You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Now is the time to choose peace. We shouldn't put off until tomorrow the good we can do today. In the grand scheme of things this life that seems at times to drag on is but a moment compared to eternity. This reveals the urgency of our task. Now, in the full freedom of life on earth, let us settle with our opponent on the way.
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
What does it mean to settle with our opponent on the way? We owe the debt of our sins and even for the lack of holiness that is necessary to appear before God. It is a debt too great for us to pay. This is one reason we put off dealing with it. It seems like an insurmountable problem. We certainly realize it isn't something we have the ability ro solve. But the magistrate is willing to show mercy if we learn to ask for mercy. The Father himself sends us the one who can pay the debt if we let him. Jesus himself comes to our aid. He will make the payment on our behalf. The Father will accept it.
Having received mercy from Jesus (and continuing to receive it), we must now "live in a manner worthy of the call" we have received. We have been purchased at a price (see First Corinthians 6:20). We have received so much mercy. We can no longer accept the same old status quo from ourselves. The old ways is relating to one another (wherein our debts are accumulated) are no longer good enough. As people of mercy we must now bear with one another through love rather than striving to be seen as better than one another. We must strive to preserve, not a unity based on a delicate balance of self-interest, but the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace;
We become much more than people who are merely forgiven a debt. We become united to the very one who pays that debt on our behalf. The love that saves us also fills us and transforms us.
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
It is as if to say that the whole problem was trying to do it on our own in the first place when we were always meant for this union. Let us not turn aside from it now. The signs of the times are all around us. Eternity is on its way.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
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