Sin's Being Unfaithful to the Lord & is the Opposite of Love
Mar 21, 2019 10:37:31 GMT -5
fearnot likes this
Post by Cindy on Mar 21, 2019 10:37:31 GMT -5
I've begun reading the Old Testament again as I do each year and am currently in Leviticus 6. The first sentence really shocked me! “The LORD said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him,” (Leviticus 6:1–2) I'd never thought of sin as being unfaithful to God before. I guess I simply thought of it as evil and didn't go any further than that, which I suspect many of us do. Knowing now that it's being unfaithful to Him, makes it much more personal to me, since I love Him and want to please Him. I most certainly don't want to be unfaithful to Him, and I'm sure you don't want to be either!
The other part that surprised me is that the sins being talked about in this chapter are sins against other people, not specific sins against the Lord, such as idolatry. So why would it be unfaithful to the Lord for me to lie to someone? As I thought about that, I remembered some things Jesus told us. Remember when Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians and take them back to Jerusalem as prisoners? Remember what Jesus said when He appeared to Saul? “He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”” (Acts 9:4) Jesus is telling Saul that what he did to those who followed Him, he was doing to Him as well. (Matt 10:40; Matt 25:40; Matt 25:45; Luke 9:48). We know too that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Paul put it this way: “But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.” (1 Cor 6:17) John tells us “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:20). So there's no escaping that we are in fact, literally one with Christ. I'm sure that's very familiar to all of us. So why is the idea of sinning being unfaithful to the Lord so surprising? I guess it's just because I've never thought it all the way through before.
We know that while we're here on this earth, the Lord uses His Word to cleanse us, ( Ephesians 5:26) to renew our minds, (Romans 12:2; Col 3:10; Ephesians 4:23–24) grow us up to spiritual maturity (1 Peter 2:2–3; Hebrews 6:1; 2 Peter 3:18) and to teach us through daily study how to tell good from evil (Hebrews 5:14). Once we're saved, we begin to walk on the road to being perfected in Christ, to being spiritually mature. We won't be completely like Him until the rapture when we're finally rid of our sin nature and have a perfect body to go with the new spirit and renewed mind that He's given us. This brings me to my next point. The part of Leviticus I'm reading is all about sin and restitution. It's about wronging another person, which is being unfaithful to God, and then in order to restore our relationship with God, we must first restore our relationship with that other person.
Most of us don't realize that Jesus teaches us this as well. We tend to ignore things that are uncomfortable for us. It's all about being like Jesus though, which is what God is growing us up to be like. I've heard many pastors say that we're the most like Jesus when we forgive another person, because that's what Jesus came here to do for us. He made a way for us to be forgiven so we could be reconciled with God. But before I get to the NT, let me share some from Leviticus: “The LORD said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do— when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.” (Leviticus 6:1–5)
Notice that he's to make full restitution plus 20% and do so before he offers a sacrifice to ask the Lord's forgiveness and worship Him. This reminds me of the tax collector, Zacchaeus: “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”” (Luke 19:8) I'm sure Zacchaeus knew the law of restitution. He purposely proposed to give back much more than the law required. In response to this, Jesus said that salvation had come to him! Zacchaeus wasn't saved because of what he did. He was saved because he believed in Jesus and wanted to please Him, therefore, because he was saved, he gave back much more then he had ever cheated anyone out of.
Where have we seen what Leviticus is teaching? ““Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23–24) What I find interesting in what Jesus is teaching here is that He doesn't say that we agree with what our brother or sister has against us, only that someone is upset with us, whether we think we did wrong or not. He also tells us that this is so important that it needs to be done right away. In our day, we might be at church and suddenly remember that someone is upset with us. If so we're to leave church, go to that person and be reconciled with them before returning to worship the Lord!
Over and over in the NT we're told to love others, to put others before ourselves, and to forgive them the same way Jesus forgave us. The way He forgave us includes reconciliation. He's not interested in us simply saying we forgive someone and then making sure we never interact with them again. He doesn't want us to put them out of our lives. He wants us to be reconciled to them. This is part of what makes loving and forgiving the way the Lord does so difficult for us. In fact, we literally couldn't do it on our own. The unsaved can't do this. The only reason we can is because the Lord poured out His love into our hearts, so we could then love Him and others, and because His Spirit dwells within us and gives us the ability to obey Him. What we need to do then is really meditate on how Jesus loves us and how He forgave and forgives us. He never took His love away from us. Even when we sin now, He doesn't take His love from us. His love is steadfast and always there for us, no matter what, even though we don't deserve it. Just as a parent doesn't stop loving their child when the child misbehaves, the same is true of the Lord. He never tells us that if we don't do something, He won't love us anymore. He does however tell us that if we don't forgive others, He won't be able to forgive us. (Matthew 6:14–15) God isn't saying we will lose our salvation, or that we can't be saved if we won't forgive others. He's saying that we harm our relationship with Him when we won't forgive others fully. Not that He won't love us though. Again, think of a parent and child's relationship when the child has misbehaved. The parent still loves the child, but they are unhappy with them. They're ashamed that the child hasn't done what they know is right. It's the same way with our relationship with the Lord. Leviticus 6 and many NT scriptures like Matthew 6:14–15 teach us that in order for us to be in right relationship with God, we must also be in right relationship with others. We must love them and forgive them, just as He did for us. In fact, the guiding law behind the law of restitution in Leviticus is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
It seems like there's something about love on every page of the Bible, either something to teach us about real love and what it looks like, or a command that we are to love, or showing what the characteristics of real love are. I remember that Jesus told us that others would know that we are Christians by our love. That certainly doesn't seem to be true today does it? At least not by large groups. But it is still true. God always has a remnant, and as that remnant grows spiritually, their love for God and others shines brighter and brighter in this dark world.
Let me add one short warning in case there are questions. What about a person who says they're a Christian but who doesn't live their faith? In other words, they don't show any of the fruit a Christian should be showing. Instead their fruit is pretty rotten, including things like lying, cheating, etc. Paul answers that question with a command from the Lord: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.” (2 Thes 3:6) Let me share what MacArthur says about this: "Here, he required separation so that obedient Christians were not to fellowship with habitually disobedient believers. This is further explained at v. 14: “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (2 Thes 3:14–15) The point here is that true unity of the Spirit belongs only to those who affirm God’s truth & live godly lives as a result. If there are individuals in our local churches who persist in teaching error or who refuse to repent from sinful lifestyles, we who are walking with the Lord cannot have fellowship with them."
So yes, we still forgive them, we pray for them, and we hope that a day will soon come when they will have straightened out and begun living for the Lord instead of themselves, so that we can then be fully reconciled to them. But until they have shown the fruit of the Spirit, we must stay away, letting them know that we love them and can't wait till they begin to live for God so we can be with them again. But until then, we must obey the Lord (for this is a command) and not associate with them. The hope is that they will feel ashamed that they aren't showing the fruit of the spirit and are obviously not living for the Lord, and therefore get right with God and turn their lives around.
Some scriptures references that are a great place to begin meditating on this subject, at which time I'm sure you'll come up with literally hundreds of others.
Matthew 10:40; Matthew 25:40; Matthew 25:45; Luke 9:48; 1 John 4:13; Ephesians 5:26; Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:10;
Ephesians 4:23–24; Hebrews 6:1;2 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 5:14; 1 Peter 4:8; Ephesians 4:26–27; 1 John 3:11; 1 John 3:14–15; 1 John 3:17–18; 1 John 4:10–11; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 4:19–21; 1 Peter 3:8–9; 2 Corinthians 5:18–19; Colossians 3:13–14; Ephesians 4:30–32; Romans 12:10; Romans 12:17–18; Philippians 2:3–5; 1 Corinthians 13:4–7; 1 Corinthians 10:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 2 Corinthians 5:16; Isaiah 53:7; John 13:35; Matthew 18:15–20; Matthew 18:21–22; Matthew 18:32–35; Matthew 27:12; Matthew 5:21–48; Matthew 6:14–15; Matthew 7:1–5; Proverbs 24:17–18.
The other part that surprised me is that the sins being talked about in this chapter are sins against other people, not specific sins against the Lord, such as idolatry. So why would it be unfaithful to the Lord for me to lie to someone? As I thought about that, I remembered some things Jesus told us. Remember when Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians and take them back to Jerusalem as prisoners? Remember what Jesus said when He appeared to Saul? “He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”” (Acts 9:4) Jesus is telling Saul that what he did to those who followed Him, he was doing to Him as well. (Matt 10:40; Matt 25:40; Matt 25:45; Luke 9:48). We know too that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Paul put it this way: “But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.” (1 Cor 6:17) John tells us “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:20). So there's no escaping that we are in fact, literally one with Christ. I'm sure that's very familiar to all of us. So why is the idea of sinning being unfaithful to the Lord so surprising? I guess it's just because I've never thought it all the way through before.
We know that while we're here on this earth, the Lord uses His Word to cleanse us, ( Ephesians 5:26) to renew our minds, (Romans 12:2; Col 3:10; Ephesians 4:23–24) grow us up to spiritual maturity (1 Peter 2:2–3; Hebrews 6:1; 2 Peter 3:18) and to teach us through daily study how to tell good from evil (Hebrews 5:14). Once we're saved, we begin to walk on the road to being perfected in Christ, to being spiritually mature. We won't be completely like Him until the rapture when we're finally rid of our sin nature and have a perfect body to go with the new spirit and renewed mind that He's given us. This brings me to my next point. The part of Leviticus I'm reading is all about sin and restitution. It's about wronging another person, which is being unfaithful to God, and then in order to restore our relationship with God, we must first restore our relationship with that other person.
Most of us don't realize that Jesus teaches us this as well. We tend to ignore things that are uncomfortable for us. It's all about being like Jesus though, which is what God is growing us up to be like. I've heard many pastors say that we're the most like Jesus when we forgive another person, because that's what Jesus came here to do for us. He made a way for us to be forgiven so we could be reconciled with God. But before I get to the NT, let me share some from Leviticus: “The LORD said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do— when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.” (Leviticus 6:1–5)
Notice that he's to make full restitution plus 20% and do so before he offers a sacrifice to ask the Lord's forgiveness and worship Him. This reminds me of the tax collector, Zacchaeus: “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”” (Luke 19:8) I'm sure Zacchaeus knew the law of restitution. He purposely proposed to give back much more than the law required. In response to this, Jesus said that salvation had come to him! Zacchaeus wasn't saved because of what he did. He was saved because he believed in Jesus and wanted to please Him, therefore, because he was saved, he gave back much more then he had ever cheated anyone out of.
Where have we seen what Leviticus is teaching? ““Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23–24) What I find interesting in what Jesus is teaching here is that He doesn't say that we agree with what our brother or sister has against us, only that someone is upset with us, whether we think we did wrong or not. He also tells us that this is so important that it needs to be done right away. In our day, we might be at church and suddenly remember that someone is upset with us. If so we're to leave church, go to that person and be reconciled with them before returning to worship the Lord!
Over and over in the NT we're told to love others, to put others before ourselves, and to forgive them the same way Jesus forgave us. The way He forgave us includes reconciliation. He's not interested in us simply saying we forgive someone and then making sure we never interact with them again. He doesn't want us to put them out of our lives. He wants us to be reconciled to them. This is part of what makes loving and forgiving the way the Lord does so difficult for us. In fact, we literally couldn't do it on our own. The unsaved can't do this. The only reason we can is because the Lord poured out His love into our hearts, so we could then love Him and others, and because His Spirit dwells within us and gives us the ability to obey Him. What we need to do then is really meditate on how Jesus loves us and how He forgave and forgives us. He never took His love away from us. Even when we sin now, He doesn't take His love from us. His love is steadfast and always there for us, no matter what, even though we don't deserve it. Just as a parent doesn't stop loving their child when the child misbehaves, the same is true of the Lord. He never tells us that if we don't do something, He won't love us anymore. He does however tell us that if we don't forgive others, He won't be able to forgive us. (Matthew 6:14–15) God isn't saying we will lose our salvation, or that we can't be saved if we won't forgive others. He's saying that we harm our relationship with Him when we won't forgive others fully. Not that He won't love us though. Again, think of a parent and child's relationship when the child has misbehaved. The parent still loves the child, but they are unhappy with them. They're ashamed that the child hasn't done what they know is right. It's the same way with our relationship with the Lord. Leviticus 6 and many NT scriptures like Matthew 6:14–15 teach us that in order for us to be in right relationship with God, we must also be in right relationship with others. We must love them and forgive them, just as He did for us. In fact, the guiding law behind the law of restitution in Leviticus is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
It seems like there's something about love on every page of the Bible, either something to teach us about real love and what it looks like, or a command that we are to love, or showing what the characteristics of real love are. I remember that Jesus told us that others would know that we are Christians by our love. That certainly doesn't seem to be true today does it? At least not by large groups. But it is still true. God always has a remnant, and as that remnant grows spiritually, their love for God and others shines brighter and brighter in this dark world.
Let me add one short warning in case there are questions. What about a person who says they're a Christian but who doesn't live their faith? In other words, they don't show any of the fruit a Christian should be showing. Instead their fruit is pretty rotten, including things like lying, cheating, etc. Paul answers that question with a command from the Lord: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.” (2 Thes 3:6) Let me share what MacArthur says about this: "Here, he required separation so that obedient Christians were not to fellowship with habitually disobedient believers. This is further explained at v. 14: “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (2 Thes 3:14–15) The point here is that true unity of the Spirit belongs only to those who affirm God’s truth & live godly lives as a result. If there are individuals in our local churches who persist in teaching error or who refuse to repent from sinful lifestyles, we who are walking with the Lord cannot have fellowship with them."
So yes, we still forgive them, we pray for them, and we hope that a day will soon come when they will have straightened out and begun living for the Lord instead of themselves, so that we can then be fully reconciled to them. But until they have shown the fruit of the Spirit, we must stay away, letting them know that we love them and can't wait till they begin to live for God so we can be with them again. But until then, we must obey the Lord (for this is a command) and not associate with them. The hope is that they will feel ashamed that they aren't showing the fruit of the spirit and are obviously not living for the Lord, and therefore get right with God and turn their lives around.
Some scriptures references that are a great place to begin meditating on this subject, at which time I'm sure you'll come up with literally hundreds of others.
Matthew 10:40; Matthew 25:40; Matthew 25:45; Luke 9:48; 1 John 4:13; Ephesians 5:26; Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:10;
Ephesians 4:23–24; Hebrews 6:1;2 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 5:14; 1 Peter 4:8; Ephesians 4:26–27; 1 John 3:11; 1 John 3:14–15; 1 John 3:17–18; 1 John 4:10–11; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 4:19–21; 1 Peter 3:8–9; 2 Corinthians 5:18–19; Colossians 3:13–14; Ephesians 4:30–32; Romans 12:10; Romans 12:17–18; Philippians 2:3–5; 1 Corinthians 13:4–7; 1 Corinthians 10:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 2 Corinthians 5:16; Isaiah 53:7; John 13:35; Matthew 18:15–20; Matthew 18:21–22; Matthew 18:32–35; Matthew 27:12; Matthew 5:21–48; Matthew 6:14–15; Matthew 7:1–5; Proverbs 24:17–18.
!!
