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Prayers : Part 27
This week we continued our study of the prayer of faith, also called petition prayer (Mark 11:24). When you pray the prayer of faith, you must believe that you “receive them” – the thing that you desire – at the moment you pray. The part of Mark 11:24 that says “and you will have them” has nothing to do with believers. Once we pray, our faith is the substance of the things we are expecting and the proof of what we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). It is God’s responsibility to take care of the manifestation.
Last week, we started to discuss the topic of associations. As believers, we severely underestimate the impact that associations have in our lives. The associations of every member of the body of Christ impact the entire body (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). Our responsibility as believers is to strengthen one another in faith and provoke one another to love within the church. If even just one member of the body of Christ is living a lifestyle of sin, it impacts the entire body because “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Leaven is the same as sin. The whole body should have the same mind as God regarding sin – that it’s deadly. To spare the entire body, and the person who is living a lifestyle of sin, the person should be put out from the body (1 Corinthians 5:7-11). However, we should only judge sin within the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). As Christians, it is not our job to judge sinners who are in the world. Our job is to approach people who are in the world in order to bring them into the body of Christ. God will work on people outside of the church and He will have us (believers) bring them into the church when they are ready.
The body of Christ cannot get cozy with sin in the world or in the church. Believers should seek to restore people within the body of Christ who are living a lifestyle of sin. If a person within the body Christ is involved in sin, we should go to that person one on one to restore him to the body (Matthew 18:15-17). If the person doesn’t respond, then we should bring two or three other believers to restore him. If that doesn’t work, we should consult the pastor or other leadership in the church so that they can try to restore the person. If none of these approaches is successful, the Bible says that the body of Christ should treat the person as a sinner and eject him from the church (1 Corinthians 5:7-11).
The members of the body of Christ cannot take a laissez-faire attitude with sin because it hurts both the people who are involved in sin and the entire body of Christ. As new creations in Christ, we should not do the same things we did when we were in the world because the dominion and power of sin over our lives has been broken. As believers, we have to walk circumspectly so that we can please the Father. We must reject sin. To do that, we must submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). We can’t trust in our own strength or rely on our own minds to overcome sin. God overcomes sin for us, but we have to receive His grace. There is a whole new life to live in Christ, but we can’t live that new life if we are going in the wrong direction.
Last week, a member of Berith asked: Should I be friends with people who are involved in a lifestyle of sin? Pastor Rick responded that the answer depends on whether the friend is a believer or not (Matthew 9:10-13). If the friend is a member of the body of Christ, the person should tell the friend that their friendship has to end because of the friend’s sinful lifestyle. If the friend is not a member of the body of Christ, the person should talk to the friend for the purpose of sharing God’s Word and bringing the friend into the body of Christ. Jesus sat down with sinners, they were drawn to him, and he didn’t shun them (1 Corinthians 9:19). We, as believers, should be so free that we can go to people in the world, regardless of who they are, and minister to them. We cannot have hang-ups or a bone to pick with people in the world. We only become free when we declare war on the sin within us. Once we are free from sin, we can reach out to people who are in the world in order to bring them into the body of Christ.
Last week, we started to discuss the topic of associations. As believers, we severely underestimate the impact that associations have in our lives. The associations of every member of the body of Christ impact the entire body (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). Our responsibility as believers is to strengthen one another in faith and provoke one another to love within the church. If even just one member of the body of Christ is living a lifestyle of sin, it impacts the entire body because “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Leaven is the same as sin. The whole body should have the same mind as God regarding sin – that it’s deadly. To spare the entire body, and the person who is living a lifestyle of sin, the person should be put out from the body (1 Corinthians 5:7-11). However, we should only judge sin within the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). As Christians, it is not our job to judge sinners who are in the world. Our job is to approach people who are in the world in order to bring them into the body of Christ. God will work on people outside of the church and He will have us (believers) bring them into the church when they are ready.
The body of Christ cannot get cozy with sin in the world or in the church. Believers should seek to restore people within the body of Christ who are living a lifestyle of sin. If a person within the body Christ is involved in sin, we should go to that person one on one to restore him to the body (Matthew 18:15-17). If the person doesn’t respond, then we should bring two or three other believers to restore him. If that doesn’t work, we should consult the pastor or other leadership in the church so that they can try to restore the person. If none of these approaches is successful, the Bible says that the body of Christ should treat the person as a sinner and eject him from the church (1 Corinthians 5:7-11).
The members of the body of Christ cannot take a laissez-faire attitude with sin because it hurts both the people who are involved in sin and the entire body of Christ. As new creations in Christ, we should not do the same things we did when we were in the world because the dominion and power of sin over our lives has been broken. As believers, we have to walk circumspectly so that we can please the Father. We must reject sin. To do that, we must submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). We can’t trust in our own strength or rely on our own minds to overcome sin. God overcomes sin for us, but we have to receive His grace. There is a whole new life to live in Christ, but we can’t live that new life if we are going in the wrong direction.
Last week, a member of Berith asked: Should I be friends with people who are involved in a lifestyle of sin? Pastor Rick responded that the answer depends on whether the friend is a believer or not (Matthew 9:10-13). If the friend is a member of the body of Christ, the person should tell the friend that their friendship has to end because of the friend’s sinful lifestyle. If the friend is not a member of the body of Christ, the person should talk to the friend for the purpose of sharing God’s Word and bringing the friend into the body of Christ. Jesus sat down with sinners, they were drawn to him, and he didn’t shun them (1 Corinthians 9:19). We, as believers, should be so free that we can go to people in the world, regardless of who they are, and minister to them. We cannot have hang-ups or a bone to pick with people in the world. We only become free when we declare war on the sin within us. Once we are free from sin, we can reach out to people who are in the world in order to bring them into the body of Christ.
posted by Berith. Making life better! at
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