Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Salt and Light ~ Pointing out Sin and Darkness ...

What did God Jesus Christ do for me/you? He covered my/your sin with His blood. Should I/we or would I/we want to continue in my/our sin? No! Interesting is that a lot of people today never heard of sin or think that they don't sin; including many Christians you run into. Wow! What Christ are they worshiping? In the end times, there will be false Christs ~ Mark 13:6. Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons ~1 Timothy 4:1.

Sadly, some churches are already engaging in that worship. How do you know? If your church thinks that certain behavior is OK and their response is, "who am I to judge" then they are mistaken. We, those born again in Jesus Christ, are required to show as in point out to our brothers/sisters what sin and darkness is in their life using the Word of God - Scripture! One has to know the sin condition in this fallen world in order to get out of it - this fallen world.

Our job as fellow believers in Christ is to point out sin/darkness using the Word to show people the way out - Jesus Christ! That is what is meant by sharing the Good News! How could it be good news if all we do is say, "Hey, this is a nice guy to read about and hang out with, he was nice back then and just told people around him to be nice too!" 

Hey, FYI - Jesus Christ died for our/your sin. Uh, like that is a really big deal, right? Because of that awesome sacrifice, we too can witness 'give our testimony' of this great sacrifice and miracle that was - Jesus Christ; which in fact, does require us by the power of the Holy Spirit in us to overcome the sin and darkness in our lives so that we may share in His promise of eternal life. There is no other way to the Father except by Him- Jesus Christ ~ John 14:6.

Yes, judge each other with love in the meaning discern good from evil, to point out right from wrong, not to condemn. The final judgement belongs to God. Our job is to preach the Good News with the intention to lift up our fellow believers, those called by God, from the darkness of sin and death into the everlasting light. We are to be salt and light... when encountered, both can be painful to those living in sin and in the darkness. But necessary they are in order to stand out - taste and see that the Lord is Good! Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him ~ Psalm 34:8.

We in the body of Christ are to be our brother's keeper. How do we know that? Well... If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels?  If we cannot say what is good and what is evil and seek to deliver our fellow man/woman, then what are we doing?

Do you not know that wrongdoers will NOT inherit the kingdom of God? Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God ~ 1 COR 6:1-11.

No one wants to be judged (have their sin pointed out) but if I had a brick [sin] on my head while standing in quick sand [darkness], I would sure want someone to point it out, take it off and pull me out! The Lord Jesus Christ did that for us and does that over and over for us - Hallelujah; but does that mean we are to keep the brick on our heads and stay in the quick sand? No! You are Not judging someone when you point out the brick on their head, you are pointing out their problem!

Didn't Jesus discern what was sin when he encountered sin? Yes, of course He did. He turned over the tables in the temple and when he stood for the adulterous woman, He told her - "Go and sin No More". In this very dark world, we must be salt and light. Why? Because, we must know what is wrong in our lives, we must know the difference between good and evil in order to know what is the truth. In this way, we are prepared and equipped to do His work and even more. Why? Because, our future job is to rule and reign with Christ here on the earth in the millennial and we will have to be able to judge angels!




We have to know from what we are being saved and by whom!  Answer - Sin and by Jesus Christ!

5 comments:

  1. God is to be exalted at all times! He alone is the Lord God, all honor, thanks and praise are due Him! And, when you love other things, preferring them to the Lord, spending time with them, you commit adultery. If you look at someone with lust or hate, murder in your heart, you have done those things. No one wants to be judged as in condemned. Everyone wants to be saved from darkness. So, calling out sin and darkness is not judging as many think. If I had a brick on my head while standing in quick sand, I would sure want someone to point it out, take it off and pull me out! The Lord Jesus Christ can do that but as scripture tells us we are to do what Christ did and even more! "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12. Didn't Jesus discern what was sin when he encountered sin? Yes, He did with love "Go and sin No More". Jesus said, (John 8:16) "yet if I judge, my judgment is true". Though judgment was not the object of His mission, it was, as He had taught in John 3:19 the result of the manifestation of the Light. But in the cases in which the result followed, the judgment was not according to the flesh, but was in accord with the essential truth. The better reading here is, probably, the deeper word for ideally true, which we have had before.

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  2. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness ~ 2 Timothy 3:16. Most people don't know what the word rebuke means. It means to sharply disapprove. Most people don't know what the word judgement means. It means to judge as in to make a wise legal decision. So, we as Christians must sharply disapprove those that need to be... so, that when they face judgement (before God) they will be able to accept the wise legal decision coming their way. Don't you want that decision for them to be for eternal life. So, rebuke those around you who continue in their sin and darkness.

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  3. Oh, so you say what about this scripture "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone when I judge; I am with the Father, who sent Me" ~ John 8: 15-16. Or, "stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly." ~ John 7:24.
    Yes, we shouldn't judge according to the flesh nor outward appearances that follow God's hierarchy and rules for Christian living as you can read in Ephesians 5 and many other scriptures: 1 COR, 1 Peter, Titus and Colossians i.e. So, if a man or a woman conducts him/herself according to the Word of God, then what is there to judge? In our 'modern times, If a man wants to go into the ladies room dressed remarkably like a lady then what would there be to judge... I would be seeing a lady. Now, if that man makes it a point to reveal that he really is a man then he is to be rebuked!

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  5. Are we judging those who cross dress? Or do we do as Jesus did - enlighten? Jesus reminded us, "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone when I judge; I am with the Father, who sent Me" ~ John 8: 15-16. Or, "stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly." ~ John 7:24. Jesus (recognized in Isaiah 49) said, (John 8:16) "yet if I judge, my judgment is true". Though judgment was not the object of His mission, it was, as He had taught in John 3:19 the result of the manifestation of the Light. But, in the cases in which the result followed, the judgment was not according to the flesh, but was in accord with the essential truth.This promise is in part fulfilled in the calling of the Gentiles. Men perish in darkness. But Christ enlightens men, and so makes them holy and happy. Jesus is the Son of God and acts accordingly; hence His judgment is true because it is in accord with the essential truth of the Father who sent Him.

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