Subject: how can we minister to homosexuals |
Bible Note: Dear Val, By Brother Jeff's admission he was attempting to avoid being judgmental (post #209614). There is a great distinction between being judgmental and being discerning. We are told to eschew the former (Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6:37; James 4:11-12), but we are commanded to exercise the latter. Your exegesis states that Matthew 7:16-27 is only about false teachers because of verse 15. Let us do a brief exegesis of Matthew 7, as it forms the basis of much of our discussion. Look at the whole passage. Who is Christ speaking to? Matthew 5:1-2, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, states that He was teaching His disciples. Sure, there was a bunch of people listening in (5:1; 7:28). However, this teaching was meant for the apostles, for these things formed the foundation of the church. Was Christ speaking only about false teachers in vv7:1-5? How about the dogs and pigs of verse 6? (How are we to avoid giving that which is holy to dogs and pigs if we are not to judge that some men are dogs and some are pigs?) Nevertheless, Christ speaks of his magnanimity and generosity in v7-12. We must avoid giving holy things to dogs and pigs, nevertheless we must give holy things unto those who seriously seek them out. How do we tell the difference without discernment? Then Christ makes an incredible statement about the wide gate and the narrow gate. Do you think He is only talking about the world wandering off through the wide gate and the church making its way through the narrow gate? I know that many teach it that way. But to whom is Christ speaking? He is speaking to the church -- which is full of both wheat and tares. Wheat and tares look a whole lot alike. Then Christ warns of false teachers. Why would He suddenly make that shift? Because the false teachers are the ones leading the way through the broad gate. Tares love to draw false teachers to themselves (2 Timothy 4:3). Why? Because the message these fleshly people want to hear, simply springs out of the nature of their own hearts (Galatians 5:20). So how can we tell the false teachers and their tares from the wheat? We know that those of the narrow way produce much fruit (John 15:5;Luke 8:8). Here in Matthew 7:16-20 we are told that those of the wide gate and those of the narrow gate are intrinsically different, right down to their basic nature. Any given kind of fruit only springs from a specific kind of plant. (I never have understood why this is so clear to everyone when it comes to figs and thistles, but is so easily rejected when it comes to people.) Now Christ tells us that "not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord'" will be saved. Clearly this is not just talking about false prophets. No, indeed. Christ makes this quite clear when He says "Everyone who hears these words of Mine" (vv24, 26). He is talking about responses, the visible fruit arising as a response to the Word. Take a look at all the various passages that speak of fruit. Fruit is always visible. It is a metaphor used in the Old Testament as well as the New. In Him, Doc |