B-2
The Pauline epistles and Acts
Titus 3:
"9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.
11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned."
* "...have nothing to do with them..." Hmmm.
"14
Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will
repay him for what he has done.
15 You too should be on your guard
against him, because he strongly opposed our message."
*Does this sound
like blanket, unconditional forgiveness?
Paul criticized Alexander in an epistle read to millions of followers to tens of thousands of gatherings,
over nearly two thousand years.
Was he too critical or too vocal?
Or was he 'just-right'?
1 Timothy 5:
“19 Do not
entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two
or three witnesses.
20 But those elders who are sinning you are to
reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.
21 I
charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect
angels, to keep these instructions without partiality,
and to do
nothing out of favoritism.”
* Whew.
* Whew.
"...by two or three witnesses
"...reprove before everyone..."
2Thessalonians 3:
"6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle
and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day,
"6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle
and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day,
laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.
13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter.
Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed.
15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer."
9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.
13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter.
Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed.
15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer."
* Hmmm. In today's church culture, intentional isolation (shunning) is seen as unforgiveness, yet Paul commands it.
1 Thessalonians 4:
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;
6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.
The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before.
7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;
6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.
The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before.
7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
* Should we forgive without confrontation? This portion of scripture says otherwise, for the sake of the offenders.
Colossians 3:
"12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns,
and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."
"12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns,
and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."
* What would be the proper response to a person, direct admonition?
Perhaps confession and repentance - to the admonisher?
Philippians 3:
"Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again,
and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence."
* Paul called those who distort the Gospel 'dogs', the mongrel type of dogs that would have wandered about the cities of that time.
Ephesians 4:3
“Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ
God forgave you.”
* When did God
forgive me? When I repented. And look at this verse a bit closer; let
me offer a way to read this verse that many don’t see:
…forgiving each
other just as, since you are in Christ, saved by His blood, God has
forgiven you.”
My interpretation
draws a line between those in Christ and those not in Christ.
Galatians 2:
Galatians 2:
"11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back
and separated himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray...." (read full text)
* One apostle publicly rebuking another apostle.
* One apostle publicly rebuking another apostle.
2 Corinthians 13:
'This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."
2 I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent:
On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others,
3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me.
2 I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent:
On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others,
3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me.
2 Corinthians 10:
4 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete."
* It appears that one item on Paul's agenda for the next visit to Corinth was to punish someone?
2 Corinthians 2:
2 Corinthians 2:
“5 If anyone
has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all
of you to some extent—not to put it too severely.
6 The punishment
inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient.
7 Now instead, you
ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed
by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love
for him.
9 Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand
the test and be obedient in everything.
10 Anyone you forgive, I also
forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to
forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in
order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his
schemes.”
* “…ought to
forgive”. Does that mean it was, after church discipline and the
offender’s repentance, finally appropriate to forgive? Wow.
Apparently, the church was giving discipline to someone had violated scripture, which would seem like unforgiveness to many.
1 Corinthian 5:
1 Corinthian 5:
"It is
actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a
kind that even pagans do not tolerate:
A man is sleeping with his
father's wife.
2 And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have gone
into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has
been doing this?
3 For my part, even though I am not physically
present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in
this way,
I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord
Jesus on the one who has been doing this.
4 So when you are assembled
and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is
present,
5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the
flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast
leavens the whole batch of dough?
7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore
let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice
and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-
10 not at
all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy
and swindlers,
or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave
this world.
11 But now I am writing to you that you must not
associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is
sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or
swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of
mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those
inside?
13 God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked
person from among you."
* Wow. Don't even eat with them?
Romans 2: (often attributed to Paul)
"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another,
you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience,
not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"
* The Lord showed me a few years ago, to sort out my anger when I saw something going wrong,
to make sure I wasn't using the perpetrator as a whipping boy to excuse my own flaws.
Acts 15:
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord
and see how they are doing.”
37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,
38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.
39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.
41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,
38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.
39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.
41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
* Hmm.
Acts 13:
"6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man,
sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,
10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery.
Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?
11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord."
7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man,
sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,
10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery.
Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?
11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord."
Wow. That's pretty aggressive and unforgiving...
Acts 7: 59:
"While
they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit.”
60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do
not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell
asleep.”
* Stephen didn't say "Forgive them." He asked they not be charged with this sin. Interesting.
Acts 5:
“Now a man
named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of
property.
2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the
money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’
feet.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so
filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept
for yourself
some of the money you received for the land?
4 Didn’t it
belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the
money at your disposal?
What made you think of doing such a thing?
You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
5 When Ananias
heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who
heard what had happened.
6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped
up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours
later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 Peter asked
her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
9 Peter said to her,
“How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The
feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they
will carry you out also.”
10 At that moment she fell down at his
feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead,
carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11 Great fear
seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”
* A Church leader,
apparently at God’s direction, confronted two liars - who God decided to kill for being liars.
What happened to
the 'Uncle Jesus' everyone talks about?
What about
instant forgiveness, no matter the offense?
When is the last
time you heard this portion of scripture from a
“God-wants-us-all-to-be-rich” televangelist?
Do we need to
recalibrate our view of Jesus?