The dedication demanded in the Sermon on the Mount is not a new law or moral teaching. Instead it is forgiveness. Its vital element is the light and warmth of the Holy Spirit. Here is Christ: the essence of salt, and the strength of the tree that bears good fruit. The Sermon on the Mount shows us the character of a community, which shines like a light for the whole world.
- Eberhard Arnold
February 29,2025
- Eberhard Arnold, January 1935 God’s RevolutionWhat does Jesus tell us? Show your love to those who represent the government. You are not to take revenge but to meet the authorities with love. Then too, pray for the government. (1 Tim. 2:1–2) It is utterly different from the Body of Christ, but it too serves God, though in a completely different sphere. The authorities are necessary; crime could not be kept under any kind of control without them. So you should recognize government authority but not become part of it. You are members of Christ, and Christ specifically rejected becoming a ruler. When they wanted to make Him a king, He escaped. (John 6:15) And when the Tempter came to Him and said, “Here, I will give you all the kingdoms of the world,” He refused. (Matt. 4:8–10) But He treated the authorities with respect.
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This is the essence of true religious experience: richness in God and poverty in oneself. These contrasting elements always belong together: becoming one with God, and yet always longing for him; firmness of heart, and weakness of soul; the justice of God’s love, and the suffering of injustice.
- Eberhard Arnold
What the Kingdom of God means is made clear in the Sermon on the Mount, in the Lord’s Prayer, and in the words, “Enter by the narrow gate!” This means, treat people as you wish them to treat you. This is generally overlooked. You will not be going the way of discipleship until you do for everybody all that you ask from God for yourself, that is, absolute social justice and the peaceable atmosphere of God’s Kingdom. We are envoys of the coming Kingdom of God; we serve only one law, the law of His Spirit.
- Eberhard Arnold