laid plainly before the one witnessed against, with opportunity given him to clear himself, instead of spreading evil surmisings, evil-speaking and false accusations that work like leaven to destroy unity. The one who goes is to ask what he has done and what is wrong so it can be cleared away, without blaming or criticizing his brother, and to do all that can be done to remove the difficulty and take the trouble from his mind. Every stumbling-block is to be removed from before a brother, including the stone of stumbling placed before his feet when the fault is on the goer's side, and every root of bitterness fully by the roots lest it spring up to poison others and turn the lame out of the way. Done faithfully with humbling of the proud heart, this places both in right relation to one another and to God so He can bless them, preserves union and happiness, and brings quick settlement with kneeling and reconciliation.
One who professes to serve God and yet wrongs or injures a brother misrepresents God's character to that brother. The wrong must be acknowledged to be sin in order to be in harmony with God, by in humility confessing personal sin and asking to be forgiven. Confession is to be made personally to the one injured, with forgiveness sought and restitution made as fruit of repentance, and the difficulty cleared away before asking Christ for pardon. Hatred toward another blocks approach to God and must be put away, with the heart humbled and personal wrongdoing confessed rather than another's, and then God forgives and accepts the offering. Griefs caused are to be confessed with unchristian feelings put away, and everything thought to be an injury forgiven because Christ has forgiven the goer's own mistakes, with talk with God about own dangers and defects bringing wonderful change and oneness before petitions are offered in unity.
If at fault, faults must be confessed heartily and wrong impressions removed. If not at fault, explanation must still be made to remove misapprehension, without reference to what the brother has done. Even one who believes he has done no injury must still go and ask what is wrong, judging not the brother's motives. The duty is to rise superior to slights and supposed injustice and wrong, to act calmly and go right along doing duty without talking of difficulties, keeping calm under provocation with only wise and gentle words, showing tender compassion and practicing Christ's virtues, and leaving it all with Jesus. Pardoning a supposed injury brings peace and pardon to one's own soul, gives vantage ground over the enemy, keeps brethren in fellowship, and leaves no unsettled difference even if sudden death should come.
The verse forbids anger without cause and contemptuous speech against a brother, with condemning without hearing all the facts correctly forbidden and every effort required to clear the guiltless. It applies especially to injury done by discouraging and disheartening words, wicked prejudices, unkind interpretations, false reports, judging without right, and evil speaking against fellow workers, which must be confessed and made right with cleansing of the heart from defilement before service to God is acceptable. Fault-finding and accusing fellow believers instead of treating them in a Christlike way is condemned, and unwise words that give place to envy, suspicion and evil-surmising are not to be spoken. Cherishing enmity and refusing to seek reconciliation disobeys Christ's directions for working faithfully with those doing harm by clearly identifying the harm.
The work calls for earnest, tender efforts to help one another, including talking and praying together, which clears up misunderstandings and encourages hearts. It belongs to Christ's lesson on the conduct of His followers calling for unity, love and Christian fellowship. It is part of instruction for addressing wrongdoing and restoring right relationships, with one acknowledging unchristian feelings, asking forgiveness, and offering prayer together in unity.
Law Reaching the Heart
Christ spoke this instruction as part of His exposition of the ten-commandment law in the Sermon on the Mount at the opening of His ministry, magnifying the law and making it honorable, stripping away the traditions, customs and useless exactions laid on it by Jewish teachers and bringing its pure principles to light. There He revealed its far-reaching claims and presented it in its true light rather than as a cold code of commands, sweeping away the theories of the scribes and Pharisees. The law thus exalted is a perfect system of morality based on love to God and to men, whose claims do not abate one jot through all generations to the close of time, remaining the believer's rule of life and the sinner's condemnation. Obedience to its precepts is the whole duty of man, which Christ perfectly exemplified and illustrated by His life and made honorable by perfect conformity to its requirements, demanding a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Its requirements demand perfect obedience and condemn every evil action.
That law does not concern outward actions merely but has to do with the heart, reaching even to unspoken thoughts, taking cognizance of the soul itself. It reaches beyond outward acts to thoughts, feelings, desires, motives, purposes and intents of the heart, and must be obeyed in its full spiritual meaning rather than narrowed to its smallest outward demands. Hidden hatred and other evil passions are condemned by that law even when they never become outward acts, and hidden sins condemn even when never acted upon, so that a person can violate it inwardly without outward behavior. Strenuous efforts to subdue the sinful heart cannot by themselves remove sin's condemnation or break its power, for inward holiness and not merely correct outward conduct is needed. The state of the heart regulates the life and character, and meeting the claims of the law requires having the spirit of the law in the heart; self-love therefore transgresses the law.
Murder begins in the mind, and hatred, revenge, jealousy and other evil passions beginning in the heart already set a person on the path of murder and break God's law. Hatred is already a transgression of God's law, and giving hatred a place in the heart obstructs approach to Him. The offerings of one who gives hatred place in the heart are abhorrent to God.
The offering expressed faith that through Christ the worshiper shared in God's mercy and love, so professing faith in God's forgiving love while keeping an unloving spirit is empty. When impressed that something stands between him and God or between him and others, he must leave his gift before the altar of prayer and first do what is commanded to take the wrong out of the way, and must not proceed as though nothing stands in the way of his relationship with God. This reconciling work comes first, before worship is accepted and before the blood of Jesus Christ can be effective in his behalf. Confessing and forsaking sin brings close union with Jesus in which believers are one with Christ, restores close fellowship with Jesus, gives the world evidence that God sent His Son to save sinners, allows the light of the glory of God to be revealed when conviction of sin comes, and produces hatred for the sin that separates the soul from God.
Doing this work requires the grace of Christ in the heart and humbling of the proud heart, for His blessing cannot be received while unwilling to do what can be done to make things right. Hidden sins and a hard or unmerciful spirit must be put away so they do not obstruct the blessing of Christ's righteousness, through confession, making wrongs right, and reconciliation. A faithful effort to remove misunderstanding places both persons in right relation to one another and to God so He can bless them.
The words in Matthew 5 are to be often dwelt upon so divine virtues are brought constantly into life and the will of God and true doctrine are known by doing it. Such dwelling corrects unkindness conscious or unconscious, retaliation, and strife that grows from misapprehension, breaks up the many words that tend to separate friends, holds the standard high, and makes words and attitude and actions represent Christ altogether lovely until all done in the cause and work of God is without spot or wrinkle.
The verse is one of the rules laid down for church fellowship and discipline, requiring that the offense remembered at the altar be faced and made right. Bringing an offering calls for self-examination: if wrong feelings toward a fellow believer, hatred, evil-speaking, or variance exist, reconciliation must be sought, and cherishing hatred, speaking evil, and leaving discord unresolved are contrary to God's will. This duty applies to women as well as men, and making peace with the person one is at variance with, with reconciliation diligently pursued, is part of keeping the church free from error and defilement. Those pursuing transgression are to be visited and labored with, and those who refuse to repent are to be separated from fellowship so the saints are not held accountable for their evil deeds and the church is kept pure, with those stubbornly at variance suspended until they can live in harmony.
It is part of the explanation of God's law showing that love for God and neighbor must govern business dealings and everyday life: someone who unjustly gains at another's expense has not met the law's holy standard, even if he claims to serve God. The verse calls for making things right with the person wronged as part of genuine repentance and cleansing of the soul. Those who instruct new converts must impress these far-reaching principles upon them, or their labors will be lost.
Unity Blessing and Obedience
Faithful effort to make things right comes before the gift is presented, for the offering waits while reconciliation is sought and is not accepted while that duty is neglected. When worship is about to be offered and a fellow believer is remembered to have a grievance, the worshiper must go to him, explain the misunderstanding if possible, remove its cause and take the trouble from his mind so fellowship is restored. Such faithful effort places both persons in right relation to one another and to God so He can bless them, and it may require humbling of the proud heart. Making peace removes bitterness and allows the offering to be made with a clear conscience. This reconciling work comes first, before worship is accepted and before the blood of Jesus Christ can be effective in behalf of the worshiper. Confessing and forsaking sin brings close union with Jesus in which believers are one with Christ, gives the world evidence that God sent His Son to save sinners, allows the light of the glory of God to be revealed when conviction comes, and produces hatred for the sin that separates the soul from God. Confessing wrongs and showing regard even to one who has done wrong prepares the worshiper to approach God in faith and confidence, whether kindness is accepted or not, and then God accepts the offering and restores close fellowship with Jesus.
Harboring resentment and an unforgiving spirit conflicts with God's Word and hinders prayer. Cherishing resentful feelings and feeding upon them destroys appetite for reading the Scriptures, because the Scriptures condemn letting the enemy control the feelings so that resentment is harbored. The Lord cannot answer the prayers of anyone who cherishes an unforgiving spirit, with envy, suspicion and evil-surmising.
Doing this work requires the grace of Christ in the heart and proves believers are doers of Christ's words and not careless, inattentive, unfruitful hearers and readers. It prevents suffering, alienation and division among the children of God, closes the door where Satan enters to wound and bruise the soul, and keeps from offending one of God's little ones. In nearly every case it heals the difficulty and wins the brother, saving souls instead of discouraging or destroying them through criticism or evil reports. Those at variance must deal directly with each other rather than through others, not laying matters of difficulty open to others but speaking frankly between themselves alone in the spirit of Christian love. This means not watching for faults, not repeating the report to a third person, not spreading the difficulty before the church, and not speaking unwise words that give place to envy, suspicion and evil-surmising, but going directly and kindly to the one concerned, alone, not to condemn but to seek reconciliation in love as Christ loved. If at fault, faults must be confessed heartily, wrong impressions removed, and forgiveness sought; if no injury is believed to have been done, explanation must still be made to remove misapprehension, asking what is wrong and what has been done so it can be cleared away. Every cause of variance, every hindrance and every stumbling-block from before a brother must be removed, so union and happiness are preserved and evil speaking is prevented. Settlement will come quickly with kneeling and reconciliation. This obedience creates unity, harmony, comfort, love and new power in Christian experience, with cheerfulness instead of grumbling and faultfinding. It requires not standing as a block in another's way, removing every root of bitterness fully by the roots so it cannot spring up again to poison friends and neighbors, and removing every stumbling-block lest the lame be turned out of the way. The lame are church members who make a mote into a mountain and overlook great goodness and grace in others. Church members are responsible for one another's spiritual good, not for fault-finding, and correcting error should aim to restore the brother and protect others from stumbling.
Thorough conversion requires making wrongs right with others by confession, seeking out a brother or near relatives with whom one has been estranged and has not spoken for years and asking them to come so that wrongs can be confessed and reconciled, even in the last days of life when preparing for death and the future life. When a gift is brought and someone is thought to have something against the giver, the giver must go right to that person to tell him reconciliation is wanted, humbling even to kneel and ask forgiveness and to wrench the hindrance out of the way, and few can stand against such a plea. Letting such breaches pass along comes from lack of meekness. Taking oneself in hand in this way fits a person to inherit the purified and cleansed earth, to have a home in the city of God descended from heaven upon the earth, and to be a member of the royal family and child of the heavenly King. It produces a sweet atmosphere, love, shining countenances, and praise and glory ascending to God and to the Lamb forever and ever.
Curing must be done at the first of the meeting, for the first work is to be reconciled to a brother before expecting the blessing of God. If words have been spoken and feelings of dissatisfaction are cherished because of supposed wrongs, they are not to be brooded over, resented and nursed as suppositions, but the one thought to have erred or to have injured is to be gone to and spoken to alone. He must be told the rubbish of disunion must be removed, anyone who has a grudge must be invited to present it, the soul must be humbled before God, and hasty harsh action must be confessed instead of vindicated, clearing the King's highway. No wound is to be left unattended and no obstruction left to corrode and break forth afterward, and no variance with brother or sister is to remain, with respect for the conviction of the Spirit of God. This softens hearts, conquers pride, heals mind, spirit and soul with the oil of grace, and makes the Word preached tenfold more precious.
Bringing an offering calls for self-examination: if wrong feelings toward a fellow believer, hatred, evil-speaking or variance exist, reconciliation must be sought. Anger and hatred toward a fellow believer obstruct worship, and that hindrance must be cleared away before presenting an offering by humbling the heart, confessing personal wrongdoing rather than another person's, and seeking forgiveness. God accepts the offering and forgives the sin when the person confesses his own mistakes rather than another's. Every root of bitterness must be removed fully by the roots so it cannot spring up again to poison friends and neighbors and turn the lame out of the way. Cherishing hatred, speaking evil and leaving discord unresolved are contrary to God's will, and those who do so would not value God's blessing as they desire, while this instruction helps keep the church free from error and defilement. Reconciliation is the first missionary work to be done before other work, requiring no alienation among brethren but working in perfect harmony with love for one another, without superiority, criticism or harsh words toward those who love God and keep His commandments, with the ministry and the medical missionary work combined as one work the world over.