A Fine Balance (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15)

Today’s scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15

Paul makes a great distinction in these verses. If a brother—a fellow Christ-follower—doesn’t follow the Bible’s commandments, then we need to not associate with him. There’s a risk we take when we are intimate friends with a backslidden or disobedient Christian, and Paul exhorts us to avoid that intimacy.

However, we’re not to shun him or “regard him as an enemy.” We certainly shouldn’t gossip or point fingers. Again, we’re not to judge him (Matthew 7:1-3). Instead, we should “admonish him as a brother.”

Jesus Himself gave instructions with how to deal with a brother (or sister) who has strayed:

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17, NKJV)

We need to do everything we can to bring a prodigal brother (or sister) back to the fold while making certain we ourselves aren’t pulled away.

When to Judge (1 Cor. 5:9-13)

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
(1 Corinthians 5:9-13, NASB)

Ah, more controversy. It’s times like this when I have to wonder why I choose to base my devotionals on entire books of the Bible. It would be a lot easier to write theme-based devotionals: love, peace, grace, mercy.

But when I started this devotional blog several years ago, I felt led to focus on entire books … in context. And I knew it would mean that I would have to deal with verses and passages that weren’t necessarily the easiest to write about.

Today’s verses make it clear that we are not to judge “outsiders.” But we are to not only judge those who call themselves our Christian brothers (and sisters), but to “remove” them if they don’t repent.

We can’t judge outsiders because they don’t believe as we do. They don’t study and apply the Bible as we do. So how can we expect them to follow its commandments? On the other hand, however, those who call themselves Christians should know God’s word and how He expects us to live. And if they don’t, if they deliberately sin, then we should first approach them as Jesus described in Matthew 17 (see devotional on March 5). Then, if they still don’t repent of their sin, we need to remove them from fellowship—but we still need to pray for them and try to win them back.

So many who call themselves Christians live habitually sinful lifestyles. Sex outside of marriage. Pornography. Cheating. Gossip. Pride. Lying.

The key word here is “habitually.” The Bible says “practice” (see Romans 1:28-32; Galatians 5:20-22; Ephesians 4:17-19). We’re all fleshly, and we battle with sin all the time. The difference is whether or not we choose to practice that sin.

And if a brother or sister chooses to sin, then we need to lovingly, yet purposefully judge them—and seek to reconcile them to their Savior.

Loving Discipline (1 Cor. 5:3-5)

For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
(1 Corinthians 5:3-5, NASB)

Many people say the Bible is full of contradictions, and this very well may be one of those passages that causes issues. Elsewhere, the Bible says “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” (Matthew 7:1). Yet here, Paul writes that he judged the one who had sinned with his father’s wife.

First, we need to look at Matthew 7:1 in context. It’s really talking about hypocrisy. We shouldn’t be judging others in arrogance. Verse 3 of that same chapter asks the question, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

The Bible does allow for discipline of our Christian brothers and sisters. Jesus Himself talked about this very thing in Matthew 17.

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (vv. 15-17).

However, it’s important to remember that the goal here is reconciliation, not excommunication. Just as we’d share truth with a nonbeliever, we should continue to share truth with a wayward brother.

Now this idea of “delivering such a one to Satan” also causes a bit of controversy. Was Paul really turning this man over to Satan? A commentary responds: Paul “put forth an act of extraordinary power, and gave him up to Satan, nor for his destruction, but for his deliverance, at least for the destruction of the flesh, that the soul might be saved … that [his] spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (Matthew Henry Complete Commentary of the Entire Bible).

We should not arrogantly judge our brothers and sisters, ignoring our own sin. However, we should lovingly, compassionately, and mercifully guide those who are willfully sinning back to God’s truth.

State of the Heart (2 Peter 2:20-22)

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."
(2 Peter 2:20-22, NASB)

What about those who’ve learned of Jesus and have heard God’s truth? And they’ve gained “knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Maybe they’ve gone to church. Maybe they’ve even joined a small group. But somehow, the world entices them yet again.

I experienced this when, after asking Jesus to come into my heart at six, I allowed the abuse I endured to take me away from my faith. While it wasn’t exactly the world that pulled me away, I fell into its grasping claws for a while. For about 20 years, in fact. Praise God, this prodigal daughter found her way back to truth, and the last 18 years have been an amazing journey of seeking and finding God’s will.

But there are those who turn completely away from that truth. For whatever reason, they've found the attraction of the world so seductive, they fall into a “state worse for them than the first.” They, as Peter illustrated with graphic words, embrace the world like a “dog returns to its own vomit.” Gross, but true.

I have to wonder at the state of their heart. And I have to pray they’ll find their way out of the muck and recognize the world really has nothing of worth to offer. Absolutely nothing.