Spiritual Discernment Provides Spiritual Judgement – For Correction, Not Comparison
Word-of-the-Day: ‘<Jesus said, on His Sermon on the Mount,> “(1) Do not judge, or you too will be judged. (2) For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”’ (Matthew 7:1-2)
In our world today, we are often asked, or told, to pick sides. In the battle between the secular worldview and the Biblical worldview, there is what is considered right versus what actually is right. Sometimes, those two can match up, though often there are enough of a discrepancy where it is clear that the secular viewpoint is ‘almost correct’, which means it is incorrect.
In many modern Christian sects, we find that many preach ‘Jesus is Love’, or ‘Jesus Loves All of Us’, and this is of course true; we know through John 3:16 that God indeed loves all of the estimated 20 billion people who have ever lived. All 20 billion are God’s creation, and His love for each person who has ever lived is the reason He gave His Son Jesus as a living sacrifice, the ultimate gift of His blood in exchange for the lives of all of mankind.
This is the general Truth of the Gospel, that God loves all. However, it is not the complete Truth; the statement above is incomplete, or ‘almost correct’. The statement made above leaves out a key ingredient for it to be complete, one stated in John 3:15, John 3:16, and John 3:18; there must be belief in Jesus in order to fully qualify to unlock the benefit of God’s love.
The word ‘belief’ in these Scriptures is not just simply the dictionary’s definition of the word. Belief within these verses expands the definition to include a Trust in Jesus, that He is who He says He is. It is Faith that what He said during His earthly ministry and His action of willingly crucifixion in an act of sacrifice atones our sins completely. It is Hope that the absolute atonement of our sins by Jesus provides the fulfillment of His promise of Eternal life with Him and Father God.
We should not judge others, or compare our sins to theirs and think we are better or worse. To think of ourselves as better is pious and self-righteous, thinking we are worse paints a scenario that we cannot be forgiven. Both of those trains of thought are sinful, all sin is equal. Accepting as fact that there is only one sin that Jesus cannot forgive, or mitigate through His sacrifice – the sin of not accepting His sacrifice that makes Him our Lord – is necessary to believe His power to forgive all other sins is absolute and omnipotent. All sins, save for that one unforgivable sin of denying Him, are thus forgivable; everyone can be forgiven if they choose Him.
Belief in this Scriptural definition also includes that in accepting Him, Trusting Him, having Faith and Hope in Him, we also accept His instruction (including those within the Old Testament law that He fulfills) and we will obey Him. All that He states is right and just we will obey, all that He states is wrong and sinful we should not accept. Not judging the actions of another does not mean we should accept their actions, or provide a ‘exception’ or cut out to say they are a Believer when it is clear they are not.
There is Spiritual discernment that provides a form of Spiritual judgement. We are to love everyone, as God does, regardless of their status of belief. However, like God, we are not obligated to accept their sinful nature. To be in complete Truth and adherence to Jesus and His ways, we must be willing to share the Gospel to those who do not believe in Him in love, while avoiding the acceptance of their behavior and actions of sin. We cannot as Believers condone sinful deeds, and call it obedience.
Too many Christian sects fall out of obedience for the sake of convenience. To do so is not Christian, only secular. Many ‘Christians In Name Only’ or ‘CINO’ churches just pick and choose the parts they want to follow based on this convenience, falsely believing if they accept and condone the sinful actions of others, they are exhibiting God’s Love and thus are ‘helping’ the cause of Christ.
Instead, they are hurting not only the cause of Christ but themselves and those who they wrongly accept. If a child, for example, starts playing on or crossing the street without looking or concerns of the cars that go up and down the street, the parents should love them enough to tell the child not to engage in that behavior, or they will suffer consequences, such as permanent injury or death. The child may not like the chastisement, or the corrective actions taken if the child doesn’t immediately listen.
Eventually, it is hoped the child will understand the laws of physics (cars are bigger than they are) and realize it is in their best interests not to play on the streets, or take caution when crossing the street. They may eventually learn that their parents loved them enough to hurt their feelings (and/or their gludeo-maxo) temporarily in order for them not to be harmed permanently. The parent who doesn’t want to hurt their child’s feelings (or backside) may set up their child to learn this life lesson by the destruction of their child, through them getting hit by a car and suffering permanent injury or even death.
This also applies to the Spiritual needs of those who are not in obedience with Jesus. Those churches who engage in ‘God is Love’ and ‘God Loves All’ but approves of debaucherous behavior and allows the engagement of sin in their houses of worship openly are hurting those who are in open rebellion of God, and are not the Righteous examples of God’s Love.
A church should want those engaged in debauchery to attend, but it should not be accepting or ignoring such debauchery in order for them to stay. Their attendance should be encouraged, for the church to show them God’s Love and their need for repentance, to be given the Truth of why they need to stop engaging in such debaucherous activities and obey God’s instructions.
No church should condone unrepentant behavior. We want those who are in sin come can hear the Word, and be given every opportunity to repent, but not at the cost of compromising the sanctity of the church. In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus tells us how to do this; address the sin with the person, and after increasing the discussions or attempts to correct, then, as Paul discusses in Titus 3:10, should they not respond or fail to show repentance, remove them from the church and have nothing to do with them.
It is our task, through the Great Commission, to provide them the Gospel and share Jesus with others – all others – in order for them to seek repentance and join us in Fellowship, and stay in Fellowship if they truly believe and accept the Lordship of Christ. It is up to the individual, however, to accept Jesus and for the Holy Spirit to provide Salvation. The person who is ‘curious’ should be given every opportunity to hear the Word and be in community with the church, but their sin should not be accommodated in order for them to stay. It is not hate that they need to be removed, but the love of providing correction, including removal from church, to encourage them to stop and seek God’s approval instead of their desires.
