While this line of thought is common amongst some Christians, it is not Scriptural in its essence. To many, loving the sinner means to embrace, tolerate, and accept them unconditionally. This, too, is unscriptural. While God loves His creation, a relationship with Him is not without conditions. His unconditional LOVE was put on display through the life and death of Jesus- Romans 5:8. His ACCEPTANCE is on the condition of turning from ones sins and intrusting oneself to the Lordship of Jesus- Acts 17:30b.
This brings us to the topic of "judging" others. Shortly stated, it is possible to "condemn" the sin without "judging" the sinner. Only God has the authority to judge. If someone feels "judged" because we quote where the Bible condemns their sin then it is the Holy Spirit working in them to testify of the truth they just heard.
We are to love others but that does not mean to FELLOWSHIP with an unrepentant person- Ephesians 5:11. It is our love for the lost that drives us to witness to them because we don't want them to go to hell; But scripture tells us that after the second admonition we are to reject the unrepentant- Titus 3:10-11.
Because sin is inanimate and can not be judged, God does not disassociate the sin from the sinner as is evident in scripture such as Psalm 7:11- God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the WICKED every day.
Sin will cease to exist. The wicked will spend eternity in hell. Love them enough to tell them the truth!
Amen! Telling them the truth is however one of the hardest things to do. But it is the right thing to do.
ReplyDelete