Gal 6:1-8 KJV
1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted.
2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself.
4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have
rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that
teacheth in all good things.
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting.
Carl,
You have posted much of late about what you think the word of God says
about heretics. In short, you have unrighteously judged anyone that
does not agree with "you" and "your" doctrines as a heretic.
I have been a busy little bee of late studying every usage of the word
"spirit" used in the New Covenant which has proven to be a very
rewarding experience for me as it has brought to mind much I had
forgotten about the word of God and I have learned much about the
various doctrines affected by the word "spirit". At present I am
working on the Greek word set "en pneumati" (in spirit) and have
progressed through the applicable passages up to the occurrence in
Galatians 6:1 where the King James Version editors render "en
pneumati" without the definite article as "in the spirit" including he
definite article without placing "the" in italics to indicate it was
added.
The Greek reads "en pneumati prautes" where "prautes" is genitive
singular feminine so that the phrase means "in spirit of meekness";
or, "in spirit proceeding out from the source which is meekness; or,
gentleness, or mildness." The word "spirit" is used here in the sense
of the essence (physiologically) of man being put by the figure
Synecdoche for the whole person; the part for the whole. Hence, those
of us who are spiritual who desire to restore a man overtaken in a
fault should set our minds and hearts to accomplish the task with
gentleness. A meek person is one who is himself willing to learn; or
is coachable, that endures all things with an even temper, one who is
tender, free from haughty self sufficiency, tender of spirit.
As I worked the verse, you came to mind as one whose behavior is
contrary to what the passage teaches. As is my habit when I think
the behavior of another is wrong; I do a quick check up from the neck
up to see whether I am guilty of the same offense. And while doing so
read the rest of the verse more carefully which says "considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted." In the process of doing what the
verse says I realized rather quickly that there have been times when I
have not been gentle when trying to restore one overtaken in a fault.
Since, I was thinking about you to begin with, it took a split second
for me to realize that I may not have been as gentle as I could be
when reminding you of your wrong behavior. In fact, I realized that I
had behaved just like you on occasion. Since I had behaved like you
while trying to restore you that made me a hypocrite while I was doing
it and a hypocrite is not what I want to be.
So, as part of my repentance (change of heart and behavior), I decided
to write this and inform you that you need to stop being like me when
I am being a bad boy.
My spirit of meekness has now been engaged so that I can try to
restore a man such as you by pointing out a few truths that you should
consider when you judge others to be heretics.
First, you need to make sure that you are not a heretic yourself. This
is the hardest step because it requires that you are one hundred
percent sure that none of the doctrines you yourself believe and share
with others are false.
The context of one of your favorite verses is:
Tit 3:9-11 KJV
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and
strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition
reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being
condemned of himself.
A man that is a heretic is one who does not avoid foolish questions
(yes there is such a thing as a stupid question). A foolish question
would be "Are you a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness" because the question
gender's strife by putting the person spoken to on the defense. It
doesn't matter which flavor of man made religion a person is loyal to
because a member of the Baptist cult is just as guilty as a member of
the Methodist cult if he gives preeminence to the doctrines of his
cult over the doctrines of his God. Yes, I did use one negative to
help you see another negative.
The question should be (if a question must be asked at all) should be
"Have you confessed Jesus as Lord?" If you must label a person, then
assign a label that is harmony with the word of God such as "saved" or
"not saved". If the person is saved, then you know to go to things
from the word of God applicable to the saved. If the person is not
saved, then you have the opportunity to reconcile the person to God as
an ambassador for Christ using the ministry and word of reconciliation
given to you.
Genealogies refers to tracing by generations which is something we are
to avoid because we are one in the body of Christ with the same
parent. God is our father so we don't need to get into trinity,
oneness, Unitarian battles where people argue whose daddy is bigger
and stronger and better. Those are false pride based claims. The
Trinitarian will argue that his god is the right god, the oneness
person will argue that his god is the right god, and the Unitarian
will argue that his god is the right god and all three will get no
where with another with a different god because the discussion will be
motivated by false pride and false doctrines. I'm not Trinitarian, or
Unitarian, or oneness. My loyalty is to the Creator God the father of
my Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I am not blocked from learning from
worshippers of any of the three groups. I can get along fine with.
learn something from, and share something with a member of any of the
groups on a face to face basis. On the newsgroups, it is very hard to
do.
Which leads us to "contentions" which is wrangling, strife, debate,
variance which are caused by asking stupid questions and worrying
about genealogies. Contentions lead to strivings which are battles or
fighting about what is legal and what is not legal and these things
are empty and profitless. Consider how the figure Polysyndeton is
used to list and enumerate four things we are to avoid because they
are unprofitable and vain; in the sense of idolatry.
Tit 3:9 KJV
But avoid
(1) foolish questions,
(2) and genealogies,
(3) and contentions,
(4) and strivings about the law;
for they are unprofitable and vain.
A man that is a heretic does not avoid foolish questions, does not
avoid genealogies, does not avoid contentions, does not avoid
strivings about what is right and wrong. A heretic is someone that
does not walk in love which is the one thing that we must do to cover
a multitude of sins and to have fear cast out of our lives; and the
lives of others.
Jas 5:20 KJV
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of
his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins.
1Pe 4:8 KJV
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for
charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
1Jn 4:18 KJV
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
What was every child of God called to do? We were called to love one
another and being a heretic is not loving one another. Judging a
person that one does not even know as a heretic is not love. Saying
that because a person is a Jehovah's Witness or Methodist makes him a
heretic is not love. Saying that a person is not saved because he is
Trinitarian, oneness, or Unitarian is not love. It is just arrogant
false pride being manifested by a heretical person.
Jesus admonished the Pharisees because -
Mat 23:23 KJV
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of
mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of
the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and
not to leave the other undone.
Righteous judgment, mercy, and faith are weightier matters than the
other matters of the rights and wrongs of the law. The Pharisees were
hypocrites who continually asked foolish questions, were concerned
about genealogies, were contentious striving about the law and their
behavior was unprofitable and vain. There were heretics.
Your verse from Titus about heretics is in the context of
Tit 1:14 KJV
Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn
from the truth.
for it was the hypocrite Jews that were causing problems for the
church of God. They professed to know God but in works denied God
being abominable, disobedient,and unto every good work reprobate.
Tit 1:16 KJV
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being
abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
We are to know that a heretic:
Tit 3:11 KJV
Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being
condemned of himself.
With that under our belts, I say to you -
Gal 6:1-8 KJV
1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself,
lest thou also be tempted.
2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself.
4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have
rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that
teacheth in all good things.
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting.
What you and I sow is what we will reap so we would be wise ( if we
decide to restore a man taken in a fault) to use more meekness
considering ourselves lest we also be tempted.
The other day I spoke to you about your comments about Glenn. You
disagreed with me. I may have been a little hard on you. I am a very
assertive fellow and do not believe in kissing a person's butt to
motivate them towards proper behavior. That is fine when I am working
one on one face to face with a person that I know who also knows me
because more heart can be revealed in the conversation. It is very
hard to communicate "heart" in a post on Usenet. Each of us is the
only one of us that God has and God does love both of us equally. If
we take away all the trimmings God has asked us to do one thing and
that is to love one another. We are not told that we must agree about
everything, we are told to love one another.
You are Trinitarian and I am not. Both of us have studied whatever we
studied to come to our conclusions and neither of us is going to
change the other's mind by calling each other names. You may think
that I behave like a heretic and I may believe that you behave like a
heretic. God knows the truth and will reveal it as we walk in love.
He is not going to reveal truth to unrepentant spoiled brats who are
not listening to Him.
Posting to the above groups because I do not know which group you post
from.
BB
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