04/19/24 LOVING SINNERS DOES NOT MEAN LOVING SIN

04/19/24 LOVING SINNERS DOES NOT MEAN LOVING SIN

Christians are commanded, enabled and held accountable for loving our enemies.

However, loving your enemy does not require accepting the wickedness of your enemy, or allowing your enemy to abuse you or your family, or your church. Loving your enemy does not mean closing your eyes to their aggressive and abusive actions and words.

God sets the standard for loving and forgiving our enemy. God loves the sinner, but God does not ignore or permit sinful abuse of others to go unnoticed or unpunished. We do not punish, but neither do we pretend that a person's cruelty and offensiveness are not dangerous to ourselves and our loved ones, especially the young and vulnerable.

Do not put your approval or your acceptance on wickedness. People cannot be actually forgiven if they do not turn from their wickedness; repentance and confession are essential to restoration. Neither a broken person nor a broken relationship is healed by ignoring the continuing evil and destructive behavior in another person.

Christian love, loves the offender, Christian love does not accept or ignore when a person persists in offending and abusing other people. Christian forgiveness is given to people who have turned from their sins. God only forgives people of their abandoned sins. The need for wicked people to turn from their destructive behavior is highlighted by God's directive for them to be shunned by the local body, if they will not turn from their evil path.

Biblical shunning is not a church's demonstration of hatred for wicked people or punishment for their evil behavior. It is a Divine protection for the local body and an outward appeal and warning to wicked people to abandon their ruinous rebellion, or they will be cut off from God forever.

Loving people do not ignore when someone is enslaved to drugs, sexual deviance, criminal actions. Loving people do not let vicious and hateful people threaten or harm their children.

Evil people want to be loved and accepted without turning from their sins. Selfish people want God and God's people to abandon Biblical standards, by pretending that sin is safe. It is not our fault when others choose the way of wickedness.