Forgiving As God Forgives - Luke 17:3

Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. - Luke 17:3

    I once heard someone say that we are only required to forgive those who repent of their offense. Surely, I thought, this isn’t biblical. Doesn’t Jesus tell us to forgive and forgive again and again? “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” - Matthew 18:21-22. “There,” I said to myself, “That’s the answer!” But what of the offender who, without remorse or apology, continues to offend? What of the dishonest employee, the unfaithful spouse, or the career criminal? Does Scripture command us to become doormats for the sinners in our lives? Is this part of the tribulation we are called to suffer for Christ’s holy name?
    I’m a firm believer in letting Scripture interpret Scripture, so I sought more clarification on this idea of unlimited forgiveness.“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” - Matthew 6:14-15.
    What then is the Biblical criteria for our Heavenly Father’s forgiveness? On what basis does He forgive? “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” - Mark 1:14-15. We know for certain that without repentance God will not forgive us our trespasses. We cannot impugn the name of God or His holiness and expect redemption unless we confess and repent - “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9. The very notion of forgiveness without repentance runs counter to every word of Scripture! And are we to forgive someone if God Himself doesn’t?
    Even within the church, we are told that a brother who sins against us should be expelled from the church and treated as an unbeliever if he refuses to heed the commands of the church - “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” - Matthew 18:17.
    And while the sociologists today will tell us that forgiving is more “for our peace of mind” then it is for the sinner’s sake, we must come to the realization that our peace of mind rests in Christ our Savior, not some sociological humanist mantra.
    The Biblical lynchpin of forgiveness is repentance on the part of the offender, as per the very words of Jesus Christ! That being said, may we always be open to forgiving others as God forgives. And should we offend, we must repent and seek forgiveness.

The Road Not Taken - Matthew 19: 21-22

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
- Matthew 19:21-22


    In 1916, American poet, Robert Frost published his famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.” Hardly a Christian parable, the work still resounds with the concept of choices. For Frost’s fictitious wanderer it was a choice of one of two roads. When Christ spoke to Matthew, the tax collector, and an unnamed rich young ruler, He alluded to a choice of which road to take.
    In the story of the rich young ruler, we find an allegory that remains timeless. Symbolically, the rich young ruler had all he needed for a complete and comfortable worldly life right here on earth. What more could he want? Well, obviously he wanted eternity as well. And Christ was very willing to give the young man what he wanted, provided the young man could part with his earthly security in exchange for eternal wealth. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” - Matthew 6:19-20. To do what Jesus commanded (note: not asked, but commanded) the young man simply couldn’t (or wouldn’t) comply. How many people today simply refuse to yield to Christ so they can maintain their worldly (sinful) lifestyles?
    Now let’s contrast the rich young ruler with a sinful tax-collector named Matthew. “As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ So he arose and followed Him.” - Matthew 9:9. Here was a rich tax collector, a sinner with wealth enough to obtain or abscond with anything he desired. We know Matthew’s lifestyle because of what came next - “Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.” - Matthew 9:10. Yet this sinful tax collector didn’t ask a single question of Christ, but simply rose and followed Him!
    The comparison and contrast between the two men offer us a keen look at the grace of God in action. The same message, “Follow Me,” is conveyed to both men, yet one rejects it while the other gratefully accepts the command. Christ knew both men’s hearts. He knew that one would reject Him and that the other would follow Him. “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.” - Matthew 24:40-41.
    The rich young ruler was never mentioned in the gospel again. We know not what became of him. Matthew went on to write the very gospel that most of this post’s verses come from. He preached the Good News of Jesus Christ to a mostly Jewish community in Judea and died a martyr’s death around 60 AD in Ethiopia.
    The offer of salvation is still extended to us by the grace of God. We have a choice here, today. This very hour! “For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:2. 


 I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
- Robert Frost

    Let us pray that more men and women will reject the world and accept Christ’s offer to “Follow Me,” and take the road less traveled.
               

Which Lives Matter? -Matthew 6:26

 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? - Matthew 6:26

    In this oft quoted verse by Jesus, the subject He was addressing was man’s worries and anxieties. What to eat and what to wear are often concerns that can eat away at our self-assurance. But what I choose to address in this verse is the last question posed by Christ. Referring to the birds of the air, He implies emphatically that we humans are of greater value than the simple birds of the air. Christ reiterates the value of humanity compared to the sparrows again in both Matthew 10:31 and then confirms His words in the Gospel of Luke - “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” - Luke 12:6-7.
    My point in drawing attention to these words of Christ is to declare the value of human life over that of other earthly life forms whether they be animal, insect, or otherwise. Christ Himself makes it clear that mankind is of greater value than any other life on earth! The Gospel was written for man, not animals. Salvation has been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ for man, not for animals! Now, that being said, allow me to perhaps assuage the feelings of those who ostensibly hold that animal lives are as equally valuable as human lives and in some cases of greater value than human lives. Both views are in error.
    One of God’s initial commands to man in the garden of Eden was to be a good steward of all the earth. “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” - Genesis 1:28 God certainly didn’t intend for man to pollute the waters and the skies of the earth, nor did He intend for man to go on a ecocidal vendetta with the intent of killing every animal and plant life form on the planet. So yes! Trophy hunting for animals would go against the laws of God. The random killing of animal life for sheer pleasure is not an example of good stewardship. Neither is the abuse of or deliberate neglect of the health and safety of animal life. So the concerns of “animal lovers” are legitimate concerns, and should be taken seriously when parsed in reasonable terms. However, there is no violation of God’s law when the killing of animals is done to provide food for human beings, regardless of what PETA or any other animal rights activists say. “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” - Genesis 9:2-3.
    There are many reasons to protect animal and plant life on our planet, with sustainability being one of the primary. But human life, precious human life, starting with conception and ending with death at God’s chosen time and place take precedence over all other life forms. This precludes and proscribes infanticide, homicide, genocide, and all their murderous variations!  “You shall not murder.” - Exodus 20:13. All live matter, but human lives matter more to our Heavenly Creator.

The Side Show - Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. - Matthew 24:35

    If Christ was so adamant about His words enduring forever then why are there so many “churches” rocking the house, laser lighting, and clowning us straight into hell? Why aren’t these churches providing Christ’s Gospel to His sheep? Why in heaven’s name are so many of these churches more concerned with the star power and charisma of their ministers than they are with disseminating the two-edged sword of God’s living word? Is it because so many “Christians” demand a Godless gospel? “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”- 2 Timothy 4:3-4. Even the Prince of Preachers, C.H. Spurgeon remarked - “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clown entertaining the goats.”
    Where the word of God is not preached, the word of the devil is heard! This is long been the trend in American Christianity, especially among the evangelical herds. These false teachers have deliberately softened and molded the very words of God to be more pleasing to the ear, so as not to instill fear of the Lord or adversely affect the church coffers. They dilute the gospel with strange fires to appeal to the masses rather than preach the word and let the Holy Spirit enlighten those chosen by God to “hear” it. “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” - Matthew 24:24.
    It is all a sideshow, specifically designed to deceive the brethren and to enrich the hucksters who parade around as ministers of God! But don’t be dismayed; Christ knows them for what they are - “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” - Matthew 7:22-23. But perhaps Christ’s most appropriate response to those who would cheapen their worship of Him is . . . “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’” - Luke 23:34.
    Let us worship our Lord in reverence, hearing and applying His Word in our lives. Entertainment is cheap; the word of God is priceless!

The Problem of Pride - Obadiah 1:4

“Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” says the Lord. - Obadiah 1:4

    Pride is a monster. It is the most vicious of temperaments and it breaks and bruises everything it touches. Naturally, I am not referring to the harmless pride that comes from watching one’s child do well in an endeavor. I am referring to that coarse and obsessive pride that reeks of self-aggrandizement and self-glory. “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” - Psalm 10:4.
    Pride is not merely a sin, but the precursor to sin in all its forms. Pride is presumptuous, arrogant, selfish, belligerent, confrontational, antagonistic, divisive, intolerant, unforgiving, and more. It is the epitome of self-assurance. “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’” - Obadiah 1:3.
    Pride is the problem. Within each of us lives a pulsing worm which gnaws away at our hearts and minds. There is no innate goodness in us that escapes the bite and the claw of pride. This is what is meant by total depravity. And every one of us is guilty of it! “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” - 1 John 2:6.
    Every sin. Every transgression against God. Every wrong-doing is the result of human pride, for without pride man would not seek the world. And the world is the enemy of God - “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  - James 4:4.
    God hates pride - “The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts says: ‘I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.’” - Amos 6:8. But He loves the humble heart. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, You will not despise.” - Psalm 51:17.
    We must all do a better job seeking less those things which are self-aggrandizing and more of those things which God finds noble and virtuous. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” - Philppians 4:8.
    Let us all put away our pride and take hold of humility for God’s sake . . . and our own.

Unbelief Is Belief - Micah 4:5

For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. - Micah 4:5

    The current climate of “god hatred” permeating the secular (atheist) establishment is living contradiction in terms. How does one hate something he says doesn’t exist? You’ve heard the argument before, I’m sure. It is a good argument to be sure, especially when you consider just how much these haters of God worship their own gods so passionately.
    The prophet, Micah, saw this enigma unfolding even in his day (750 - 700 BC). So the hatred and animosity toward the one true living God is nothing new. The secularists and pseudo-atheists of the 21st century introduce nothing new to the nonsensical war between belief and unbelief. Obviously, not to believe in one thing inherently implies belief in another! They simply believe in different gods, gods of their own making! Despite God’s explicit warning, they, like Adam and Eve before them choose to disobey Him- “You shall have no other gods before Me.” - Exodus 20:3.
    Their gods may be wealth, notoriety, social control, science, or even themselves. The one thing they are not is the God of the Bible! “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.” - Psalm 115:4-8.
    As hard as these minions of false gods proclaim their disbelief, they are in fact shoring up their very belief in that which they have chosen to worship! Scripture warns us all, time and again, to avoid even the appearance of worshiping anything other than the one true God. We are admonished and given the choice - “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.” - Joshua 24:15. Joshua’s speech mirrors the words of Micah in depth and in detail.
    So the next time you hear someone say, “I don’t believe in God,” know that they do in fact believe in a god, a god of their own creation . . . and pray that they may one day see the one true God as revealed to us in Holy Scripture.

The Christian Address To Social Injustice - Proverbs 28:5

Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all. - Proverbs 28:5

    We are often told (or so we should be) that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the story of our redemption, and our redemption alone. Truly, it is. There is no clever misconstruction that could possibly lead us into the varying gospels of Feminism, Black Liberation, LGBTQ, Wealth Redistribution or any other social justice gospel! All such misconstructions are heretical from their very conception.
    So what of these heretical gospels? The Bible tells us that there is no gospel that exalts woman over man but instead implies “compatibility and cooperation” (as the terms are understood in today’s parlance) - "And He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” - Matthew 19:4-5.
    There is no racially charged gospel - “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:28.
    There is certainly not one shred of evidence that the Bible supports any type of LGBTQ gospel - “as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” - Jude 1:7.
    Finally, but not exhaustively, there is no Biblical mandate for wealth redistribution - “When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.” - Psalm 128:2.   
    There is but one true gospel and we are correctly instructed that it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which, according to John MacArthur, is “ . . .the gospel is good news for fallen humanity regarding how sins are atoned for, how sinners are forgiven, and how believers are made right with God.”
    So with this sweeping and Biblically correct pronouncement in mind, what are Christians to do in the matter of social injustices? The Bible is rife with commands to help our neighbors and strangers. “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” - Proverbs 31:9. Obviously, Christians have a “moral duty” to help where and when help is needed. That word “moral” then becomes the sticky issue. When we say moral, exactly whose morality are we to defend? And from where exactly does this morality come to us? What is this morality’s foundation? This brings us to a rocky and risky area of decision. We must be certain of our cause; but even more so, we must be certain of our ultimate goal. Are we attempting to defend the indefensible? Are we to let the secular definition of “moral” become a stumbling block?
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting . . .who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” - Romans 1:28,32.
    We must be very careful not to confuse Biblical, God-ordained ethics and morality with the “selected moral positions of this age.” There are many who claim to have the moral high-ground; who suggest that God would take their side in a moral argument, yet their positions do not match the morality that God has declared from the beginning of time! So where, I ask, do these current moral positions derive their authority? Does the moral authority come from you? Me? With over seven billion people on this planet, whose moral authority are we to agree with and defend? Shall we go by consensus? Shall we put the morals we will choose to obey to a vote? The fact is that when you ask this question, all you’ll get back is an inquisitive look or the old Ralph Cramden, “Hamina-hamina-hamina!” As we can see, this is the inherent flaw within relativism and the thinking that emerges from such a specious philosophy.
    There must be a base moral ground from which we can all discern the difference between right and wrong. It cannot be a subjective determination; it must be objective from start to finish, otherwise, as they like to say, “It’s all relative.” What’s good for you may not be good for me and visa versa. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in philosophy to recognize that this is no way to proceed. So again I must ask - “Where do we get our fundamental understanding of the difference between right and wrong?”
    God gave us “the Law.” It wasn’t Buddha. It wasn’t Allah. It wasn’t Vishnu, and it isn’t Madison Avenue or Hollywood!  It is God’s law that shows us the difference between right and wrong. There is no other measuring stick. Any other morality is extracted from the expediency and worldly desires of mankind. And mankind is fallen.
    The issues that the gospel heretics confront us with have no Biblical support. Therefore they have no moral support; thus, they hold no moral high ground! Not until we all recognize the gospel for what it truly is will we ever see our disagreements dissipate and our differences disappear. The moral high ground is the throne of God. And it will not be until we stop putting the cart before the horse and start living our lives according to the precepts laid down within the framework of God’s holy word that we will reap the rewards God Himself has promised us. “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’” -  Matthew 25:21
    As Oswald Chambers once wrote - “The final standard of authority must be one that can be owned by everyone.” God’s “standard of authority” is the only standard which we can all own!
    There will always be those who will never find social acceptance in this world. Some may always exist along the fringe and in the margins. Political zealotry in defense of sin has no Biblical support. Such socially desirable positions and the status sought after are worldly by their very nature. And Christ’s kingdom is not of this world! These heretics will not breach the gates of His kingdom with arrogance and sinful pride. The humble tears of a repentant soul and faith in Christ Jesus as given to us in His Gospel are the only keys to the kingdom.


1 John MacArthur, “The Gospel According To Paul.” (Nashville: Nelson, 2017), 76