Our Duty Toward Sinners

If a person has committed a murder, but is sincerely repentant, it is not the church’s place to punish the repentant murderer. The governing authority has a duty in that direction (Rom 13); but the church would forgive the repentant murderer. If a person has been a thief, but is sincerely repentant, it is not the church’s place to punish the repentant thief. The governing authority has a duty in that direction (Rom 13); but the church would forgive the repentant thief. If a person has been a child abuser, but is sincerely repentant, it is not the church’s place to punish the repentant child abuser. The governing authority has a duty in that direction (Rom 13); but the church would forgive the repentant child abuser.

Of course the church would insist that the murderer kill no more, that the thief steal no more, and the church would take firm steps to protect children from the child abuser. This does not mean that we hate the murderer, the thief or even the child abuser. On the contrary, love corrects the erring. Those who would let others go on in their sin are the ones who show that deep down they hate the sinner. The Lord says, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” (Rev 3:19). If we are too lazy to rebuke wrongdoing, we are not loving people, we are lazy people.

If a person has engaged in sexual immorality, whether heterosexual or homosexual, but is sincerely repentant, it is not the church’s place to punish the one who has repented of his immorality. The governing authority has a duty in that direction (Rom 13). We know that the government will not, in this case, do their duty; but we must still do ours. The church will forgive the one who has repented of his immorality. But the church will not allow a person to continue in unrepentant sexual sin and remain a member of the church.

The church must not allow people to go on in their sin, whether that sin is murder, stealing, child abuse, or sexual sin. To do so would demonstrate negligence of duty. The loving thing to do is to correct the sinner. No form of sin should be given a pass on this correction - especially not sins that do so much harm to others and sins that the Lord has labeled as deserving of death. Our duty is to forgive the repentant, and to show the unrepentant the error of their ways.

“…whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).

Coping with the Climate

For me ideal weather is warm days with coolness and soft rainfall at night. Even if it gets hot during the day, if it is cool at night the heat does not bother me. But heat really gets to me if it is unrelenting. Heat all day and all night wears me down.

We live in a spiritual climate that seeks to wear us down. Good is called evil; and evil is called good (cf. Isa 5:20). The world demands that we not only tolerate wrongdoing, now it is demanded that we rejoice and celebrate some of the most sickening and perverse of evil deeds. Those who watch television tell me that every show and every news broadcast is designed to get us to accept evil as normal, and to reject righteous living as impractical.

This climate is wearing us down. I am beginning to hear church members downplay, if not openly deny, the fundamentals of Christian morality. We may intend to cling to the truth - but if we constantly listen to error - sooner or later we will be worn down and will embrace falsehood.

Air conditioning allows most of us to escape from the heat for at least a few hours of the day or night. That enables us to be productive, even in the “dog days” of summer. But how are we to cope with the spiritual climate? All day long the truth is called false, and falsehood is exalted as admirable. How are we to cope with that?

We must arrange our days to allow a bit of spiritual refreshment each day. We must arrange our weeks to allow a day (not an hour, but a day) of spiritual refreshment each week. We must arrange our lives to allow a longer period (a week or even two) of spiritual refreshment each year.

With regard to daily refreshment, we have (or should have) Bibles and hymnals in our homes. We might also have some good devotional reading material, some recorded hymns, and other aids to spiritual refreshment. We ought to use these at least once per day. With regard to a weekly day of spiritual refreshment, the Lord has indicated the day and the church has provided the means by appointing an hour of classes and two hours of worship on that day. With regard to yearly refreshment, there are several Christian camps, retreats and lectureships available; or one could arrange to stay in a house at the end of a dirt road (with no radio or television) to pray and read uplifting literature for a week.

Whatever the exact details, we must have a plan for spiritual renewal. Satan undoubtedly has a plan for our spiritual destruction. If we do not take action to counteract him, he will defeat us.

Nothing Has Changed

Lawrence Rast is President of Concordia Theological Seminary. In a recent alumni newsletter, he reflected on the 172 year history of that institution. He wrote,

“In the intervening 172 years, the world has seen war and peace, famine and plenty, disease and medicinal advances. Yet in all this historical change, theologically nothing has changed. Our Lord Jesus Christ remains the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).”

While we would disagree rather sharply with Dr. Rast on many points, he is certainly right on this. Our Lord, and therefore our message, is changeless. Jesus is still “the way, the truth, the life” (Jn 14:6). There is still “no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We must reject any other gospel than the one then proclaimed, for any other message is a false gospel and not really good news (Gal 1:6-9).

There are many things in life that are both/and rather than either/or propositions. One can like green and also like blue. One can enjoy both baseball and football. We should eat vegetables, grains, and meats (all within moderation, of course).

But there are a few things that are either/or propositions. There are some questions in life where trying to take the both/and approach is illogical in the extreme. There are some matters in life where moderation is worse than foolhardy. If a gun is pointed at your head, don’t pull the trigger – not even moderately. In fact, get your finger off of the trigger and out of the trigger guard.

Jesus went to the cross because there was no other way for us to be saved (Mt 26:39). That being true, legalism cannot be true, secularism cannot be true, Islam cannot be true. Either Jesus is the only way or he is nothing at all. Those who know his word know that he is something, in fact, that he is everything.

A lot has changed in the last 172 years; but, spiritually speaking “there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl 1:9). We are still great sinners; but we have a greater savior. Let us cling to him.

Do It Now

Near the beginning of World War Two, C.S. Lewis gave this advice.

“If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favourable conditions never come.” (C.S. Lewis, Learning in War-Time)

What Lewis said about learning can also be said of Christian service. Many people claim that they want to serve the Lord; they claim that they will serve the Lord when an opportune time comes. Satan sees to it that the opportune time never comes.

If you want to have fewer interruptions in your life, then I suggest that you serve the Lord even in the midst of interruptions. Those who allow interruptions and distractions to keep them from the work will find that distractions and interruptions are constantly coming up. But if Satan sees that we serve on through the distractions, then he has less of a motive for distracting us. He will not stop his evil work, of course, but he will at least be forced to change tactics.

If we wait for a better time to become a Christian or to become a more active Christian, that better time will never come. As Paul tells the Corinthians, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2, ESV).

Take hold of each day. Redeem the time (Eph 5:15-16). Do not wait for an opportunity to do some great deed, do the small deeds that are possible today.

I Know He Can

Watty Piper’s children’s classic, The Little Engine That Could, has delighted children of all ages since it was published in 1930. Like most things written for children, this peon in praise of self-confidence is an oversimplification. Thinking we can does not prove we can, or should, attempt a task; but thinking we cannot is certain defeat.

From a Christian point of view, the danger of self-confidence is as great as the danger of self-doubt. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12), is important advice.

The Bible does not give encouragement to self-confidence; but it does call on us to be confident. We cannot save ourselves by our own deeds (Gal 2:16), but we can be saved when we submit to what has been done for us in Christ (Eph 2:1-8). We cannot defeat Satan alone (Jude 9), but he can be defeated and made to flee (James 4:7).

Right now, it appears to me, Satan is having his way with most of the world and even with many Christians.

On the one hand, they trust themselves too much when it comes to resisting temptation. They put themselves in harm’s way rather than avoiding temptation. People also trust to their resources and works for salvation, instead of throwing themselves on the mercy in Christ.

On the other hand, when it comes to worship and evangelism, we are far too quick to say, “I cannot do that.” We hear the excuses all of the time. “I cannot preach.” “I cannot tell others about the Lord.” “I cannot sing.” “I cannot, I cannot, I cannot.” It is clearly self-defeating.

Of course, we cannot. The first time I tried to lead a song, I did a terrible job. The first time I tried to preach, I fainted. The second time I tried to preach, I fainted. Had I quit then I could have gone through life saying (with more justification than most), “I cannot.”

But God can (Lk 1:37). He can work in us and through us to accomplish his will (1 Jn 4:4). Stop saying, “I cannot.” I am not suggesting that we take up the little engine’s refrain, but I am suggesting that we learn to rely on the Lord’s power to do the Lord’s work.

The Best Ways to Learn and Remember

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children” (Deuteronomy 4:9, ESV)….

It has often been said that the teacher learns more than the student. Put another way, the best way to learn something, or remember something, is to teach it to others. Deuteronomy 4:9 seems to support that theory. The people of Israel are to make known the deeds of the Lord to their children. In the act of teaching these things to their children, they themselves will be constantly reminded. The one who teaches others is far less likely to forget than the one who keeps his knowledge to himself.

The other reliable way for remembering is to put our knowledge to use. The person who uses his mechanical, mathematical, or biblical knowledge on a daily basis is unlikely to forget that knowledge. The person who merely tucks knowledge away in a corner of the brain is, on the other hand, likely to find that knowledge difficult to locate. Again, this is confirmed in scripture.

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9, ESV). There is no promise of God’s presence to those who merely hear and see, but to those who also “practice.”

If you are one of those people who feels that not much of what has been heard has been retained, maybe it is time to try a more active approach. Instead of merely listening, put what you hear into practice. Instead of merely learning, teach someone.

Cross-Generational Communication

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:6-12, ESV)

Two-hundred years ago families did everything together. All the generations worked together on the farm, ate their meals together, spent their evenings together, worshipped together. Having no television, radio, Internet, or cell-phones, they talked to each other all day long.

One-hundred years ago, change had begun. Many of the fathers had taken jobs in factories, so there was not as much opportunity to work together. But families still had their meals together and spent the evening talking over the day. They still worshipped together as a family.

Today, it is not uncommon for the generations to go days, even weeks, without doing anything together. Many aspects of life are easier today than in the past; but it may be more difficult to obey the biblical injunctions regarding parenting. Farm life gave us unlimited opportunities to communicate across the generations. Modern life seems designed to destroy all such communication. But please notice this.

God did not say, “Teach my ways to your children if it is convenient for you to do so.” Convenient or not, it is our duty. We are to be “diligent” in teaching the children.

The church tries to help with this. We offer Bible classes for all ages. We have children’s Bible hour activities during the sermon that develop an idea related to the sermon on a level the toddlers can understand. But unless the parents bring the children to class consistently (and prepared), and discuss what was learned, the classes do not accomplish much. Unless the parents discuss the craft from the children’s Bible hour with the children, the point of the craft may often be missed.

Talk with your kids (and grand-kids). Set an example of interest in God’s word. It is your duty. If you do it faithfully you will also find it to be your joy.