When Judgment Falls

Monday

October 31, 2022

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.  But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols.  You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.  I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people.  Don’t even eat with such people.  It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.  God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”  1 Corinthians 5:9-13

Paul was consistently misunderstood and criticized for his teaching on sexuality.  The apostle was even mentioned by his fellow apostle, Peter, as being somewhat hard to understand, but acknowledged that Paul’s revelations were from God, and delivered with the authority of Scripture.  Peter further stated that only the twisted mind (of false believers, not true Christians) mocked what Paul was preaching, and God would take them to task for it.[1]

So…what was it Paul taught that was so controversial?  It’s the very same thing you hear as a criticism (mostly from those outside the church), that Christians are judgmental, and critical of anybody who isn’t as holy as they consider themselves.  It is a blanket condemnation, by unbelievers, that all believers are blanket-criticizers.  It’s a little like the pot calling the kettle black!

Now, if that’s the misunderstanding of what Paul taught, what is it, precisely, that Paul did teach?  He taught just the opposite – that Christians ought not to judge those who are outside the church.  Paul said expressly that he left that to God.  The responsibility of judging (not of motives or ethical commitment) but behavior of Christians within the church is necessary, for the purity of God’s bride.

While Paul focused on sexual sins (sex outside of marriage, including unmarrieds, same-sex, and adultery), because that was rampant in the Corinthian church, he pointed to other gross sins that were demeaning to the character and moral ethic of the people called “Christian”.  Among those were greed, cheating and idolatry.

Without raking-over the lewd details of any of that list, let me cut right to the chase this morning.  I am not lambasting 21^st-Century culture for being immoral, and un-Christlike; the apostle Paul’s injunction against pointing fingers at those outside the church still stands.  It is the sin within the camp that strains credulity.  Today’s church (in large percentage) has identified more with the surrounding culture, than what Scripture identifies as the Bride of Christ.  It is the church’s lukewarmness in embracing those who profess Christ as Savior, but live in open, and unapologetic opposition to moral and ethical Christian standards. 

Sexual sins, including all forms of homosexuality, and heterosexual activity between unmarried people, along with every other kind of sin, must be held to accountability within the church before anyone outside the church will seriously take the church as something God-ordained.  You clean your own house first!

For You Today

I am not proposing a witch-hunt to weed out the church membership rolls.  I am suggesting, however, that pastors had better quit trying to fill the seats and grow a Corinthian-infested organization they call a church.  In place, it would be better to return to the practice of the mourner’s bench, to wait awhile until the fruits of true salvation are exhibited in the life of those who profess their faith.  Otherwise Pastors and elders who ignore this might hear from Jesus on that Great Judgment Day:  Depart from me…I never knew you!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions libraryI.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

       The Third Day   and   Living in Sodom

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1]  See  2 Peter 2:1-22 and 2 Peter 3:15-16

More Questions Than Answers

Monday, March 2, 2020

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood.  For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.  Hebrews 2:14-15[1]

Many questions beg answers; in the letter to the Hebrew Christians sometimes the questions seem to beg, and beg, and beg….  This is not one of those times.  For me, at least, this text is one of the clearest, most satisfying pegs that holds my faith secure, even in the fiercest of life’s storms.  Paul answers the questions for which my frightened little soul craves light:  Does God care about me?  It shines light on:  Why the cross?  And it assures that:  It’s REALLY possible to be forgiven!

Peter seemed to have been in awe of Paul’s deep and complex insights, and, at times, more than a little confused about Paul’s letters! 

Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture.  And this will result in their destruction.   2 Peter 3:15-16

With Paul and Peter, you and I can also understand the cross and the nature of suffering for our sins, as well as the gift of the One who is eternal, who became one of us to pay the ultimate cost. 

If actions speak louder and more eloquently than words, then the cross is our assurance that God indeed loves us, and forgiveness is not only possible, it is palpable.  Forgiveness isn’t a far-off question to beg an answer until it drives you mad; forgiveness is a blood-stained reality, offered from the best friend you could imagine (even if you cannot fully understand why He offers himself in your place)!

Paul’s throwaway line in this is that we humans live in slavery to the fear of death.  And it’s true.  Those who, as Peter said, are ignorant and unstable may offer a false kind of bravado, asserting that they’re unafraid, and even go so far as to deny God’s existence.  But it’s just whistling in the dark against their fear.  The plain and inexorable reality is that everyone who has ever drawn breath trembles against the day they will stop drawing breath.  In short, we dread knowing, but can’t stop wondering what (or WHO) is beyond this life.  We dread the final answer which we will ALL one-day encounter.

For those who choose to believe and embrace the forgiving act of Jesus Christ on that cross as He broke the power of fear and death, the result of such trust brings peace that is unmistakable and makes little sense to the skeptic.  But it is the answer that makes all other questions moot.

For You Today

For a believer in, and follower of Christ, Lent holds preparation with humility and expectation.  For the unbeliever, it holds nothing but the anxiety of more questions without answers.  Should be a no-brainer!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day! 

Go to VIDEO 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

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[1] For other posts on Hebrews 2:14-15 see He Was Crushed...for US   and When the Candle Dies 

Figuring It Out

[1]   

Good Friday, April 3, 2015

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.  I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do.  I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.    1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (NLT)

The idea of trying to please everybody is common to me, but flies in the face of any kind of contemporary common sense.  It is often said that when you try to please everybody you end up pleasing nobody and offending everybody.

If you want proof of this, suggest at your next board meeting that you would like to start a new “contemporary service” because some folks don’t like the hymns, and you want to try to reach new people.  You’ll quickly find out Paul was pointing you down the pathway of thorns when he told you to figure out the way to live without offending.

Even Peter agreed that Paul’s thinking wasn’t an easy read:

Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture.  And this will result in their destruction. 

2 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT)

Being a disciple of Christ isn’t without its gray areas; who can know the mind of God in the deep things?  When does personal preference become racism, or stewardship become greed, or evangelism become fanaticism?  Where are the clear lines?

I believe those lines become clearer (as much as they can be clear in this life) in the heart of one who truly bows in submission to God daily.  That was one thing Paul also taught without a trace of ambiguity:

I die every day!  1 Corinthians 15:51a (NRSV)

Paul wasn’t talking physical life here; how could you cease to breathe every day?  No, he was talking about the life of his will – his personal comfort and preferences taking a back seat to the will of Christ. 

His commitment to worship God meant he lived as a voluntary slave of Jesus Christ.

If you want more clarity on living the kind of life where you see Christ-likeness growing in you…in which doing all for the glory of God becomes reality, then figuring it out will start each day with the humility of putting to death your own agenda, and letting God lead.

Apart from that, there is no way to truly follow Jesus Christ as a disciple-servant.

And isn’t that what you signed-on for?

For You Today

At whatever stage of life or Christian development you may be, there is one constant – we all must bow before Christ with surrender and receive his mercy and blessing.

Every day.

Make this day like that and you’ll figure out a lot of things that weren’t clear before.

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[1] Title Image: By Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park, via Wikimedia Commons