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NASB | 1 Corinthians 5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 5:12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders (non-believers)? Do you not judge those who are within the church [to protect the church as the situation requires]? |
Bible Question:
Makarios,perhaps you are aware that Bill Hybles and the Willowcreek Church have what is called a "Seeker" service and have a "Followers" service on Wed. evenings. Might not many of the "Seekers" still be "living in sin"? My guess is that several of the "seekers" in this church are living together and not married. What effect would this scene have on them? Would it drive "Seekers" away from the Church, before they become born again "Followers"? I am not disagreeing with you. These questions have been asked of me concerning this situation. |
Bible Answer: newoldstock, It is difficult to see people embarrassed in public. However, we must trust that God knows the best way to handle these situations. These ways of dealing with sin is further proof that men could not devise the holy bible without God's authorship. We often feel that people misunderstand us, but God knows our heart, that we are basically good. But, on the contrary, our sinful nature is very wicked and deceitful. Only God can know the evil in our hearts and how to deal with it. Gen 6 5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Jer 17 9"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. So He has told the church how to handle it in scriptures like 1 Corinthians 5. The question then becomes, do we know a better way than God knows? We often think the best of ourselves and that God will save most people. We often feel that most people are decent enough to be saved. Mat 7 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. But, this is really part of our humanist philosophy that is taught in our schools. This is why so many of us were so shocked after the Columbine high school shootings. No, I am not saying that adultery in the church is as bad as murder. What I am saying is that if we valued our relationship with God, then we would hate any other sin just as much as we hate murder. All sin ruins our relationship with God. (Psalm 51) People need to be encouraged to do three things: 1. Make up their minds. Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." 2. Count the cost. Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- 3. Follow God "fully". Numbers 14:24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. 1 Kings 11:6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David. Pastor Glenn |