<p>5:46&nbsp;For<em> if you love them that love you</em>- We tend to love in response to others' love. But the love which the Lord has in mind is the love which is an act of the will, consciously effected towards the&nbsp;<em>un</em>loving.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>What reward have you?</em>- The idea is of wages. Whilst salvation itself is a free gift, in contrast to the wages paid by sin, this is not to say that there will not be some element of reward / wages / eternal recognition of our spiritual achievements in this life. The preceding verses have spoken of prayer and blessing for our abusers. This kind of attitude will be eternally rewarded. Not least if we see those we prayed for, those we blessed and forgave without their repentance, eternally with us in God's Kingdom. The final judgment will be of our works, not because works justify us, but because our use of the freedom we have had and exercised in our lives is the basis of the future reward we will be given. Salvation itself is not on the basis of our works (Rom. 11:6; Gal. 2:16; Tit. 3:5); indeed, the&nbsp;<em>free gift&nbsp;</em>of salvation by pure grace is contrasted with the&nbsp;<em>wages </em>paid by sin (Rom. 4:4; 6:23). And yet at the judgment, the preacher receives&nbsp;<em>wages</em>&nbsp;for what he did (Jn. 4:36), the labourers receive&nbsp;<em>hire</em>&nbsp;(s.w. wages) for their work in the vineyard (Mt. 20:8; 1 Cor. 3:8). There is a&nbsp;<em>reward</em>&nbsp;(s.w. wages) for those who rise to the level of loving the totally unresponsive (Mt. 5:46), or preaching in situations quite against their natural inclination (1 Cor. 9:18).&nbsp;<em>Salvation</em>&nbsp;itself isn't given on this basis of works; but the nature of our eternal existence in the Kingdom will be a reflection of our use of the gift of freedom in this life. In that sense the judgment will be of our works.</p>
<p>Lk. 6:32 speaks of us having &ldquo;thanks&rdquo;. The Greek for &quot;thank&quot; in Lk. 6:32 is 'charis', normally translated &quot;grace&quot;, and often connected with the help of the Spirit which is given to us in response to our own efforts. Taking responsibility for others is often thankless. Our human dysfunction cries out for recognition and affirmation, and we tend not to do those things for which we are not thanked. This is one of the most radical aspects of our calling as followers of Christ- to serve without being thanked. Belief in God&rsquo;s judgment helps us with this. For all our works will be rewarded in some sense by Him at the last day. If we love those that love us, we have no &ldquo;thank&rdquo;- but we will have &ldquo;thank&rdquo;, or &ldquo;praise of God&rdquo; ultimately. And this is what ultimately matters.</p>
<p><em>Even the tax collectors do the same</em>- As demonstrated by the account of Zacchaeus, these were the most friendless people in society. Rejected by family, they were unloved by about everyone. The only person who would salute / greet them was a fellow publican (:47). The implication is that publicans [tax collectors] were loved only by themselves. Loving those who love us is little better than the selfish self-love of the lonely publican. Matthew was a publican and he surely had himself very much in view as he recounted this teaching of the Lord.</p>