Let the Peace of Christ Rule

[Christsfreeservant]

“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:12-17 ESV​

These are the Lord’s instructions for his church, his body, those of genuine walks of faith in Jesus Christ. This is how we are to treat one another. But this is not the full extent of the teachings in the New Testament on how we are to deal with and to treat one another, nor does this cover all the various circumstances that we, as the body of Christ, might encounter with one another and with those who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ but who are still walking in deliberate and habitual sin. So, just saying this is not going to cover every circumstance, but other Scriptures do.

Should we love one another no matter what? Absolutely! But we need to understand that “love” is preferring what God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to the Lord and to his New Covenant commands. And sometimes that engages “tough love,” and it may mean separating ourselves sometimes from those who call themselves Christians but who are still living sinful lifestyles, such as what is taught in 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 6. And that is still love. And it is willing to do what is best in that situation even if you are hated in return.

So, you can be loving and compassionate and still have to separate yourselves from professing Christians who are living in willful, defiant, habitual, deliberate, and premeditated sins, such as what are listed for us in verses 5-10:

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”​

Therefore, kindness is not tolerating deliberate and habitual sin in the lives of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. It is not acting as though all is well when it is not well. Now there may be times when the Lord says to stay and to remain, and then other times he will say to leave and to depart. Like with the Apostle Paul and with Jesus’ disciples, sometimes he told them to leave places when they were being mistreated, hated, persecuted, and rejected and to go someplace else. And other times he counseled them to remain. So we have to pray for wisdom for each circumstance.

Just like the Lord disciplines us in love, sometimes we have to exercise tough love, but it is still love. And that doesn’t mean we are not forgiving, though sometimes those who sin against you will claim that you are unforgiving if you do not embrace them in their hypocrisy and in their defiant and habitual sinful lifestyles. And what do the Scriptures teach about those who continue in deliberate and habitual sin and who defy the Lord’s commandments? They teach they will not inherit eternal life with God. Does that mean God is not loving? No! Because he told them this in advance.

So, when this teaches bearing with one another it is not teaching tolerance of defiant, deliberate, and habitual sin. Paul often addressed those who were living in such a manner that he was going to have to exercise discipline with them. We are never to go soft on sin. But this is not teaching that we all have to be absolutely perfect in every way or “Bam!,” either. But the Scriptures do “draw a line in the sand,” so to speak, and although they recognize that we might sin sometimes, they teach that those who continue in sin, making sin their practice, will not inherit eternal life with God.

And then what does it say next? We are to be teaching (instructing) one another and admonishing one another in all wisdom. And this word “teach” means “to cause to learn.” Now, women are not to be in positions of power and authority over men in teaching positions, but that doesn’t mean that men can’t ever learn anything from women if they are willing to listen to their words of wisdom. And to admonish is to exhort, to warn, urging them to choose (turn to) God’s best. And chastisement may be involved. And this is still being loving and kind if done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

[Romans 12:1-8; Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

But we are not to carry this burden alone of what to do in any particular situation we find ourselves in. We are to give over to God our circumstances and pray for him to lead us in the way that he would have us to go.

Give Them All to Jesus

Phil Johnson / Bob Benson Sr. 1975

Give them all, give them all,
Give them all to Jesus -
Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.
Give them all, give them all,
Give them all to Jesus,
And He will turn your sorrows into joy.

He never said you'd only see sunshine.
He never said there'd be no rain.
He only promised a heart full of singing
About the very things that once brought pain.

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