Trekking through the Scriptures is an adventure. Feel free to comment here, or email me personally.

Friday, October 14, 2011

James 5:19-20


"Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins."
                                    merciful relationship
                Sometimes people have a view of God as a mean old man in the sky  waiting to pounce on them when they do wrong.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Early in Genesis we have record of God’s mercy in the face of utter destructive decadence and we see His mercy in the face of human arrogance and cruelty.  Many sight Him as vengeful, without taking note that these “vengeful acts” are responses to lifestyles and actions that were terribly destructive to other human beings.  God’s acts mercifully terminated further human destruction and defilement.
                You may be wondering, how does this relate?  It relates because we are followers of Christ, who is the express image of Father God, who operates in merciful relationship.  We too must operate in merciful relationship.  As human beings in the midst of a fallen world, we must understand that we are ALL susceptible to deception and sin.  There is reason for us to be humble! 
                If I really grasp that, then when a brother or sister in Christ sins, my response will not be, “I can’t believe they …”   I believe it.  Given the right circumstances, and especially if on my own, I might have wandered into doing the same thing!  We all have potential to be “wicked”.  Therefore we all need both instruction and relationship—and the humility to receive it.  We need to be bound together in love for teaching, truth, accountability and help:  this will help us avoid wandering away from truth in our own error.
                Paul wrote to the Galatians because they were turning away from the true simple gospel they had received.  His letter is an example of how to turn a sinner from the error of their way:  offer grace and peace, glorify God, speak with honesty, address the history, give the reasons, be an example.  We are to help restore others in a spirit of humility, knowing we too could fall into sin.
                Sin rarely, (if ever), affects only the sinner.  Still, even if harmed by someone else’s sin, I must forgive or else I risk two things: 1)Suggesting to them that they are beyond forgiveness, thus imparting despair and 2)becoming separated from God myself because of my own unforgiveness. 
Let us all humbly offer to one another the grace and peace of Jesus.
Read and Pray:  2 Corinthians 2:5-10, Galatians 6:1-3, Jude 20-25

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