06.25.07
Posted in Jesus a Friend of Sinners? at 9:06 am by TruthofmyKing
James 4:4
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
NASB
Some would argue that the word “world” here (kosmos) doesn’t include the people of the world but rather the worldy system.
NON-SENSE!
This argument is designed to allow one to deny the true meaning of the verse.
Would there be a worldly system without worldly people?
Worldly people are the blood or the very life of the world. Take them away and the worldly system will cease to exist. Take the engine out of a car and it ceases to run. Take the gas out of a lawnmower and it no longer cuts grass.
How can one explain the worldly system without the worldly people? Would greed exist without people?
To be “friends” with worldly people is to be friends with the world! It is men who are quick to justify their lifestyle that bend this Scripture when they hear it. Scripture is meant to bend us, shape us, not the other way around.
“Always stand to it that your creed must bend to the Bible, and not the Bible to your creed.”
“It is an ill sign when a man dares not look a Scripture in the face, and an evidence of brazen impudence when he tries to make it mean something less condemnatory of his sins, and endeavours to prove it to be less sweeping in its demands.”
~Charles Spurgeon
Here is a sermon that was on file from a reformer of the Church, John Wesley. His words and reasonings are worthy on this particular subject, so please listen:
Let us, First, consider, what it is which the Apostle here means by the world. He does not here refer to this outward frame of things, termed in Scripture, heaven and earth; but to the inhabitants of the earth, the children of men, or at least, the greater part of them. But what part? This is fully determined both by our Lord himself, and by his beloved disciple. First, by our Lord himself. His words are, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And all these things will they do unto you, because they know not him that sent me.” (John 15:18) You see here “the world” is placed on one side, and those who “are not of the world” on the other. They whom God has “chosen out of the world,” namely, by “sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth,” are set in direct opposition to those whom he hath not so chosen. Yet again: Those “who know not him that sent me,” saith our Lord, who know not God, they are “the world.”
Equally express are the words of the beloved disciple: “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you: We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” (1 John 3:13,14.) As if he had said, “You must not expect any should love you, but those that have ‘passed from death unto life.’” It follows, those that are not passed from death unto life, that are not alive to God, are “the world.” The same we may learn from those words in the fifth chapter, verse 19, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one.” [1 John 5:19] Here “the world” plainly means, those that are not of God, and who, consequently “Lie in the wicked one.”
Those, on the contrary, are of God, who love God, or at least “fear him, and keep his commandments.” This is the lowest character of those that “are of God;” who are not properly sons, but servants; who depart from evil, and study to do good, and walk in all his ordinances, because they have the fear of God in their heart, and a sincere desire to please him. Fix in your heart this plain meaning of the terms, “the world;” those who do not thus fear God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: It means neither more nor less than this.
John Wesley
For the Truth of My King
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06.23.07
Posted in Jesus a Friend of Sinners? at 1:02 am by TruthofmyKing
Hello Everyone,
By now you probably know that I have had a disagreement with Riverside on a biblical issue. I want to make sure that everyone knows what it is about. I have quoted sections from a string of e-mails between the associate pastor of the church, a member of Riverside, and myself.
My main disagreement was and I quote from my original e-mail to the member of Riverside:
You see, they (Christians) are judging between holding on to a relationship with an unbeliever and telling that same person the truth about Jesus and then they are actually choosing the relationship over the gospel of Jesus in fear of losing them as a “friend”. THIS IS NOT RIGHT AND IT SHOULD NOT BE SO!!! Should it? Tell me where I am going wrong???
My contention is that those “friends” are lost already in God’s eyes and that we MUST share the gospel to gain them as a brother or sister and a TRUE “Friend”.
Let me quote from Charles Spurgeon, known as the Prince of Preachers:
“Answering a student’s question, ‘Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?’ thus, ‘It is more a question with me whether we, who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved.”
“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.”
~ Charles Spurgeon
I want to make it clear that I am not, and never was, saying that we should not associate with those who do not believe. I have said very clearly that we should associate with them with the intent of witnessing and evangelizing. We can’t hang out with them and play games and never be about our Father’s business though. I made this very clear in my original e-mail as you can see and I quote…
I full well believe that we HAVE TO ASSOCIATE with unbelievers but when that relationship goes beyond an “association” and turns into a “friendship” it is deeper.
The question the Holy Spirit is asking, is what is your friendship built upon? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
IT CANNOT POSSIBLY BE CHRIST, BECAUSE THEY ARE UNBELIEVERS. AND ANYTHING NOT BUILT ON THE ROCK WILL NOT STAND!!! Right???
Jesus was not “bound” or “yoked” to satan was He? NO! Although Jesus had to associate with satan, and not to mention the people that satan was living in or possessing, while He lived in this world, and it is clear that Jesus did not befriend them!!! He was accused of it by the Pharisees…. But He condemned their accusations.
He rather reproved the devil in their presence and always was about the Father’s will!!!
When He associated with the people of satan, He exposed the deeds of their father (satan), the ruler of this world, and then gave them the good news of the gospel.
He didn’t just hang out with them and then conveniently “forget” to mention His Father!!!
He did NOT befriend them unless they repented and therefore were no longer “unbelievers” but “believers“
This does not mean he ceased His “associations” with them but it is obvious that His deeper relationships are reserved for BELIEVERS. Jesus calls “us” His Brothers and Sisters and we call His Father, our Father. Unbelievers cannot do so!!! They are not “yoked” or “bound” to Jesus in this way. We live for our Father… They are perishing because they reject our Father and our Lord…
The intent of the passage was never stop us from associating with the unbeliever, speaking to him or her about Christ, or dealing with them at the Supermarket, at work, or elsewhere, but as for an intimate friendship with the people of this world, it is simply impossible.
(This is a reference to 2 Cor. 6:14-18) Light and darkness cannot exist at the same time in the same place. They are complete opposites. Righteousness and lawlessness are complete opposites, a man cannot be Righteous and yet lawless at the same time. Christ and satan are complete opposites, and a believer and a non-believer are indeed COMPLETE OPPOSITES, they live for two totally separate reasons!
If your son, one day gives his life for the country, could you then tolerate so called “friends” in your home that mock him and care not about his sacrifice? Don’t they trample under their feet, the blood of his sacrifice?
I certainly could not tolerate it, I would, with all my heart, tell them of his sacrifice and plead with them to change their mind and attitude about my son but if they did not, they would no longer exist in my home. If I must associate with them because of circumstance, then I must, but certainly they would offend me regarding my son’s sacrifice and therefore we could never have a “friendship” but only a mere “association”.
Likewise, when we speak to unbelievers regarding Jesus and His sacrifice, and they deny him and “continue sinning willfully” thus “insulting the spirit of Grace” and “trampling Jesus under their feet” it upsets me.
More importantly it upsets the Father in heaven who gave His Son and sacrificed Him.
His blood was shed. He was crushed. It is not a game and it is not to be taken lightly.
The example I gave above about losing your son was an extreme example. However, THAT EXTREME DID TAKE PLACE WITH JESUS!!
So what now, do we eat and laugh with those who mock His Son’s sacrifice without saying as much as a word of Truth about Jesus?
Consider this text about an unbeliever, one who rejects the truth:
Heb 10:26-31
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
NASB
Certainly our Father in heaven is very angry with those who do not understand what His Son has sacrificed, or maybe they do know and they do not care, and the terrible thing is that they go on “sinning willfully” after they have heard the truth and because of this they have “insulted the Spirit of Grace”.
So what then do we say, do we, as adopted sons of God, then befriend those whom our Father is angry with? Those who mock His Son and do not esteem the blood that was shed for them?
I don’t think so…We must always tell them of what is truly going on and if they believe you then you have won a brother or a sister and if they do not, then they have insulted the Spirit of grace.
However, I would not cease from telling them the Truth even after they denied the Truth, even day and night, as long as my heart could suffer it, but how can I befriend someone that my Father is not happy with?
For example, Just end up saying, “Oh Well, they don’t believe God actually crushed His only Son on the Cross for them, I guess we can go on playing games and forgot this Jesus stuff.”
Even if I apply this to earthly things it makes sense… If my dad had a SERIOUS disagreement with a man and I befriended that same man, and went over to his house, and “hung out”, and we laughed and joked, and the whole time I full well knew the disagreement between them, but all the while I ignored it, and my dad watched me going in and out of his house, smiling as though I do not care about his will nor the SERIOUSNESS of the disagreement at hand, would that not hurt my earthly father?
How much more does it hurt our heavenly Father?
Now if I went to the same man’s house and pleaded my dad’s case with everything that is in me, with the sole intent of reconciling the differences between them, would that not please my earthly father?
How much more would it please our heavenly Father?
As I indicated earlier, that entire portion of text above was all quoted from my original e-mail (except what is inside the black parenthesis) and I have not reworded any of it.
Of course, the response to my original e-mail was further disagreement by the member of Riverside with no clear reason as to why.
We decided to meet with the associate Pastor at Riverside. The pastor, without any biblical reference, disagreed with me. I gave him plenty of biblical references that he chose to ignore.
He basically disagreed and told me that I should listen to him because he is in authority over me. With all due to respect to him and all others who believe they have authority over one’s soul, they did not die for me or anyone else for that matter. Jesus is Lord alone. The authority spoken of in Scripture is not one of forcing people to go against the written words of God.
They, at times, contradict what God tells us in the Bible and then they want us to submit to their false doctrines as though God is giving them authority to force one into believing something contrary to His word.
This is the truth, Jesus died for our souls and He alone is in control of the true Christians life, not your pastor. He has sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us ALL THINGS and we have no need for anyone else to do so (That is, if you believe the Scriptures). Fallible men WILL mislead you eventually, the written word of God never has, and never will, mislead.
1 John 2:26-27
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
NASB
I want to use a quote from Martin Luther that we all should at least learn the concept of:
“Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”
What the associate pastor is asking me to do is to go against Scripture, Reason, and my conscience. This I cannot and will not do.
Although I have two topical Bibles which address “fellowship” neither of them provides one reference for encouraging the believer to befriend the unbeliever.
They have topics within their pages which read “FELLOWSHIP WITH THE WICKED FORBIDDEN” and “THE EVIL OF FELLOWSHIP WITH THE WICKED EXEMPLIFIED” and “INSTANCES OF THOSE WHO AVOIDED FELLOWSHIP WITH THE WICKED”.
Each title provided me with many Scriptures and examples that affirm my point of view.
So I asked the pastor what his biblical reference was for his position was in an e-mail and I will quote from e-mail
Chris,
During our meeting I recalled in the beginning you said you actually encouraged believers in the congregation to have a couple of unbelieving friends. I was wondering if you had a biblical reference for such an encouragement?
Wesley Edwards
His reply:
Wesley,
Good to hear from you and in answer to your question, maybe the following might help:
- 1. Matthew 11:19 They accused Jesus as being ‘a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!’
- 2. Luke 7:34 ‘friend of tax-gatherers and sinners’ - there was something about Jesus’ lifestyle that he was seen as one who mixed with and befriended the sinners.
Trust this helps!
I found this unbelievable because when you read these passages IN CONTEXT they are full of false accusations against Jesus, the Christ. The same passage calls Jesus a Drunkard, and a Gluttonous Man, as well as calling John the Baptist, demon possessed.
The same passage indicates that wisdom will vindicate Jesus, or in other words, clear Him of these accusations (which is the definition in the dictionary of the word “Vindicate”).
So it is obvious, and not to mention, common sense, that the accusations are not true. Those of you that I have talked with already see this as very obvious. Here is the passage in its entirety…
Luke 7:33-35
33 “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!’ 35 “Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
NASB
I wrote Him back to express this concern and to reason with him to restate his position… I am quoting from the middle of my e-mail:
If we say Jesus was a “friend of sinners” then we conclude that the accusations are true, and then He also is a drunkard and a gluttonous Man and John the Baptist had a demon (God forbid). Certainly none of those things are true so we can conclude that Jesus was not a friend of sinners, as well as He was not a drunkard, or a gluttonous Man, nor did John have a demon….
In fact, the Holy Spirit wrote in Hebrews 7:26 that He was “separated from sinners”.
Heb 7:26
26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;
NASB
The pastor has since used two other references in his blog…Luke 7:36-48 and Luke 15:2. Unbelievably, they both are accusations of a Pharisee. I think the pastor would have gotten along with the pharisee’s well because he certainly beats their drum on this subject (figuratively, of course).
It is important to note in Luke 7:36-48 that Jesus refers to the woman as “Forgiven” and the Pharisee refers to her as a “sinner”. The pastor fails to realize that the woman was experiencing conversion from a sinner to a saint and therefore her broken contrite heart (Which is why she was crying) makes her the righteousness of Christ. Not to mention Jesus wasn’t “hangin out” with her and not being about His Father’s business, which if you remember was the point of this conversation in the first place. So all in all, there are 3 texts, all of which are accusations of Pharisees, which are being used as proof.
I can assure you that using the words of Pharisee’s is not the safest way to form your doctrines.
To say the least, I am disappointed. True Christians will eventually accept the Truth of any given matter whenever they see it rather than defending their pride. Perhaps he will do this at some point in time and that is my prayer.
Prov 10:17
17 He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who forsakes reproof goes astray.
NASB
I myself have been reproved many times but only by Scripture and Plain Reason and Conscience, all of which seem to have been denied up to this point in this conversation with the associate pastor at Riverside.
I want you to pray for the pastor, that his ministry is blessed, and also that God opens all of our eyes to the Truth!
Please feel free to contact me regarding this e-mail…
In Christ,
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Was Jesus a Friend of Sinners - Part 2?
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Are You A Witness to What Jesus Christ Has Done?
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06.22.07
Posted in Jesus a Friend of Sinners? at 11:23 pm by TruthofmyKing
John 15:14
14 “You are My friends, if you do what I command you.
NASB
Jesus clearly defines who His friends truly are!!!
Reader, Let me ask you a question regarding John 15:14 above:
Do ”Sinners” do what Jesus commands them to do?
Sinners, by nature, practice sin, they are disobedient (lawless).
1 John 3:4
4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
NASB
So why isn’t the simple Scripture sufficient? It should be easy to answer the question at hand. This is why I find it unbelievable how some twist the words of God and make Jesus to be a “friend of sinners”.
Let me ask those of you who stand toe to toe with the Lord of Glory and exclaim “guilty as accused” like the Pharisee’s did when it comes to this subject. When you quote your proof texts, who is it that is speaking?
Is it Peter, Paul, maybe John or Matthew? No, it is the unregenerated Pharisee’s casting insults and accusations at our precious Lord. How is it you join in with their chorus and claim innocence before Christ?
Let’s look at Luke 7:33-35, Luke 7:36-50, and Luke 15:2 because they are all quoted as so-called “proof”.
Luke 7:33-35
33 “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!’ 35 “Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
NASB
It is clear that there are four accusations hurled out our Saviour and His servant, John the Baptist, in this passage…
- John the Baptist “has a Demon”
- Jesus was a “Gluttonous Man”
- Jesus was a “Drunkard”
- Jesus was a “Friend of tax-gatherers and sinners”
How any man can reason that the accusations are true is completely beyond me. To take just one out of the four accusations AGAINST Christ and claim that it is true, is twisting scripture, taking it out of context, but men with smooth words deceive multitudes by doing this very thing.
You see, if we say Jesus was a “friend of sinners” then we conclude that the accusations are true, and then He also is a drunkard and a gluttonous man, as well as John the baptist had a demon (God forbid). Certainly none of those things are true, so we can conclude that Jesus was NOT a friend of sinners, as well as He was NOT a drunkard, or a gluttonous man, nor did John have a demon.
In fact, the Holy Spirit wrote in Hebrews 7:26 that He was “seperated from sinners”…
Heb 7:26
26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;
NASB
And remember, this is in addition to John 15:14 where Jesus has already CLEARLY defined who His friends Truly are.
Let us look at Luke 15:2.
Luke 15:1-2
15 Now all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
NASB
It is not surprising that we find AGAIN in the passage that the words are an accusation of a pharisee.
I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT USING THE WORDS OF THE PHARISEE’S IS NOT THE SAFEST WAY TO FORM YOUR DOCTRINES!!!
Why do some insist on beating the same drum as the Pharisee’s. Imagine that one pharisee stands up in a crowd and says to Jesus “You are a Drunkard”, and another says “you are a Glutton” and then you stand up in the same crowd and say ” you are a friend of sinners”. Unbelievable!
So what about Luke 7:36-50.
Luke 7:36-50
36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee’s house, and reclined at the table. 37 And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” 50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
NASB
What the Pharisees could not see because they were BLIND and did not have the “eyes to see” is that this woman was experiencing conversion from a sinner to a saint and her broken contrite heart (which is why she was crying) made her the righteosness of Christ.
THIS IS CLEARLY SEEN BECAUSE JESUS SAYS “Your sins have been forgiven.” AND “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
May I point out that before this experience with Jesus the woman clearly was a “sinner”!!! JUST LIKE ALL OF US WERE AT ONE TIME… but the Pharisee’s (and obviously many who profess Christ today) could not and can not see that Jesus was cleansing her and that she was “forgiven” as the Lord said which makes her the righteousness of Christ.
Besides all that, Jesus wasn’t just “hangin out with her” and being “her friend”, building a “relationship bridge”, while not being about His Father’s business.
My point is saying that to walk in the Lords footsteps is to bring the gospel to ”sinners”. Associate with them…Yes. Dine with them…Yes. Visit with them…Yes.
YES DO ALL THESE THINGS WITH THE INTENT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL:
Mark 16:15
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
NASB
If you never do preach the gospel, then what good is your “relationship bridge”. If you never walk across the “bridge” and boldly claim the name of Christ to the unbeliever your bridge is good for nothing. Perhaps, at that point, it is good for satan.
1 Cor 15:33
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
NASB
These are some other passages relevant to this subject…
2 Cor 6:14-18
14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them;And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean;And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”Says the Lord Almighty.
NASB
There are 4 questions asked in 2 Corinthians 6 which are all designed by the Holy Spirit to bring one to a clear undeniable answer…
- What partnership has righteousness and lawlessness? NOTHING!
- What harmony is there between Christ and satan? NOTHING!
- What agreement has the temple of the living God with idols? NOTHING!
- WHAT DOES A BELIEVER HAVE IN COMMON WITH AN UNBELIEVER?
NOTHING!!!
Somehow when it comes to that last question, many want to deny this plain teaching and become contrary to the Spirit in their thinking, they say they actually do have something in common with the unbeliever.
James 4:4
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
NASB
For the Truth of my King
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