Late Night/Early Morning thoughts…
I know I said I wouldn’t be around here, but I’m sitting down writing a letter and getting thoughts out for something coming up and I decided that a lot of what I’m thinking would make a good post!
I’ve been thinking a lot about how different faith looks on different people. This is such a beautiful gift. Based on the circumstances of our lives, there are different things that we are passionate about.
For me, my experiences with sexual, psychological, and physical abuse has given me a passion for people who are in similar situations. Along with a passion for positive self-image. Not to mention a love for people with lifestyles other than my own.
God’s Word says:
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:3-8
We should be celebrating these differences in each other rather than discouraging people. We should be loving each other.
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Romans 12:9-16
Who are we to offer the wrath and judgement that is only the Lord’s to give? When will we understand that it is the Holy Spirit that works in our hearts to show us where we need to work? God clearly says that we should not judge or we will be judged by the same measure. (Matthew 7:1-2). Recently, I’ve heard a lot about how we are to uphold eachother and admonish each other. (I’m guessing Colossians 3:16) Let’s remember what the word, “admonish” means:
Admonish:
- To caution, advise, or counsel against something
- To reprove or scold; especially in a mild and good-willed manner.
- To urge to a duty; remind.
Courtesy of Dictionary.com
I’ve spent some time searching different translations on Bible Gateway and entering the word “rebuke.” In nearly every instance, the Lord does the rebuking. I’ve yet to find one instance in the New Testament, where Jesus came and abolished the law, where we are told to rebuke each other. Be encouraged by this! We are not the judge of anyone! That is fantastic news! This gives us the opportunity to love and relate and live amongst each other!
Anyway, I’m starting to get sleepy, and it’s no surprise since it’s 2:00 in the morning! Let’s just remember to love one another. I mean, is it really so hard to put aside your idealogical, political, personal beliefs and just love one another?
http://tinyurl.com/jesuslovesyouthisiknow
I like this. No judging, more loving. Who could argue with that? What a nice post to come to after a very disturbing thing I read earlier. Hopefully, I will fall asleep thinking of love and peace rather than the ugliness I just read at another unnamed blog. Thanks.
Thoughts on what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5?
Amanda, I’ve spent some time in this passage before and have come back and read it again at your behest. I really believe, and from various translations, feel I am confirmed in believing that this is surrounding Christians who are knowingly sinning against God and being flippant with God’s commands. At the last supper, when Jesus is telling them that he will be leaving to go and prepare the way (The crucifixion, for those who don’t know), the apostles ask Jesus how they will know the way without Him. He tells them that the Lord will send the Holy Spirit to teach them “all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:25-27 (NIV) In John 16:7-11 Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit’s conviction of the world. I don’t think this is just for nonbelievers but for believers as well. It appears to be the Holy Spirit’s job to convict our sin.
Let’s run a hypothetical. Let’s say that I was a kleptomaniac. Knowing full-well that stealing is a sin, not repenting, but bragging about it. Then come to church, talk about how much I love God and getting up on my soapbox about sin, then someone asks me “Where’d you get your necklace?” I say, “Neiman Marcus.” “Wow, must have been expensive. It’s very nice.” To which I reply, “Not for me! 5-finger discount!” And they walk away and not confront my sin. Not only not confront my sin, but giggle with me about it or accept it as righteous behavior. This is the same kind of behavior that Paul is talking about in 1 Cor 5: When a believer is flippant about his own sin and the church tolerates it.
Jesus specifically said that we shouldn’t judge or we too will be judged by the same measure. He also told us that we should address our own sin before addressing the sins of fellow believers. And since there’s no such thing as a perfect person, outside of Jesus, we should be too busy working with the Holy Spirit to address our own sins to worry about judging others. Matthew 7:1-5
We have a perfect God who is perfectly capable of judging all of us and sends His Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins, in the time that it will be most effective. We all have the same lessons to learn, but we all have different timelines as to when they will be learned. For example, two people listen to the same sermon, one person is convicted at that moment of a sin and the other was convicted 3 years ago.
why is 1 Corinthians 5 so important, Amanda?
Hi, CPM.
Because the church is expected to address sin…
Let me say, first and foremost, our brothers and sisters in Christ should always approach us in a gentle and loving way to teach/encourage/exhort/reprove/admonish us, and the person(s) should point us to what God’s Word says.
Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Notice that Paul does say “as long as it is called Today.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Ephesians 4:25 “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
Galatians 6:1-5 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted…”
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 “6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us…14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” This is in regard to idleness, but I would claim that it does apply to what 1 Corinthians 5:11 says as well, “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.”
The person doing this always needs to examine him/herself to make sure that they are not 1) being a hypocrite (currently doing the same thing or “caught” in sin; Matthew 7:5 “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”) ((Note that Jesus did not stop with taking the plank out of our own eye, but goes on to say “and then…”)) and 2) being prideful/self-righteous (Galatians 6:1-5).
It should be done the way Jesus talks about in Matthew 18:15-17 (privately, then with witnesses, then publicly) and always praying for that person (James 5:13-20). At the point of having witnesses, it would probably be wise to have a pastor/elder present for support, but that’s my opinion. Here’s why I say that:
In the pastoral epistles…
1 Timothy 1:3-5 “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer 4nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.”
1 Timothy 4:6-11 “6If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed…11Command and teach these things.”
1 Timothy 5:19-20 (regarding elders’ sin) “19Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.”
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”
2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
This is true whether the sin is unintentional or intentional. Of course, if the sin is unintentional then the person doing the exhorting should take the time to gently explain (teach) to that person where the Bible ispeaks about that sin. After it has been demonstrated to be sin, then it is no longer an issue of the person being ignorant, but one of rebellion (Hebrews 3, Hebrews 10:26, James 1:22).
The problem that arises if we don’t address blatant sin (the disobedience to God’s Word) is that in time it will start affecting other brothers and sisters, especially the weaker or newer ones and youngsters who may not have given their lives to Christ. If someone continues to deny that what they are doing is sin, then they most likely have reasons as to why they continue to think that way and will more than likely start influencing others with those arguments. People are not always so eager to admit or flaunt that they know what they are doing is sin. Also, consider the false teachers that are described in the Bible (Acts 20:27-31, 2 Timothy 4:3-5, 2 Peter 2). They will deny that their sin is intentional. They will have their reasons why what they do is not sin. And at some point they will sway others to agree with them (intentionally or not). If someone comes to us to talk about how our sin is harming our brothers and sisters, we need to be open to correcting it and show love for them (James 5:16).
Wow, that’s long.
But I did also want to share what CH Spurgeon says that I think is good:
“We ought to be able to take a loving exhortation from our brethren and sisters. We must do so if we are to be preserved from the deceitfulness of sin. Another eye may see for me what I cannot see for myself. Reproofs should be given with great tenderness; but even if they wound us, we must bear them. “_Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil._” Let us be thankful that some saints love us well enough to give themselves the pain and trouble of exhorting us. And then let us endeavor, if the Lord is keeping us by his grace, to “_exhort one another daily._” We are not to scold one another daily, nor to suspect one another daily, nor to pick holes in one another’s’ coats daily; but when we see a manifest fault in a brother, we are bound to tell him of it in love; and when we do not see any fault of commission, but the brother is evidently growing lax and cold, it is well to stir him up to greater zeal by a loving exhortation. Wisely said, a word may save a soul from declension and sin. A good fire may need a little stirring. The best of believers may grow better by the communications of his friends. Alas! we do not care enough for the souls of our brethren. If we thought more carefully of others, we should probably think more carefully about ourselves. “_Exhort one another daily._”Watch over your own children, your wife, your husband, and then do not forget your neighbors and fellow-workmen. Cry to God to give us union of spirit with all the Lord’s chosen, and may that union of spirit be a living and loving one! We would not be frozen together in chill propriety, but we would be welded together at a white heat of loving earnestness, so as to be truly one in Christ Jesus. Let us take for our motto, “_One and all._” Maintaining individuality by each one watching against personal sin, and merging individuality in the commonwealth of saints by each one laboring for the sanctification of his brother.” (The Deceitfulness of Sin)
Ok, that’s enough for now.
Have a good night!
Thank you for taking the time to answer.