He—exalted is He—also says:

“Indeed, those who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have fallen into disbelief.” ⦗5:17⦘

And He—exalted is He—says:

“We likewise took a covenant from those who say, ‘We are Christians,’ but they forgot a portion of what they had been reminded of; so We stirred up enmity and hatred among them until the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will tell them what they used to do.” ⦗5:14⦘

The Almighty informs us that the Christians abandoned part of what He had reminded them of, and because of that He inflamed enmity and hatred among them until the Day of Resurrection. It is therefore clear that, exalted be He, He has shown that they left aside some of what the Messiah—and the prophets before him—brought, and thus deserved to have enmity and hatred set among them until the Day of Resurrection.

He—exalted is He—also says:

“Say, ‘People of the Scripture, do not go to extremes in your religion beyond the truth, and do not follow the whims of a people who went astray before, led many others astray, and themselves strayed from the straight path.’” ⦗5:77⦘

Thus He forbade them to practice excess in their religion and to follow the desires of those who introduced innovations that altered the law of the Messiah. Such people first went astray themselves, then caused many of their followers—and others besides—to stray, veering away from the straight path, the balanced course between deviation and neglect. After first stating the matter in broad terms, He then specified and restricted it.