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Spirit-Led Identity Change
<page 74>Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
(Matthew 5:5, NASV)
The Greek word ‘praus,’ translated gentle in this verse, carries with it the ideas of humility and strength under control.[29] It matches what we read about Jesus. Though He had incredible power, He used His power to support others.
He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory;
A gentle person will recognize the needs of those who are damaged (a bruised reed or smoking flax) and will seek to bring healing and life. By contrast, a proud or insensitive person will quarrel and cry out, focusing on themselves or their causes while they run roughshod over others. In their minds, the “greater good” outweighs the damage they are inflicting.
Gentleness is not the same as surrender before others. It stands on truth – even when others resist it. Though it considers what people need, it doesn’t compromise with them. Gentleness relies on the Holy Spirit to do His work. Though there are times when it is wise to hold back and wait for a person to be ready for the truth, there also times to press in by faith. His power and wisdom help us discern a path forward based on the hope that caring confrontation can lead to repentance.
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. (emphasis added)
Gentleness rests in faith, knowing that though we can accomplish nothing on our own, we can accomplish much through God. Even when we are only dealing with ourselves, we often find ourselves without the power and wisdom to do what we need, yet we trust Him to provide what we are missing. It is the same with our faith in God for others. We proceed with gentleness and patience, believing He will grant repentance according to His plan. Fortunately, He loves to intervene in ways we can’t even imagine.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
<page 75>When we practice gentleness, we inherit the earth. What does this mean? Obviously, the fullness of this promise refers to our future reward in the new heavens and new earth, but there is also a partial inheritance we receive today. One of the most amazing examples of this is the witness of the early Christians. When persecuted and martyred for their faith, they gently spoke the truth, enduring earthly injustice while not compromising God’s message of love and ultimate justice. Though it looked as if they were being robbed of any inheritance in the earth, nations were transformed by their message. Conviction fell on millions and changed the way people saw the world.
Western society was birthed, in part, out of their example, and though western society has been far from perfect, it has brought a measure of God’s goodness into the earth. Ideas like human rights and limits on governmental power to oppress have benefited many. I believe this transformation is an example of Matthew 12:20 and 5:5 (both quoted above); Jesus moved through the early Christians to send forth justice to victory and they inherited the earth.
What I mean is that though individual martyrs didn’t personally inherit the earth in this life, they did inherit it in the sense that they shaped its future. The Messiah they served worked through them to bring His truth, presence, and power, and this set the course of history. Their hope was that God would release His grace into the earth, and He did that through them.
We inherit the earth as a normal outworking of the fact that Jesus has inherited the nations:
”I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession…
The book of Acts ties this verse in Psalms to the resurrection of Jesus, not His return. He was begotten as Son when he rose from the grave and ascended to be Lord of all:
God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.”
He has now ascended to be the ruler of heaven and earth; He has inherited the nations.
…what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
<page 76>And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Though we can argue about how much control Jesus will take over His inheritance of the nations at the current time, it is hard to argue that He has had no effect on them up till this point. He has already shown Himself to be King of kings and Lord of lords. Parts of the world are far different than in the past, and an honest look at why that has happened shows that the lowly carpenter from Galilee, who now sits as Lord of all, has played a huge part in this. It truly is shocking to recognize the changes that have sprung from His lordship.
I realize that we are now living in a time when nations that were previously influenced by Him are rebelling, but we shouldn’t miss the fact that we are rebelling against changes He brought. He has already inherited the nations and affected them by His rule. If He were not on the throne, we would be in far deeper darkness.
We should ask what the nature of His rule is. Is He setting up a church led dictatorship over the earth? Should we strive for utopia? If we have the wrong vision, we may try to implement changes that He doesn’t plan to make.
I don’t believe He will bring utopia at this time, because doing so could only be achieved by removing sin from the hearts of all people. We are now in a time of mercy, and any culture that is going to reflect His heart will also reflect the fact that sinners need mercy. This doesn’t mean we should compromise with sin, but it does mean that the answer to sin is the gospel. No church program, cultural influence, or government edict can replace the fact that people need to have their own relationships with God based on His grace.
What is the place of governments? They are given by God to punish crimes. It is important to remember, however, that not all sins are crimes. Those who have a vision for a better society will often face the temptation to use the power of governments to stamp out anything they see causing harm. Yet attempting to do so would step beyond the limited assignment God has given to governments: to execute judgment in order to limit evil in the earth. God has set them in place to protect us from the chaos of murder, violence, theft and other serious damage – not to produce a perfect society.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. …For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
Every sin does damage, but this does not mean that governments should try to stop every sin. If we see government as a fix for whatever ails us, we will turn it into a monster. We will raise it up, almost as if it could be our savior, rather than looking to Jesus to be our Savior. Replacing the gospel with the government will lead to bondage and pain.
<page 77>Governmental leaders should enforce limited justice for the good of all. (Only God can bring ultimate justice for sin, which is an eternity in hell – Romans 6:23, Revelation 20:14-15). Those involved in bringing this sort of justice should do so with fear and trembling before God.
Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
The gentle inherit the earth by modelling and teaching the love, righteousness, mercy, and justice that the nations should adopt. At the heart of this message is an uncompromising commitment to truth together with a deep appreciation for mercy. We expose the evil of sin and the wonder of God’s grace.
We call for people to submit to Jesus and live as He has called us to live. We display the wisdom of this message as it transforms individual lives, and individuals then work together to transform cultures and governments.
The rule of Jesus is not a promise that our lives will be easy. We may be forced to endure hundreds of years of suffering at the hands of those who hate Him. We may see little if any inheritance in our lifetimes …and this is where our faith must lead us into even greater gentleness. We must embrace a love for our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48) – all while we refuse to compromise God’s message to them.
We can’t do this based on the world’s mistaken theories of love, which are often demands that we forsake truth in order to not hurt anyone’s feelings. Instead, we must focus on what is truly healthy and good.
We make sacrifices, even in the face of injustice, in order to model the fact that lives can be transformed by Jesus Christ. We trust that He will work through our obedience to change the experience of those around us. We become like salt that changes the flavor of our little piece of the world (Matthew 5:13). We shine light in a way that leads people to see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).
Our ancestors practiced this, and Jesus transformed the western world through them. If He does not return in the near future, I expect nothing less as we move forward. The past two thousand years have not been a mistake; they have been the gradual fulfillment of Matthew 5:1-16 and Psalm 2. Jesus has inherited the nations, and He has brought the blessings of that inheritance as the gentle have shared His light.
We may want to grab onto a “quicker” approach, one that gives us more control in the short-term, but we must walk by faith, not sight. In our day, anger and vengeance are sometimes presented as virtues. There are even strategies to break the world into oppressors and victims, and to encourage rage in the “victims” and shame in the “oppressors.” The goal of this is revolution, but it is not the approach the Bible teaches:
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge <page 78>yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, 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.
Justice that transforms will only come if large numbers of people turn from the works of their flesh to follow the Holy Spirit. Justice must be undergirded with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The government’s sword (or whatever weapon it may use to enforce justice) cannot change hearts. Without a flow of God’s truth and love in the society, we end up playing Wack-a-mole with evil. It pops up again and again, because apart from the Holy Spirit, we have no answer for the sin in human hearts.
Therefore, we overcome evil by the good of living and preaching the good news that transforms individuals. They then transform cultures and governments. This won’t result in utopia, but our goal is not utopia (which is a word taken from two Greek words that mean “no place”). Our goal is to spread love and truth in the real world – the one with sinful and broken human beings who need God’s grace. Jesus uses this message to establish His inheritance of the nations.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
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