Quote:
Originally Posted by Nell
I don’t think there is a formula to follow like an if/then statement that insures all the biblical bases are covered. Further, we cannot force someone else to repent. We are responsible for our own obedience, not the obedience of others. Even though the sins of others may be obvious and aggregious, their response is not up to us.
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I agree with much of what Nell expresses here... and though it is technically accurate yet it is not complete. By that I mean, in the manner and to the extent we apply Matthew 18:15-17 and "walk away", then in the same way we must also apply Matthew 18: 21-22:
"
The Peter came and said to Him,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."
If there is a "distance" then the Lord defined it as forgiving your brother 490 times.... not once, twice, or seven as Peter hoped, but more than you can keep track of.
Along this same line, recently, I was studying the letter delivered to Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22) and realized that though the Lord severely rebuked the church there, warned that He was about to spew them (and eventually did) out of His mouth, and though He was standing OUTSIDE the door of the church in Laodicea knocking for ANYONE to open the door to dine with Him, and yet, in spite of that rejection of Him, He says to that church:
"As many as I love I reprove and discipline..."
In that, I also realized something about myself. My sentiment needs to be whatever His sentiment is. If He is unhappy about something then how can I be happy about the same thing? If He is outside the church in Laodicea then how can I be satisfied to stay inside? And though eager in many ways to be wherever He resides and join with Him in His sentiment .... yet, do I also love as He loves? Do I love those believers that reject the Lord and love them as He loves them? His heart is without compare and I realized, speaking for myself, that it is all too easy for me to get technical (by the letter) about biblical things and forget the real and most important thing... joining with Lord in His sentiments and in the spirit of them toward fellow believers.. not only as pertains to righteousness, to warning, to reproof, and with discipline, but also in love.
Drake