2009-07-03
Good Morning Treasures of God,
The ability to decide to live a moral life is given to us by our faith in Jesus Christ. His Atonement freed us from certain spiritual death, so we have much for which to thank and praise Him. HE 2: 14-15, “Since the children, as He calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus Himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through His own death He might destroy the devil, who has the power over death, and in this way set free those who were slaves all of their lives because of their fear of death.” It’s like a chain which once imprisoned us being broken, so that we could make this choice to be moral. JN 8: 31b -2, “If you obey My teaching, you are really My disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” This week, we continue to examine MT 7: 1-2 from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, against another passage, 1 COR 5: 1-3, 9-13.
First the two passages. MT 7: 1-2, “Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and He will apply to you the same rules you apply to others.” 1 COR 5: 1-3, 9-13, “Now, it is actually being said that there is sexual immorality among you so terrible that not even the heathen would be guilty of it. I am told that a man is sleeping with his stepmother! How, then, can you be proud? On the contrary, you should be filled with sadness, and the man who has done such a thing should be expelled from our fellowship. And even through I am far away from you in body, still I am there with you in Spirit; and as through I were there with you, I have in the name of our Lord Jesus already passed judgment on the man who has done this terrible thing…In the letter that I wrote you I told you not to associate with immoral people. Now I did not mean pagans who are immoral or greedy or are thieves, or who worship idols. To avoid them you would have to get out of the world completely. What I meant was that you should not associate with a person who calls himself a brother but is immoral or greedy or worships idols or is a slanderer or a drunkard or a thief. Do not even sit down to eat with such a person. After all, it is none of my business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the member of your own fellowship? As the Scripture says, ‘Remove the evil man from your group.’”
It is no coincidence that God has brought me to discuss this now. A member of my own family who is not a believer in Christ is engaged in immoral behavior. While my own choices must be righteous, I am not in a position to judge this person myself. Instead, I am given the comfort to know that God will judge this person. However, if this person were a professing believer in Christ, then, we have the right to separate ourselves from him until he is willing to stop the behavior and ask to rejoin the community of believers. I have seen such a thing happen in one of the churches to which I belonged in the past. It is particularly grievous to find out there has been sexual or other kind immorality committed by a pastor or other leader in the community. What must be seen here is that there are proper channels for dealing with cases like these. We are blessed to have the Lord’s words in MT 18: 15-17 to guide us. Paul has been clear on this issue in 1 COR 10: 21, “You cannot drink from the Lord’s cup and also from the cup of demons; you cannot eat at the Lord’s table and also at the table of demons.” The bottom line is that God has made common sense available to us. 1 COR 10: 23-24 deals with that. “’We are allowed to do anything,’ so they say. That is true, but not everything is good. ‘We are allowed to do anything’-but not everything is helpful. No one should be looking out for his own interests, but for the interests of others.”
Serving self alone, doing what feels good without consideration for impact on others, is not living righteously- surely not being a true believer in Jesus Christ. As a counselor, I have seen many cases where acts of sexual and other immorality have torn families asunder, have broken people’s spirits, and have been unbelievably destructive. This is not what Paul, inspired by God, ever intended for the believing community. We already know how inured people have become to immorality from the media and Hollywood. It reminds me of a dark stain working its way through white cloth. Only treatment with bleach, which represents repentance, stopping the bad behavior, and living a life of faith in Jesus Christ, will cause the stain to disappear. There are some groups of people who become so used to immoral behavior that it spreads among them. With such a group, we must dissociate ourselves entirely. A believer who isn’t strong enough in his faith could be besmirched morally by giving in to temptation. We must take steps to prevent this from happing. We must also consider ourselves blessed that God has given us such specific direction in how to handle this knotty problem. Christ’s Atonement on the cross is not to ever be devalued. Not one drop of His blood should be wasted. Praise be to Him!
PRAYER: O Lord, we approach You with confidence that You will give us direction, even when the circumstances of our lives become complicated [EPH 3: 12]. Where there is sexual or other immorality within the community of believers, action must be taken. Dearest Abba, it is difficult and requires courage of faith for us to stand up to this behavior, but we must do it. Selfishness is not the trait You desire in a believer. Living immorally is usually associated with self-centered decisions. It is always destructive. People’s lives are badly affected by it. Children who are unwanted can be born to parents not committed to each other. Families already existing are frequently broken. PR 6: 27-28 asks, “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?” You alone will judge the adulterer. HE 13:4, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” We must realize that sexual immorality begins with impure thoughts and sights. We consider the angst-ridden father whose sons have been introduced to Internet pornography by secretly watching their father. We must consider the unwanted child born out of a short-lived union, tempted by little more than grand passion and not underlying friendship and love. We beseech You to give us the spiritual strength that Joseph had when Mrs. Potiphar tried to seduce him. GN 39: 9-10, “’How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with here or even be with her.” We can rely on You to hear our prayers and to answer them. We appeal to Your wisdom and discernment in this and all matters. You are to be praised and thanked for Who You are and what You do for us. In Christ’s holy name, we pray.
Amen.
Next week, we continue our investigation of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount words on judgment, comparing them to PS 1: 1. There is no question that we are tempted, affected, and even sometimes related to people around us who reject the word of God. God has given us the ability to be wise and use discernment in choosing with whom we plan to interact. Our choices may have a profound impact on our lives. That is why it’s a good idea to pray for both wisdom and discernment. PS 51: 6, “Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom.” PS 119: 125, “I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings.” Yes, these are being repeated frequently, but that’s because they are so important to us. We must take the lesson from MICAH 6: 8, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” If we will base our own choices in God’s word, He will give us the greatest gift on earth-inner peace. We must remember to thank and praise God for all the blessings He bestows on us. My prayer is that each person reading this devotion will enjoy that inner peace and the sweet fellowship of other true believers who are living righteously-according to God’s teaching. Praise be to Him for making such a thing possible!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn