30 Days of Truth
Day 28 – sin focused or god focuseD?
Matthew 9:10-12 KJV
[10] And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. [11] And when the Pharisees saw it , they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? [12] But when Jesus heard that , he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Why do believers focus so heavily on the sins of others? Jesus did not consider the sins of others, except to heal what sin had done to us and try to point us in a better direction.
Believers have this concept that forgiveness is relational, and that without relationship with God, there is no forgiveness for individual sins.
We’ve grown so comfortable with this belief that it shapes how we relate to other people.
We shun and condemn those that sin around us.
We avoid relationships with people that do things that we consider sinful, even when there is no scriptural precedent for such a belief.
We believe that God wants to stay separated from those who sin, so we also separate from them, and we try to live as holy as we can, in the hopes that they will see how holy we live and feel convicted about their own lack of holiness.
We have become the Pharisees that Jesus reprimanded instead of conforming to the likeness of Jesus.
We try to apply law to our own lives instead of applying grace, and we judge others according to the law instead of recognizing that God looks at them in love.
When you separate yourself from the world, you are separating yourself from where Christ wants to go.
You are His hands in this world. He lives in you!
When you don’t go, Christ doesn’t go.
When you don’t share the Gospel by living it out, the Holy Spirit doesn’t confirm it with signs and wonders.
You can’t separate yourself from God by avoiding the world, but you can separate Christ from reaching those in the world through you.
I’m not saying that we should live like those in the world and act like we are no different. We are different.
We are a new spiritual creation.
Are we sin-focused, or God-focused?
If we allow garbage into our minds, we become less effective at releasing what is pure in Spirit and can find it harder to resist evil.
Nothing external will make us filthy. Despite popular belief, Sin does not rub off on us.
We can abstain from sinful choices and still have meaningful relationships with those in the world and have these relationships we must!
It is essential that we realize that true humbleness comes from sharing our lives with those in the world, not appearing to be “better” and separate from them.
Christians focused on homosexuality, abortion and other things that the church considers “sinful” are blinded to the truth of God’s love, forgiveness and grace. They do not represent Christ. They represent a set of rules.
Christians focused on the sins or “perceived sins” of others are unable to live for Christ, because they are too busy living for Moses.
God is concerned about what sins do to a person’s life, but He is infinitely unconcerned about their sins keeping them from having a relationship with Him. He has chosen to forgive their sins before they even commit them, and He has provided a way for them to enter into a relationship with Him that is free from the requirements of the law.
We need to realize that the people of this world don’t need to clean themselves up and stop sinning in order for God to accept them and love them and bless them and save them. They only need to believe.
Their belief will enable the Holy Spirit to work with them on anything else that is detrimental to their physical and spiritual health.
Do you live for Moses, according to all the laws of the Old Covenant, or do you live for Christ, representing only the law of love?