Teaching and Admonishing One Another

Off with the Old, On with the New

 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have died with Christ to sin that we might live to Christ and to his righteousness. Our old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, but so that we would be slaves to God and to his righteousness. So now we are to walk (in conduct) no longer according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Col 3:1-4; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).

 

Therefore, sin should no longer reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its passions. For we are all slaves of the one whom we obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness, and to sanctification, and then to eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6).

 

Thus, we are to put to death whatever is earthly in us, such as sexual immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, covetousness, idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying to one another, seeing that we have put off the old self with its practices and we have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator, if indeed we have done that (Col 3:5-10; Eph 4:17-24; Gal 5:16-21).

 

Compassionate Hearts, Kindness, Forgiveness

Colossians 3:12-14 ESV

 

“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

 

I know that I just wrote on this yesterday, but I did not write much on this section at all, and so the Lord is leading me today to focus my attention here. And he is also leading me to direct this focus towards those who have been hurt by those who have not put to death what is earthly in them, but who have continued in deliberate, habitual, and premeditated sin against those they are supposed to love, without true repentance, due to pride.

 

Many of us have been hurt by others’ deliberate sins against us, and some of those sins against us have lasted a lifetime. And yet we are to forgive those who sin against us, and we are to respond to their actions against us with compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, and patience, etc. But this does not mean that we tolerate sin or that we placate sin or that we submit to sin in any way. And it doesn’t mean that we cease to speak the truth in love.

 

For compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and (agape) love, which prefers what God prefers, and which submits to his will for our lives, should speak the truth in love to those who are drowning in sin. And we should be those who throw out a lifeline to them for them to grab onto, if they will, so that they will be set free from their slavery to sin, and so they will be free from this point forward to now live to please God in all that they do.

 

One of the kindest things we can do for anyone is to tell them the truth, for lies are never kind. It is kind to be honest, providing the honesty is spoken in love and with the goal to help people be free from their chains, but never to get even with them or to try to blast them. And this takes great humility to do this, too, for we know good and well that the recipients of such love and kindness may not be receptive to our kindness but may fight back.

 

Also, when Jesus forgives us he does not hand us carte blanche to now continue living in sin only now guilt free. That is not kindness. That is meanness of the worst kind. So, when we forgive others their sins against us, we are not saying it is okay to continue in that sin. It just means that we are choosing to keep loving them, and to keep reaching out to them in love, and to not ever choose to get even with them for their sins against us.

 

And it means we are willing to give them another chance, and to continue to pray for them, no matter how many times they sin against us, because we love them, and because we want to see them be free. We will be patient with them, and we will keep hoping and praying for their freedom. But this does not mean we coddle them in their sin or that we participate with them or help them in any way to sin.

 

And then we also have to follow the teachings of Scripture with regard to how we are to deal with fellow Christians (or professing Christians) who have sinned against us but who are unwilling to repent of those sins. And by repentance I mean turning away from that sin and not repeating it over and over again. Saying you are sorry is not the same as stopping the sin and doing what is right by others.

 

Teaching and Admonishing One Another

Colossians 3:16-17 ESV

 

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

 

We as followers of Jesus Christ are not to ignore one another’s deliberate and habitual sins, though that is what many do, thinking they are being kind, but that is not kind. Many Christians (or professing Christians) are well aware of the sins that are going on within the church but they look the other way for they don’t want to get involved, or they are convinced they are supposed to “stay in your own lane.”

 

Many spouses remain silent about abuse and they live with it for they are shamed into silence by a Christian society that frowns on us having such open discussions about such things. But that is not Scriptural, and it is definitely not loving and kind to know that abuse is going on and to say nothing about it because culturally we aren’t supposed to talk about such things. The Bible doesn’t say that.

 

1 Corinthians 5 gives us some very strong exhortations about tolerating sexual immorality in the church and doing nothing about it. That is not how the church is supposed to operate. We are to teach and to admonish (warn, rebuke, chide, caution) one another about such things, and we are to take appropriate and biblical steps toward correcting such awful situations. But sadly today’s worldly church looks the other way.

 

It has become shameful within the church to even mention such sins or to call for repentance and obedience, and to ask for help. But we the body of Christ are to minister to one another, not just with words that make us feel good inside or good about ourselves, but with words of counsel, correction, biblical instruction, repentance, and obedience. And we are to counsel one another to freedom in Christ, not ignore the sin and then just make jokes.

 

For, if we are doing everything, in word and in deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we are doing it all according to his will, according to his word, and according to his divine character and purpose for our lives. So, we are not living to please the flesh nor to coddle others who are living according to their flesh. Thus, it is time the church took sin seriously and they purged from among their gatherings those who have proven they have no intention of repenting, even if they make false claims of such intentions.

 

And we need to be the holy people of God he has called us to be, living lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are indeed being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ in all his holiness and righteousness. Sin is to no longer be our master, but Jesus is to be our only Lord. And if not, then we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians