Jim47
17th January 2005, 11:14 PM
What is brotherly love. I’m sure we are all familiar with the words from the Bible that formed what we call the golden rule, "do unto others as you would have done to you" and also Mt 22:37 Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
Mt 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mt 22:39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Just what does this mean? First of all, we are to love no one more than God. Pretty hard to do you say? Is it really our worship and praise that God is concerned about? Perhaps we need to look at scripture.
Jn 5:31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.
Jn 5:33 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
It appears to me that God is thinking mainly of us, but lets look at more scripture.
Jn 5:41 "I do not accept praise from men, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God ?
Many people have the idea that if we go around back slapping each other and singing each others praises that we have shown brotherly love, but again what does Jesus say?
Mt 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Mt 18:18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Mt 18:19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
It would seem that Jesus perception of love is a little different than that of false praise. Why is that? I believe its because Jesus is more concerned with our souls than with our present happiness.
With this in mind, lets look at an example of this from scripture.
1Co 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
1Co 5:3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
1Co 5:4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,
1Co 5:5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
This principle can be applied to any and all sin, and should be. This is what is called church discipline, and if done correctly, with God’s Blessing will win this persons soul back into faith and forgiveness. So what happened in this case?
2Co 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.
2Co 2:6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.
2Co 2:7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
2Co 2:8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
2Co 2:9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
2Co 2:10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
2Co 2:11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
So we see here that by following what Christ taught us, this man’s spirit convicted him of his sin and he did repent, and then the church was instructed to offer him forgiveness, because that is why Christ died, so that we, as sinners might receive forgiveness.
Why then is it wrong to condemn someone’s sin, such as homo sexuality? I have seen this discussed time and again on this forum, but most people step lightly over it and say, " well its just another sin"! True, but what does God say about sin.
We have here a good example-Ge 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
What would have happened if Cain had repented of his sin? Able would still be alive for one, but more importantly Cain wouldn’t have fallen prey to Satan.
Here is another example of a repentant heart and forgiveness recieved.
Ps 51:3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Ps 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
Ps 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Ps 51:6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Ps 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Ps 51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Ps 51:9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Ps 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Ps 51:11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Ps 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Ps 51:13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
Continued in next post
Mt 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mt 22:39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Just what does this mean? First of all, we are to love no one more than God. Pretty hard to do you say? Is it really our worship and praise that God is concerned about? Perhaps we need to look at scripture.
Jn 5:31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.
Jn 5:33 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
It appears to me that God is thinking mainly of us, but lets look at more scripture.
Jn 5:41 "I do not accept praise from men, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God ?
Many people have the idea that if we go around back slapping each other and singing each others praises that we have shown brotherly love, but again what does Jesus say?
Mt 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Mt 18:18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Mt 18:19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
It would seem that Jesus perception of love is a little different than that of false praise. Why is that? I believe its because Jesus is more concerned with our souls than with our present happiness.
With this in mind, lets look at an example of this from scripture.
1Co 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
1Co 5:3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
1Co 5:4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,
1Co 5:5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
This principle can be applied to any and all sin, and should be. This is what is called church discipline, and if done correctly, with God’s Blessing will win this persons soul back into faith and forgiveness. So what happened in this case?
2Co 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.
2Co 2:6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.
2Co 2:7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
2Co 2:8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
2Co 2:9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
2Co 2:10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
2Co 2:11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
So we see here that by following what Christ taught us, this man’s spirit convicted him of his sin and he did repent, and then the church was instructed to offer him forgiveness, because that is why Christ died, so that we, as sinners might receive forgiveness.
Why then is it wrong to condemn someone’s sin, such as homo sexuality? I have seen this discussed time and again on this forum, but most people step lightly over it and say, " well its just another sin"! True, but what does God say about sin.
We have here a good example-Ge 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
What would have happened if Cain had repented of his sin? Able would still be alive for one, but more importantly Cain wouldn’t have fallen prey to Satan.
Here is another example of a repentant heart and forgiveness recieved.
Ps 51:3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Ps 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
Ps 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Ps 51:6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Ps 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Ps 51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Ps 51:9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Ps 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Ps 51:11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Ps 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Ps 51:13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
Continued in next post