If we have faith in the love of God towards us, then we know that we can trust in Him without fear of condemnation. However, because God loves us, He will not allow us to continue in destruction. Because He first loved us and we love Him, we will not condone or excuse sin within ourselves. Because we love our brethren, we will not condone or excuse sin in them.
Sin is destructive and the result of all sin is death. If we love people, we will not enable them to continue in sin. What keeps us from speaking up against sin? Is this not fear?
Do we fear upsetting people or making people mad at us more than we love the person who is behaving destructively?
It is good to be compassionate towards people. We should not get enjoyment from calling out the sins of others. If we feel a sense of gratification, then we might be calling out sin out of a sense of vengeance or murder rather than love.
We might deceive ourselves with claims of “tough love” when in reality, we are not in the right spirit. We need to be careful of what spirit we are of. As it is written, “test the spirits.” Jesus even said once “you know not what spirit you are of.” We are not the one in Revelation whose spirit is to “call down fire from heaven in the sight of man.” We see so much of that today. So much calling out of the “sins” of others with a murderous intent. So much self-righteous indignation. That is not the right way.
On the other hand, we do not “love” people by ignoring sin, justifying sin, or calling good evil and evil good. Enabling is not love.
There is a form of Christianity that is very enabling of sin, all in the name of love. There are many who will use the love of God as an excuse for sin, and if a person tries to call their sin to light, the first thing that person will do is hide under the love of God. They do not repent. They do not feel sorry. They blame shift and use the grace of God as a cloak for sin. This is not acceptable—this is not fruitful faith that brings life. This is something else. This is abomination and blasphemy. It is this sort of spirit that warrants delivering others to Satan so they might learn not to take the blood of Jesus for granted.
However, it is of critical importance that we use caution. We remember that an honest and ongoing struggle with sin is not the same thing as disregard for righteousness and the blood of Jesus that was shed to forgive them.
We remember that many kill thinking that they do God’s service. If we have beams in our own eye, we cannot judge properly. If we are not judging properly, then we are most likely murderous whether we can see that or not.
That is why we always focus on our own sin first and foremost. If we see our own sin, then we can approach people who struggle in like maker with compassion, not murder. If they refuse to repent, then we go our way. We can hope for the best, and depending on how destructive they are towards others, we can deliver them to Satan—especially if they call themselves Christian.
That is not something many Christians talk about. Binding and loosing is something we need to relearn in today’s Christian society. Whatsoever we bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatsoever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Christians are supposed to judge. However, we are judged by the judgments we make because our hearts are revealed by our judgments.
I believe that as Christians, we are striving to strike the right balance in all things. Here is something else to consider:
Not all people experience Jesus in the same way. For some, it is unconditional love and patience. It is peace and safety. It is a place where you can be flawed and find healing. Those who are honest about their sin and truly want to do what is right are given abundant mercy and the resources of God necessary to overcome sin. They are shown their sin in a loving way, though sometimes this means pain. They do not abuse the blood of Jesus but respect it. He does not condone their sin. He shows them their sin and helps them find a way out. He forgives and He heals.
Those who do not want to be healed from sin, but instead want to use His blood as an excuse for sin while at the same time abusing others will not receive mercy and patience from Jesus. If they are His children, then they will receive chastisement. If they are not His, they will find Jesus to be hateful. They will find the truth to be hateful.
They will treat us in the same manner.
I have experienced this myself. There are some who would say that I am one of the safest people they know. They can be themselves without fear of judgment. These are Christians who strive to do what is right. They love others, they hate their own sin, and they want support towards taking the faith more seriously and growing in righteousness.
There are some who would say that I am one of the most judgmental and hateful people they know. These are those who want to hurt others and excuse themselves. These are those who do not like having their sins revealed, but instead want to distort reality so that they are the victims. These are those who live in hypocrisy and delusion. I have no patience for this. Maybe I need to grow, but we see that Jesus was the same way, so maybe not.
There is balance in all things, and if we want to “hit the mark” instead of “miss the mark” then we need to learn the judgments of God in Jesus. Christians are supposed to be judgmental. We must be judgmental if we want to know what the right course of action is.
However, judgement is a two-edged sword, and we might hurt ourselves sometimes too. Jesus knows this. He is patient with those who sincerely want to judge righteously and do what is best for the brethren and the unbelievers. He will correct us. He will not enable us.
Jesus has a lot to say to this generation. I believe this with my whole heart. I know that those who seek find, and there is nothing special about me. To speak the judgments of God is what it means to be prophetic—and the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. We all have this available to us. Seek Him and know. The testimony of Jesus is our defense. If we die in defense of His testimony, then we will live.
In Conclusion:
Love is perfected in trust and not fear. We trust in God and we want others to trust in us also. We offer a place of safe reflection so that people can face their sin and be led to the One who can help. We know that many people will take advantage of us if we love unconditionally, but we do so anyway because we know that Jesus will raise us from the dead.
However, because we love, we do not enable sin. Even though we might fear people getting angry and hostile towards us when we bring sin to light, we will do so anyway because we do not want people to continue down a path of destruction.
In all things, we test the spirits we are of. If we are of love, then that is good. If we are of fear, then that is not good. If we are acting out of vengeance or murder, all the while calling it love, that is not good.
When we love, people will hate us. They hated Jesus too. We can learn what love is by following His example. We can ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can learn righteous judgements of love and have the strength to do what is right even though we might be afraid to do so. We trust in God. We reveal our own sin first and deal with it so that we have the right tools to help others.
I have wrestled with all of this, and I stand firm by these judgments because these judgements are Christ. This is what it means to be a Christian. People shy away from Christians being like Jesus, and that is a shame, and it seems that the more we are like Jesus the more they hate us. “You make yourself like Christ. You are an antichrist. Who do you think you are?”
They did the same to Jesus when He boldly claimed to be the Son of God. If we are Christians, then we are the sons of God too. If we are Christians, then in some realm of time we too inhabit eternity because God exists in all time already. There is a mind-bender for you. “Is it not written that you are gods?”
Our nation has so many ideas about what it means to be Christian, and many are right but only partially so. Many are deceived by partial truths. Our Christianity is invaded by legalism, worship of man, pride, and love of sin.
It is not love for me to enable this, so I won’t. God as my witness, if His grace abounds towards me, I will love without fear—in all that entails—and I hope to help others do the same.
Please do not mistake this bold claim for boasting, because I know my history of confusion and sin. I know what I have had to endure to get to this point, and I boast in Jesus alone.
I know what He can do for us, and I know that I am still poor in spirit. There is more to learn, and I still need to practice what I have learned. That is the scary part, because that is the cross. We can help each other bear the cross, but we must take ours up first. Jesus gives us strength.
I pray that the grace of God will abound to all of us. I understand why Paul the apostle wrote so much of grace. We need the favor of God in this fallen world. It is by grace alone that we can stand before God without fear, learn what it means to love, and learn to love others without fear all the while knowing that doing so means death in this life. However, doing so also means life everlasting in the Kingdom of Heaven.
All of this is scriptural. If you want a certain idea backed up by scripture, you can search for it on the internet or you can ask me to show you. I do recommend reading 1 John.
I don’t always cite scripture because I want to challenge others to study for themselves, and I know how easy it is for people to use scripture to back partial or incorrect teachings. I quote scripture as the Spirit leads, hopefully. You should not believe me just because I can cite scripture. So does Satan and His ministers.
Yet, I do know that the sheep hear the voice of Jesus, so if I am speaking for Him of a truth then you should hear me. If I am not, then I trust that you would not hear me. I don’t trust myself, but I trust Jesus and I know He will chastise me if I need it. That is why my confidence waxes and wanes. I am faulty. I am not God. There should be a balance of humility because of our flesh and confidence in Jesus, and I struggle to find that balance.
In any case, study for yourself, and if you want help with bible study send me a message. I know of someone who I trust to teach honestly. Having my beliefs challenged inspired me to study, and I hope you will also.
I always feel like I should say this too: feel free to disagree. If you see a blind spot, please love me enough to say so and I will love you for it. We need to help each other grow, and I need that too. Discuss below. I know I still need to create an email for this website. I will do that soon, if I remember. 🙂
Note (inserted a few hours after publishing) – I do want to say something about the “don’t you know that you are gods” statement. This came from John 10: 32-38
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Jesus also said that He would be in us, and the Father in us, just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14). It is not a far-fetched idea. If the things we do are of Jesus, then others should believe them. If they are not, then not. Sometimes too much of ourselves corrupt the work we do. I know that is true for me too. We have to judge each other among the Christian faith and submit ourselves to the judgment of each other. I welcome it and love those who would speak up if needed. I think I might write about that.
However, we are not gods like God is God. We are not sons of God like Jesus is the Son of God. There is one who will “sit in the temple of God showing himself that He is God.” That is not for us to do.
We need to know our place–far below Jesus Christ–yet of Him at the same time because He gives Himself to us. Without Jesus, we are nothing.
I hope that makes sense, and maybe I am over thinking and over cautious. Christians know that we are far below Jesus already, but I’d rather be over cautious. Sometimes I get hung up on big ideas, write a lot, then think of something I wish I had made clearer. That’s one of my biggest flaws. Keep that in mind. If something sounds off or like it needs further clarification, never hesitate to ask.
Jesus Alone 