“Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.” (Galatians 6:1-5 NASB1995)
We who are spiritual are not all who merely profess the name
of Jesus with our lips. We who are spiritual are those who are walking
according to the will of God for our lives in obedience to our Lord’s commands,
not necessarily in all perfection, but in daily practice, by the grace of God,
in the power of God. We are not those who are also caught in sin or those who
are deliberately and habitually living sinful lifestyles. And that is a very
important factor here to understand, because we can’t help others if we are
also caught in sin.
In other words, the blind cannot lead the blind. So if we
are going to help a fellow Christian (or someone who is professing faith in
Jesus Christ) to be free from their slavery (addiction) to sin, then we need to
be those who are deliberately and habitually walking (in conduct) in accord
with God’s word, living holy lives, pleasing to God. But even at that, we are
still humans, and we are still subject to temptation and to failure, so we must
guard our own hearts so that we, in trying to help another, are not led astray
ourselves.
Now this word “caught” can mean many things. It can mean
that the person sinning was literally caught in the act by someone else. Or it
can mean that they are those who are trapped in sin, for whom sin has a stronghold
on their lives, and so they are struggling to be free of the sin, and so they
need someone who has victory over sin to help them to also be free from the
trap of sin. Or they can be those who don’t really want to let go of their sin
but who put on a performance that they do want help so it appears that they do.
But I will tell you right here from personal experience that
most of these “support groups” out there to help people overcome addiction,
from what I have been able to ascertain, are not using the Scriptures as their
foundation for how to overcome the power of sin, but they are using human-based
psychological methods which often do not permit the use of the Scriptures. And so
they make humans dependent on other humans, and not dependent on God to free
them from their bondage to sin. And many of these fail.
For God has the only solution for deliverance from slavery
to sin, and that is via biblical faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God,
which puts sin to death in the life of the person of faith so that they can now
walk in freedom from addiction to sin and serve the Lord faithfully in walks of
obedience to his commands. And the Scriptures are filled with messages which
teach that we must put off those sins and put on the opposite, like putting off
lying, and now telling the truth, and putting off hate, and putting on love.
For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to
put our sins to death with him so that by God-persuaded faith in him we will
now die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness in walks of surrender
to him and in obedience to his commands, in the power and wisdom and strength
of God living and working within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. But we
have to say “No” to sin and “Yes” to God and to his commands, and we must rely
on the strength of the Lord to resist Satan and to flee temptation to sin.
In other words, we have to have a change of heart and mind
resulting in a change of behavior, which is what repentance is all about. For
repentance is not verbalizing empty words of confession of sin while the person
then keeps going right back to the same sins over again. When we repent of sin
we change from going one direction to going the opposite direction, like making
a U-turn in the road. And it doesn’t necessitate absolute perfection, but it
must result in a change of direction, and not continuing in deliberate sin.
So, this should not be a long drawn out process that
continues on and on forever while the addicted continue to “struggle” with sin
and to not make it to victory over sin. So this is never about pampering people
in their sin nor about tolerating deliberate and habitual sin in the life of
one claiming faith in Jesus Christ. For this word “restore” is about putting a
joint which is out of place back into place, which is a painful process. It is
about putting things back in their proper working order. And Jesus’ death did
that for us.
So, again, the way to restore one who has fallen spiritually
back to a right relationship with God is to lead them in the path of
righteousness. But their hearts have to be in the right place. They have to
want to be free of their sin to the point to where they will have that change
of mind and heart resulting in a change of behavior, so that they will turn
away from sin and turn to now walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands,
empowered by God and by his grace. For we cannot make anyone change directions.
They must turn.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians
4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13;
Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1
John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Based
off 1 John 1-2
An
Original Work / November 16, 2011
Christ’s
Free Servant, Sue J Love
When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.
If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.
Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.
See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.
Are You Caught in
Sin?
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