If anyone sees his brother
sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him
life for those who commit sin not leading to death. —1 John 5:16
“If we are not heedful and
pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become
spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take
our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of
turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about
others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct
penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely
unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of
others and forgetting that God says, “…he will ask, and He will give him life
for those who commit sin not leading to death.” Be careful that you don’t
become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with
God before you worship Him yourself.” CHAMBERS
There are some things in the
Bible that are unclear .. and have been for centuries. What John means by a sin not leading to death
is one of those. There are opinions
about what sin that might be, but it is unclear. There are three things that the Bible is
clear concerning 1 John 5:16. First is
that a Believer cannot lose their salvation.
The Bible is clear that we cannot. (2 Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13, John
10:28-29) Second, is that we should pray
for each other (James 5:16) and not judge and condemn each other (Matthew 7:1). And third, is that we are to encourage each
other to live a life of faithfulness toward God. (Hebrews 3:13)
When you see another Christian
sinning, recognition of the sin is not judgement .. it’s discernment. What you choose to do with that discernment
will either be an act of obedience or sin.
That’s right. If you choose to
judge and condemn, you are acting contrary to the Word which means that you are
sinning. The Bible does not say that you
are to enable continued sin in the Believer’s life. Looking past the sin. Making excuses for the sin, never leads to
forgiveness and healing, just more sin. And
if the person is not a believer? Their sin
is part of who they are. What they need
is Jesus. So often Christians treat a
lost person as if they are born again, when they are not. That is a clear indication that the Christian
does not understand the injustice they are doing to that lost person. That does not mean that we should not be
kind. What it does mean is that we
should not make excuses for people who are not Christians because we like being
around them. To embrace them and their
lifestyle is to embrace sin. Jesus walked
among and ate with sinners, but was unblemished. He did not make excuses for their sinful
nature, but came to die for their salvation.
He came to minister to those people.
More often than not what happens to Christians is not ministry to the
lost person, but rather gradually living as they live and doing as they do. (but
that is another devotional topic) Pray
for each other … Encourage each other … Show the world your love for each other
in the process ELGIN
Charley Elgin
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