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Responding to Sin, Restoring Our BrotherBy P.E. Huffman “Brethren, if a
man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the
spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one
another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians
6:1-2). Many times, when we hear that a person in our church is struggling spiritually or has fallen into sin, we unfortunately make excuses to avoid involving ourselves in helping that individual become strong in the faith again. I’m guilty of it myself; copping out by telling myself that I really don’t know that person well enough, or that my life is too busy. But if we are to take our faith in God seriously, we will feel obligated to help the spiritually weak renew their relationship with our Lord Jesus. Not because it’s something that we have to do, but because the Holy Ghost will create in us a genuine concern for those around us. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus told us: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). God obviously wants us to help those around us. This includes the increasing prevalence of out-of-wedlock births in Apostolic circles. Without a doubt, this issue is something that needs to be addressed by a sincere call to Spirit-led consecration, by godly pastors and evangelists, but what I want to focus on is what we should do after the fact. Generally, when a brother or sister has fallen into sin, people react in one of two ways¾either through condemnation or by avoidance. Often times we focus too much attention on the problem and not enough on the solution. The Bible gives us clear principles on what we need to do when we see a brother or sister in need. Just as Jesus Christ came to seek and save those that are lost, we need to use godly wisdom in drawing that person closer to Him so that He can redeem them. Condemnation is not the route, for the Word says that people in sin are condemned already. True, there may be people that have had their conscience so seared that they no longer feel condemned, and in that case the apostle Paul tells us that we should deliver that person over to Satan in hopes that they will be caused to repent and be saved in the day that meet the Lord (I Corinthians 5:5). Nevertheless, people that do feel condemned usually want help, and so, avoiding that individual is not the answer, either. I know of a couple of instances where people fell into fornication and, because people stood back and didn’t try to help them, their condemnation intensified, making it harder for them to accept God’s forgiveness. Fortunately, those individuals are now growing in the Lord again, but many, because it wasn’t apparent that someone cared, give up on God. By avoiding brothers and sisters who have fallen, we are telling them that we don’t care, and through association, we are telling them that Jesus doesn’t care. Those of us that are strong in the Lord have a duty to reach out to the spiritually weak and show them Christ’s love, for we are His hands and voice. Our Lord Jesus is not willing that anyone should die in their sins, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). The consequences are eternal. So what should we do? Most of the time, all that is required is that we show that individual true friendship and that we still care. Listen to them; being sensitive to the leading of the Spirit to see whether we can encourage them through the Word, or if we should just keep our mouth shut. At all times we need to intercede on their behalf through prayer and fasting, asking the Lord to break the hold that sin has on that individual’s life. Critics have sneered that Christians often leave their spiritually weak and wounded behind to die. But true Christians are interconnected one with another, for we are the body of Christ, and if one individual suffers, then we all suffer (I Corinthians 12:12-26). Because of this, we need to help our spiritually weak brother or sister. When we can learn to do this effectively, what a tremendous witness it will be to the world, for Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). ninetyandnine.com ã 2002, P. E. Huffman -------- P. E. Huffman lives, works, and attends church in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
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