How to love our neighbors?

(Matthew 5:43-44)Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

  According to the opening scripture, who were the neighbors for the Children of Israel under the law of Moses?

Yes, the word 'NEIGHBORS' included all the Children of Israel along with some strangers who dwelt among them, but they were all under the same covenant God had entered into them with the law of Moses.

Under the same covenant, the Children of Israel were allowed to hate their enemies, but this did not mean that they could hate their fellow Israelites who were governed by the covenant,  just because they would rise against each other. Look at the below scriptures from the law of Moses:
(Lev 19:17-18)Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Then who were the enemies the Children of Isreal were allowed to hate? Yes, everybody who was outside the covenant.

God wanted the Children of Israel to treat every body outside the covenant under the law of Moses, as their enemies whether they did wrong to them or not. That is why God wanted the Children of Israel to separate themselves from the rest of the people in the world.

Nevertheless, the above scriptures (Lev 19:17-18) reveal that God wanted Isrealites to rebuke their fellow people as part of their love towards each other. In other words, loving their neighbors included rebuking their neighbors whenever they were not doing the right thing before God.

However, they were not supposed to rebuke and correct the people outside the covenant, but hate them all the time.

Now, what did Jesus tell the Children of Israel to do in the opening scripture? Yes, He asked them to love even their enemies. What does this mean?

Well, loving enemies means loving even people outside the covenant. Did Jesus break the law of Moses by asking the Children of Israel to love the people outside the covenant??? No not at all.

Jesus was asking them to love their enemies as the rest of the people who were outside the covenant under the law of Moses, were just about to enter into a new blood covenant with the Children of Israel having the same laws governing the whole world.

Today, we all are co-heirs in Christ with the Istraelites under the blood covenant, which has brought everyone of us into a New Testament. enjoying the same blessings.

Nevertheless, today, many have conveniently forgotten a very important part of the law concerning loving our neighbours. Guess what?

It is nothing else, but rebuking part. In other words, if we love our neighbors, we should rebuke them whenever they are not found within the commandments of God. Jesus never changed this rebuking part mentioned in Leviticus 9:17, which is connected with loving neighbors. That is why Jesus Himself was rebuking everybody who was not found within the commandments of God.

Today, our church has missed this rebuking part. Many of our pastors are not willing to rebuke people in their congregations when they are found wrong before God. We should not forget that if we do not rebuke our neighbors when they are found guilty before God, we do not love them, but hate them.