Fundamental Baptist Christian

One of the biggest misconceptions is the statement of "turn the other cheek"? Does that mean that Christians are taught not to sue anyone and not to do self-defense? It's best to understand what turn the other cheek in Matthew 5:39 means. So what does a slap in the face mean? A slap isn't always a literal slap. It should be known that a slap may also mean an insult or name-calling. The Jewish culture in Jesus' day had already misused and abused the eye for eye and tooth for tooth rule in Exodus 21:24. Instead of using it as a standard for punishing offenses, they have misused it in order to pursue personal revenge or think that God allows personal revenge. They took the whole verse out of context ignoring verses in the Old Testament that clearly forbade revenge. Did they even read Deuteronomy 32:39 that says that revenge is not ours but God's? It's probable that their culture that day that even a mere insult already warranted someone the right to hit t...

Some Christians who are against death penalty have a wrong interpretation of these verses as found in Matthew 5:38-39: Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Now do they understand what eye for eye means? The problem is that they don't. It's easy to be mistaken that God authorized people to have their personal revenge in the Old Testament. That's not the case. If He did, He wouldn't have mentioned in Deuteronomy 32:35 saying: To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. The same God who said eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth didn't authorize revenge while allowing people to press charges if they were ever harmed. Deuteronomy 19 also shows civil laws and the end ver...

I had my thoughts in the past of, "I've been insulted, I've been cheated, I've been (insert offense) by for the nth time and that's it, no more. I've done with it! I won't until 70 x 7! You're going down!" Isn't that often how you feel when you've been wronged far too many times? It sure does. In fact, forgiveness can be mistaken as condoning wrong and negating justice while revenge can be mistaken as punishing wrongdoings and enforcing justice. However quite the contrary, you will see why vengeance is not justice. Also take note that forgiving is NOT condoning wrongdoings. A picture of this is that a teacher may punish a student for cheating the exam not for her own personal reasons but to enforce justice. However he has forgiven the student in the sense that he doesn't hold it against him personally. By executing justice, he does not negate forgiveness. Rather he enforces it and teaches the student the need for it. That's wh...

Exodus 21:24-25 says, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-39, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Did Jesus negate the value of justice? Not at all. Here one has to realize the reality of the fact that Jesus as said did not come to destroy the Law but to FULFILL it (Matthew 5:17) in that very same chapter. Overall, Jesus DID NOT negate justice but rather He went against the wrong use of the Law which the Pharisees according to history, used it to justify their vengeful behavior and UNJUST scales. So it's highly possible that these Pharisees were already giving people punishment not according to God's weights but their own weights. One has to realize that first and foremo...