Don't Leave Out Some of the Scripture, Read ALL of It

Why do people say if you love someone you should forgive but rarely say if you love someone you will confess your offense against them? It seems the one who should receive an apology is the one who is chastised to let off the hook the one who did the offense. This is backward to what God says in His Word.

The popular belief is that we go to someone privately always and only, but God says we are to go public with the offense if the private visit does not produce repentance in the offender.

Matthew 18:15-17

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

The modern church forbids public rebuke for false doctrine. Then to add insult to injury the church demands that you go privately when the sin was public. They forget the passages that say, "rebuke in the presence of all, that all may fear when someone is bringing false doctrine.

1 Timothy 5:19-21 "…19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 20 But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone so that the others will stand in fear of sin. 21 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality."

The modern church discourages believers from obeying God's word by making rules against His principles.

I am confused why so many times half of the scripture principle is left off to bring good feelings but often does not resolve anything. God's way is sometimes difficult but it is the best way that resolves Problems.

People do this too with other scriptures about judging. They say "don't judge" and leave out the part that says we are not to judge others for doing what we are doing too. However, they neglect all the other passages that tell us to judge righteously.

We are to judge those in the church according to their conduct. If we did not then no one would be accountable and sin would run rampant.

We are a family and responsible to one another to help our family members continue in obedience to Christ.

Many people refuse to judge sin but will judge others over things God never said to judge them, such as judging someone as legalistic for judging by God's standards. There are those who judge according to the cultural standard and not according to God's Word, this is wrong and against God's Word.

In our culture today there is a propensity to ignore the part of God's Word which instructs us to do the hard things. The difficult commands are the ones that resolve problems and yet weak believers want only to be praised rather than growing in holiness through instruction, correction, and rebuke.

2 Timothy 4:1-3 "1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears, they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires."

We are living in that time now, the time of resistance to the principles of God and believers adhering more to the standards of the culture than they do to the Word of God.

Keep looking up and keep obeying no matter what anyone else is doing and no matter how many friends you lose for obeying Christ. We will never regret doing what is right in the eyes of God.

Want God's Blessing? Then Obey Him!

God never endorses our actions that go against His own character.

If anyone says to you that God sent their second spouse after a divorce we can clearly refute it with Scripture in which Jesus Christ says;

Luke 16:18

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."

When someone becomes angry at the Scripture that we quote, their disinterest in Christ is showing. Many people do not realize what they reveal about themselves when they rage at us for defending the principles of God.

Fighters think they are defending themselves against us, but really they are denying Christ. To deny His principles is the same as denying Him because He is the very essence of His own principles.

I am always astounded when anyone thinks there is no problem with ignoring Scripture to justify their sin or angry attitudes.

Whenever anyone says anything my first thoughts go to what God says. If someone does not know the Bible their first thoughts are going to be what the rest of the culture thinks rather than what God thinks.

The Bible has been treated disrespectfully through dismissiveness. Those who turn God's Word into a book of suggestions that they can ignore do not realize the power of the Word and the importance of Jesus Christ! He is the WORD, the Bible is His Words and they are not suggestions they are commands to be obeyed.

When we miss the mark and negate one of His principles we ought to be ashamed and confess it to be cleansed.

1 John 1;9 " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Notice the word "If", this means if we do not confess we will not be cleansed and the sin and even hardness of heart grows. We can only grow in holiness in direct proportions to how often we confess, that which is not right and desire to be cleansed from it.

The sin must be dealt with in the heart and according to God's Principles in His Word. If it is corrected on the outside without a heart change it will only be temporary and the sin will be repeated. We must confess it seeking cleansing so that the sin does not return time after time again and again.

Confession of sin to be cleansed are not just words they are a heart mentality that results in a lifestyle change. It isn't easy to confess to someone, pride has to be ignored followed by obedience to the commands of God. This is the exercise God gives us for the inner heart change.

When we do the hard work of confessing, then is when we will avoid the sin again. This is also the remedy for excessive pride. The more we confess, the more our pride diminishes. When there are no consequences for our behavior there is no motivation to seek a change in ourselves, there is more justification of sin and pride grows radically.

Proverbs 28:13

"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."

Psalm 32:5

"I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah"

James 5:16

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

It is a command of God to confess our sins to be cleansed. When we ignore God's commands we're ignoring Him and He will stop speaking to us.

I do this with family and friends who ignore me or dismiss me, I stop communicating. It would be silly to keep speaking when someone is not listening or not interested.

Psalms 66:18-20

"If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me."

John 9:31

"We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will."

There are those who think they can live any way they please and when things get tough they can cry out to God and He will help them. The only prayer that God will hear and heed for the unsaved one is the prayer of repentance when there is a desire to be changed by Christ.

Deuteronomy 1:45

"And you returned and wept before the LORD, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you."

Psalm 18:41

"They cried for help, but there was no one to save them--to the LORD, but He did not answer."

I always feel bad when someone tells me their woahs but will not change their behavior to correct the problem.

I was one of those people who didn't need very many or huge consequences to correct my wrong behavior. Then over the years, I learned not to do things unless directed by God. It took years for me to learn to trust the Holy Spirit and not my emotions or the culture.

I cannot praise God more for His Holy Spirit who goes with me everywhere, I cannot imagine being without Him. Hallelujah!!!

Come Out From Among Them

The devil will make problems up where there are no problems. He will make us think we must stay in contact with someone who is attempting to ruin our walk with Christ, using the excuse we must stay in their life in case they are going to have a "come to Jesus" moment.

The problem with this thinking is that when we fear not being available we are not trusting that God can do it without us.

The devil would have us believe God cannot work in someone without us. Chances are good that the people we are afraid of avoiding have a better chance of listening to someone else they are not familiar with.

Often family familiarity is a hindrance to openness for many people. God never commanded us to remain friends with unsaved family members just in case they might want to hear the gospel. More often than not God moves us out of the way so family unbelievers can experience life with others they might listen to, or he may remove all their Christian contacts so they will see their need for Christ.

The point of all this is that we must be led by the Holy Spirit not the guilt that cultural Christians place on others.

2 Corinthians 6:14 "

Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?"

If a family member shows up at your door asking to know more about Christ we can rejoice and be ready with the answer. However, God told us to shake the dust from our feet when they show disinterest or revile us for sharing the most important information with them that they will ever need.

Remember we are not the only resource our relatives have, God has many thousands of ways of creating contact with believers and He also knows the right timing when the unsaved will be ready to hear.

And, it is nonsense that just hanging around believers being good friends without speaking the gospel will cause them to like Jesus. More often than not remaining friends and saying nothing only validates their rejection of Christ.

We are not family or friends with those who do not love Christ. They are His enemies and ours too. We are told to love our enemies and treat them respectfully but there is no command to be close friends with them, just the opposite.

2 Corinthians 6:17

"17 Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.

“And do not touch what is unclean;

And I will welcome you."

This is very clear. We must share the gospel with the unsaved but we should not fashion our lives around them.