Introduction
The life of righteousness is essentially the holy expression of divine love. This has always been a difficult concept for man to understand, both in Old Testament times and in the days when Jesus delivered His Sermon on the Mount.
To the scribes and Pharisees, the life of righteousness meant loving their neighbors, but hating their enemies. So they coined a formula to suit their own purpose, “…You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (Matthew 5:43). Though no such commandment existed in the Old Testament, it is not difficult to understand how such an idea evolved from the general teaching of Old Testament Scriptures, based on imprecatory passages and psalms. The problem was that the scribes and Pharisees did not draw the distinction between God’s hatred of sin and God’s love of the sinner. They interpreted God’s judgment on sin as a commandment to hate all who were not Israelites—particularly Samaritans, Greeks, and Romans thus deliberately destroying the principle of God’s Law. The Lord Jesus condemned this attitude as being short of God’s standard and as an expression of imperfect love. He made it clear that a life of righteousness involves the substitution of imperfect love with perfect love—a needful message for our day!
Love has been rightly called by Henry Drummond as “the greatest thing in all the world”, but its greatness is only exceeded by its lack of display in the world. There is too much loveless “Christians”. If we are to be “… perfect, just as [our] Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48), then we must exhibit “… perfect love [which] casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). What we need is a new scriptural definition of divine love to be followed by a spiritual demonstration of that love in everyday life. For us to overcome imperfect love, we must trust the Holy Spirit to generate in us the following:

I. A Love Which is Dutiful in Its Ministry
“…Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). The supreme characteristic of divine love is that it is always active, creative, and redemptive. Divine love is never passive in Scripture; God is always reaching out with selflessness and sacrifice in His concern for others.
It is comparatively easy to love our friends. Therefore, Jesus deliberately tells us to love our enemies, and He specifies three ways in which we are expected to express our love to those we would naturally hate:
1) We Must Treat Our Enemies Pleasantly
“Bless those who curse you…” (Matt. 5:44). The word bless means “to speak well of” or “to eulogize”. When we are tempted to react adversely to sneers and curses, we must instead overflow in divine love, speaking pleasantly to our enemies. Without insincerity or dishonesty, we must take advantage of every cause to be kind to those who hate us and seek to show respect to them for the glory of God and their ultimate salvation. Such perfect love removes all fear of the consequences of un-christlike behavior.

2) We Must Treat Our Enemies Profitably
“Do good to those who hate you…” (Matt. 5:44). It is not sufficient merely to speak well of them; we are to be dutiful in our ministry of love to those who are our enemies. The apostle Paul offers instructions to surrendered believers on how to do this. “Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:20–21). The Bible and Christian history are replete with stories of men and women who have been gloriously won to Jesus Christ through deeds of kindness in the face of antagonism and persecution.
3) We Must Treat Our Enemies Prayerfully
“Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). The supreme example of divine love is our Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed even while He was being nailed to the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Stephen, the first Christian martyr, filled with the Holy Spirit, prayed as he was being stoned to death, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin…” (Acts 7:60).
How often do we name our enemies before God in prayer, seeking wisdom and grace to deal with them, and requesting their ultimate salvation? If the Christ of Calvary indwells us, we can do no other than pray for them which spitefully use us and persecute us (see 1 Tim. 2:1–7).

II. A Love Which is Distinctive In Its Quality
“… That you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?” (Matt. 5:45–47). These words make it evident that Jesus was speaking of a quality of love which is not to be found in the natural heart. It is a quality which may be described as:
1) Spiritual Love
“…That you may be sons of your Father in heaven …” (Matt. 5:45). Love begins with God but it ends with us. Christians are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4), and since love is the nature of God it must be exhibited through our new nature. This is the thrust of verses 45–47 found in Matthew Chapter 5. As the heavenly Father shares His sun and sends His rain on the evil and the good without partiality, so we should share and send our love to all. Only His unconditional, selfless love can make this possible. God did not create man because He needs love; He created him because He is love. As spiritual sons and daughters, we should exemplify and express the same quality of love through the power of the indwelling Spirit (see Rom. 5:5).
Our Lord never intended that we should love our enemies in quite the same way that we love our nearest and dearest. The word He uses is quite different. It does not involve “falling in love.” It is not even the emotional expression of affection, but rather a determination of heart, mind, and will to love the unlovely—people we don’t necessarily like—and that involves no contradiction in our Christian responsibility. In fact, it is the demonstration of God’s unconditional love…yes, spiritual love.
Such love does not overlook the need for reasonable discipline. The fact that an enemy is disciplined for wrongdoing does not mean that we have ceased to love him neither does punishing a child mean that we have ceased to love the child. The expression of divine love in punishment and discipline are never the evidence of vengeance and retaliation, but rather the prayerful love and concern for the enemy’s good (see Heb. 12:3–11).

2) Impartial Love
“…That you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?” (Matt. 5:45–47). Jesus is teaching here that there is no discrimination in divine love. St. Augustine put it beautifully when he wrote, “To return good for good and evil for evil is natural; to return evil for good is devilish, but to return good for evil is divine”. A.D. Lindsay’s comment on this verse is also worth noting, “What does reward mean here? Isn’t it like saying, ‘What is the fun of stopping short at loving people that love you?’ Can’t you see that it is more exciting than that? This is Christ’s doctrine of the extra. To return evil for good is the devil’s way; to return good for good is man’s; to return good for evil is God’s.”
This, then, is the distinctive quality of divine love. It is spiritual and impartial. It is a quality of love which rises beyond family affection, passionate longing, and human tenderness. It is love which loves the unlovely, “that they might lovelier be”.

III. A Love Which is Developed In Its Constancy
“…You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Human love, however highly it is developed, tends to fail under strain and pressure, while divine love is constant and unfailing (1 Cor. 13:8). While that is true of God, inasmuch as “God is love,” it is necessary that it should be developed in us day by day so that we become perfect, “… just as [our] Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). The New Testament leaves us in no doubt as to how this may be done. The apostle John is particularly helpful in this regard. Three times over he speaks of the perfecting of love in Christian experience, and the passages that follow reveal to us the secret of developing the constancy of love.
1) There Must Be Obedience to the Word of God
“…Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him…” (1 John 2:5). Obedience to God’s Word as a complete revelation is the secret of perfected love in Christian experience. The more we obey God through His Word, the more we become like God. This is what the Savior meant by being “… perfect [or mature], just as [our] Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). When we behave like God then love has attained its end, selfishness and carnal desires are banished, and the will of God is carried out in us and through us to others.
2) There Must Be Dependence on the Son of God
“Love has been [perfected] among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). This means that Christ’s perfection becomes our perfection. Perfect love was displayed in Jesus Christ. He was perfect in His thoughts, words and deeds, and He is “…the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Therefore, as we count upon Him to live His life in us and through us, our love is made perfect. To live His life is to have no fear now or in the day of judgment. Since His life always pleased God, we know that we will always be acceptable to the Father when we exhibit the characteristics of His blessed Son in daily living.
3) There Must Be Allegiance to the Church of God
“…If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). The unregenerate world said of the early church, “See how these Christians love one another.” The fact is, these believers were simply fulfilling the Lord’s command, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The Bible says, “No one has seen God at any time…” (John 1:18), but Christ came to reveal Him in terms which men and women could understand. Today that same Christ seeks to reveal the same God through the love we have for one another. The more we love each other within the fellowship of the church, the more the love of God is perfected and developed in us in its constancy and victory. In the most mysterious and miraculous way, loving one another within the church strengthens us to love our enemies outside of the church. Indeed, if we don’t love one another within the church, how can we expect the lost to believe the genuineness of our love to them?

Conclusion
We see then how the Savior intends us to “…be perfect, just as [our] Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Clearly, it is a matter of cultivating the love of God in us and through us by daily obedience to the Word of God, daily dependence on the Son of God, and daily allegiance to the church of God. Only as we maintain these spiritual exercises shall imperfect love be substituted for the divine love which is dutiful in its ministry, distinctive in its quality, and developed in its constancy. The greatest need in the church of Jesus Christ at this hour is a new baptism of perfect love. To have all else and to lack love is to count for nothing. Let us, therefore, join hands that the world will know we are one in the bond of love.