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Should Christians say more to those who claim Christ, but act like His enemy instead ??
Does everybody sin ?? Well, I guess that depends upon who ya talk to. I believe everybody sins, some people more than others, some people worse than others.
Is it my business to point out their sins ?? Not if they are not a member of The Church, it is not. But if they are confessing to be a brother or sister in The Lord, we are called to rebuke them.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner- not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person."
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles-that a man has his father's wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I want to make people aware of what is taught in The New Testament. So they will understand how it is that I come to Christ and worship Him and not those who try and teach legalism and self righteousness based upon the behavior of those outside of the Church.
Now I'm quite sure we all know some people who believe they are morally superior to almost everyone else because they claim Christ. I'm also quite sure that when their behavior is examined we find them to be much less than what Christ says we are to be in Him.
Disappointed ?? We all are disappointing in comparison to Jesus Christ. Here is the thing though. There are some of us who really do work to follow His path, because we know that He is The Way, The Only Way to God The Father. We are not put off by the sins of others, we still Love them, and pray for them. When we find sin in a fellow brother or sister we approach them in a Loving way to see if they are even aware of their error. I have a brother in the Lord who is living in sin with his girlfriend, I used to eat with them and take them out to dinner with my wife. We now don't go to dinner or lunch with them.
We have talked to them and they agree they are going to get married, but they continue to put it off and things keep happening to the money they are supposed to get married with. I have given them money for the mariage license, and offered to help them with things and they say okay, but it has been six months and they still are making excuses. So I have rebuked them and told them to let me know when they want to straighten themselves out with The Lord, so my wife and I can have fellowship with them again.
It hurts to not speak with them and see them as they are our friends, but we can't continue to enable them to behave as if they are walking in The Lord when they are not. That to me is real Love, I don't wish to see them continue to mock the Lord God with their lies. They are hurting themselves and they admit it, but they continue because the lust of the flesh is so strong. I know they will come back to Christ, because they are true believers who are temporarily being stumbled by the water of the well of the flesh and they thirst for it. We are praying for them, and will welcome them back with joy when they finally repent and allow Christ to again cleanse and change them.
You may ask what this has to do with anything. If you have followed many of my articles you will see that I am a firm believer in mercy and in not judging those outside of Christ as being judgable by me or other Christians. You will also notice that I am not above calling out those who claim Christ but do not follow His teachings. This is the basis of that belief. Paul an Apostle of God called by Christ to serve Him gave messages to the followers of Christ, that many today reject. Yet they are in line with what Christ taught, and if the believers would just open their eyes and see they would see that Paul is talking mainly about the believers in the Church, not those who are outside of the Church.
That is why I get upset when people try to use Paul's writings as against non believers. Paul was speaking to we who believe in Christ, and how we are to live. Root out the sin in our lives and allow the people to see Christ in us and they will then know the difference and be able to see the fruit of Christ in we who follow Him.
This is shared in His Love, not to condemn people. As always comments are welcome. Disagree all ya please, just respect the rights of others to discuss what they believe.
