Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Loving Others God's Way

1 John 1:9
"9 IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

God will not cleanse us of our sin if we refuse to admit it. He will allow us to keep getting worse until we are at the bottom, ready to admit and confess, desiring to be cleansed by Him.

Most people will not turn from their sin when everyone in their sphere of influence accepts them without challenge. When there is companionship and friendliness no matter what they do, they become solidified in their sinfulness, the longer they are in this state the longer it takes for them to repent. Often they never repent, while their life experience is nearly impossible to get out of, they remain in misery their entire lives, and partly because no one cared to address it openly.

The apostate church is full of these people, they glory in their wickedness, proud that they can get away with it. The church that does not address the sin will be held accountable one day for their negligence toward God and toward the sinner.

1 Timothy 5:22
"Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin."

The longer they remain in their sin, the more people ignore it, refusing to address it, the harder the heart becomes for the disobedient and rebellious individual.

God never forces anyone to obey Him, but He will allow us to wallow in our sin until we get tired of it, with all its pitfalls, perhaps even becoming physically ill as a consequence. The purpose of all this misery is to help the sinner realize their need for Him, so that those in sin will want to know the cure to their sin sick soul. Those who will not point out the sin and administer discipline are helping the sinner to continue down a road that will destroy them, and perhaps eventually cause a hardened heart, this is not love.

Another reason for turning one over to the devil to be buffeted, is so that others in the body will fear the consequences of sin and avoid it. It is helpful to others to see the rejection of the one who will not turn from sin. Peer pressure has been an effective way to help others to think before they indulge in evil. The fear of rejection and the fear of consequences are wonderful deterrents to dangerous habits. God uses rejection to redirect His children, He will not hear our prayers while we remain in sin, He will not help us as long as we refuse to obey Him.

John 9:31
""We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him."

Psalm 66:18
"If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;"

1 Peter 3:7
"You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so THAT YOUR PRAYERS WILL NOT BE HINDERED."

In the 1 Corinthians passage we see that someone is sinning and Paul rebukes the whole gathering for thinking they are being kind by allowing it without challenge. This is the state of our churches today. They mistake tolerance for sin, as love for the sinner, when in fact it is not kindness at all but selfishness. Those in the body wanted to feel good about themselves, rather than realizing the long term effect of sin on the one who is in disobedience, and the long term effect on the entire body of Christ. We see from the state of our apostate churches today that the more we tolerate, turn a blind eye to and even comfort those in sin, the more sin grows. It has grown to such a degree in the apostate church that more than half the church attendees are in visible sin in one form or another and comfortable.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13
"5 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people;
10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.
11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves."

1 Timothy 5:20
"Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning."

Titus 1:13
"This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,"

2 Corinthians 7:10
"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death."

2 Corinthians 12:21
"I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced."

There are many in the church now who are living in sin, doing it in pride completely comfortable with it and influencing others to be comfortable with it, thereby causing a firestorm of sin enveloping the church.

Those who will not point out sin have no backbone, they fear man rather than God. Their allegiance is to man rather than God, because of this there no longer remains love in the church. Whatever anyone wants to do is fine with these people because they do not love.

Acts 5:29 "But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."

Proverbs 29:25
"The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted."

Both Greatest Commandments are being violate in these gatherings!

Matthew 22:36-40
"36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

When self is on the throne, it is not possible to help anyone in a godly way, when self is on the throne, it is impossible to love the way God told us to love.

Think about it!

No comments:

Post a Comment