Remove and Restore

Verse of the day: Judges 20:12-13, Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel.

Leaven, or yeast, is used in both a positive and negative way in Scripture. In Matthew 13 Jesus used leaven to describe Heaven. In other words, it has small beginnings, but increases more and more as we continue to win others to Christ. As it relates to Heaven, the change and growth that takes place in those who know Jesus starts small and from within, but grows and becomes obvious outwardly. Sin is also like leaven. The Apostle Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians 5:6, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Just like the Spirit of God and the Word of God working in us, indwells, permeates, and grows us from within; so sin has the same effect on us when we fail to let God remove it from our lives. It may begin small, but before you know it, it will consume our lives. The Apostle Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 to say, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” As born again believers, we have been justified (declared not guilty) and God is working in us, sanctifying us (making us more like Christ), which means that He is working in us so that we live righteous, holy lives that honor and glorify God. When we find ourselves stumbling in sin, our immediate response should be to repent, confess it, and forsake it (1 John 1:8-10). If sin exists in our midst, as it did in Israel in this instance, we are to take the steps to remove it from our midst. In 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 the Apostle Paul instructed the church this way, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” If there is resistance from the one(s) that is sinning, then we are to put them out of fellowship to give God the room to do what He needs to do to bring that person back into fellowship with Him, first and foremost. In verse 11 of 1 Corinthians 5 the Apostle wrote, “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” We must remember that the Apostle was not referring to an unsaved person who might be in our midst, but of a Christian who lives like an unsaved person (1 Corinthians 5:9-11). Our responsibility, as it relates to the unsaved, is to win them to Christ. We cannot do that if we are easily offended and continually ejecting them from our lives, simply because we are thin-skinned. We are called to be soldiers in God’s army, leading the lost to Jesus, and encouraging, and rebuking (in love), if necessary, those that have strayed from their relationship with Christ. Galatians 6:1-3 reminds us, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Our ultimate goal in removing sin from our midst is to bring the erring brother/sister back into fellowship and a right relationship with Jesus as it tells us in James 5:19-20, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” Sadly, the men who committed the atrocities in Judges 19 refused to repent and chose instead to oppose the rest of Israel (v. 14). As stated already, the ultimate goal should always be restoration. The Apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, “But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” The bottom line is that we should not be tolerant of sin in our lives or in our midst when it comes to Christian fellowship. However, when we deal with it, let us do it in the love of Christ, for the purpose of restoration.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).