Love and Judgement are having difficult times.
Believers for the most part agree we are called to love and God saves us in his loving kindness.
It's not the words that are stumbling us.
What love is and how to live this love in the world is stumbling us.
The world is corrupt and being corrupted daily. Fading fast.
A world that should cause us to turn away.....but we cannot.
You and I were part of that world before we were delivered from the dominion of darkness.
I would not be saved if the church, believers and my family didn't faithfully share the gospel with me and confront me with the love of Christ. They were praying while I was sinning and lost. Praying that with all hope that I would come home. Thank you!
"While we were sinners Christ died for us." Rom 5
Jesus has always been clear with me, the Son of Man came for that which was lost. I was one of those lost people.
The problems of today's believing community stem deeply from the problems of identification with Jesus, of belief in his saving power and of the gospel being preached all over America.
While we condemn people lost in sin and unaware of the truth, we possibly wound their hearts to the Gospel. We make it hard for the message to penetrate. They harden and become callous to the message. The message that would save them and heal them deeply in his joy. We agree with the spirit of age and condemn those Jesus came to save.
But we also do not shake off the dust. We've forgotten to let people know our preaching is a visitation. When we leave and when the Gospel is rejected we no longer work those fields. The local church is both a family and a Kingdom Gospeling venture.
We are salt. We are light.
When we preach the gospel and we are not received we shake off the dust.
We let people know they have made a choice.
It is one of the deep challenges of walking after Jesus. We are at once open doors to love, grace and the healing power of the Cross, and at the same time proclaiming a word that must be responded to. It is a word of life, escape and freedom. There is no middle ground. We are always open doors to love. We are always calling for a life that escapes the present darkness and the wrath to come.
For believers the Scripture is where we turn to pin point love.
For God so loved..... John 3:16
Love lays down it's life for the people. I Corinthians 13
Love acts and believes a certain way. Like God.
Love never fails. Just like God.
"This is how we know what love is...
Jesus laid down his life for us.
And we should lay down our lives for.....?" I John 3:16
Who? If we lay our lives down it might help with some of the trouble we are finding with love and Judgement.
Scripture says "the brothers". We lay down our lives for the brothers.
Ok. So love is expressed first in the family of God. Love is first among those who follow Jesus and adhere to his teaching.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12
That makes sense.
Love those closet to you with the greatest effect of the Lord Jesus first.
Love should be easy in the Lord's house; seeing people as he sees them, believing all things and hoping all things.
Love has a rich abiding place and value in the Family of God.
It makes sense that love dwells richly where Jesus is welcomed and received.
The church is the place Jesus is the most welcome and received on earth.
Or at least that the general idea for why she is here.
So the amount of judgement going on should be less impacting in the church right?
This all sounds fairly straight forward. Then we encounter the challenges.
What do we do with people in the church who don't follow Christ, sow into love or have any intention of walking in the way of Christ in purity and holiness?
Matthew 18 gives us some great ground to walk on. We confront with restoration in mind.
We go after the lost sheep and see if we can restore them to the grace of God.
We keep the house of the Lord for what it was intended. A House of Prayer for all the Nations.
The church carries a culture of love with a revelation of righteousness in the Lord Jesus.
Ok. But what about people who don't follow Christ, the way of love or even respect the believing community?
Praise God. Our forefathers created a country in which we can dwell and freely exercise our faith.
That same freedom provides opportunity for other people to freely exercise moral choices that believers would never consider. If they are lost and not proclaiming Christ Jesus as their Lord while they do those things we have open doors to love and the Gospel that sets them free.
The church is sent out in the same love of Jesus into the world.
"As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world." John 17:18
Injustice, evil in terms of breaking the law, and any unlawful acts is punishable by the government. This is it's role. It has a divine role to uphold the law.
But I am sad to say it, but America is not the Kingdom of God.
America is a great country with a typical worldly history.
It has allowed for something very great in the history of humanity. Freedom.
That freedom is also allowing for moral corruption on a personal relational level.
We are free to participate in the government. We are citizens. We can vote. We have freedom of the press and of speech. So exercise your divine privileged.
The real problem comes along when the believing community and the citizens of the country in general don't see eye to eye on what is morally good and acceptable. Christians have been in this role for most of their existence.
Why?
The revelation of the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ, his rule and reign, is a revelation of perfect righteousness, truth and love. He is the high priest of a heavenly tabernacle. It is perfect in its holy beauty.
What was the response of believers in Nero's reign?
Paul said this,
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings (Nero, Herod etc) an all who are in high positions...." I Tim 2:1-2
Love is trying to find a way "in Christ through the Gospel". Ephesians 3:9
Judgement - We try and be like God and judge but we don't have the love of God or the perspective of God flooded in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Without judgement there could be no practical justice.
The Government is established to make judgements and uphold judgement and justice.
Without judgement there would be little in the way of decisive action.
Judgement is a practical and essential ingredient for the functioning of the world.
But in God's Kingdom judgement is held back by grace.
Enough grace to overcome every sin past, present and future.
Grace is calling out to the lost and those under the coming wrath.
It is offering salvation in Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins.
The same love, salvation and forgiveness that every existing believer has known.
My thought is we need to walk in love and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.
The doors are wide open.
Nothing is holding us back but ourselves.
Are we up for the challenge of calling out to the wounded and lost in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
This is a challenging issues. I hope I at least got you thinking.
Please comment and share your thoughts.
The King of Kings is coming in grace and truth.
What to do next?
Visit my page at www.jeffreynoldsministries.com for more teaching and blogs on the subject.
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With much love in Jesus
You can do this thing! He's got you.
Brother Jeff
