This used to be the mindset of the church, in my opinion. The problem is that this belief/approach seems to have been expanded to also including … and accepting the sin. This approach is really untenable. If the church begins changing how God views sin, then we are replacing Him. No thank you. Sin is sin. The only resolution is to accept that as the basis. If there is no intent in acknowledging the sin or of repenting and changing- what, precisely are we doing? Exactly! We are allowing the sin.
That seems to be the mantra that the church has operated under for some time. I do appreciate that love should and needs to be the foundation for our actions. But… when does ‘Love the sinner… Hate the sin’ become enabling the sinner to continue in the sin? Isn’t this what happens all too frequently? In our rush to spread the love of the Lord to all, we don’t follow through/up on what is happening for that person. Are they seeking forgiveness? Is this what they want? The proof is in their willingness to give up the sin. If there is no fruit from acknowledging the situation, if they don’t call a sin a sin, then is there any repentance? Is there any change?
When it is sin, we can’t just allow (and our silence affirms acceptance) the continuation of the sin. If the sinner continues in their sin, have they accepted the Lordship of Jesus and follow the commandments? Isaiah 59:2, AMP:
“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
Look at Exodus 32:33 – that to me really says it all. When we accept Jesus’ Lordship we have to accept His Word and if He says it, that ends the discussion.
In some respects this is an issue of ‘Who’ is Lord? Is it our desires, wants, understandings, or the Lord’s Word? It never is a matter of a ‘lesser’ sin, sin is sin – period. And repentance means departing from sin. Whether or not you believe the ‘situation’ has nothing to do with Lordship. It does. If you accept the Lord… you accept His word. And in accepting His word, it can’t be equivocated, uncompromised, updated, ‘modernized’, ignored… His word is His word. And this is what’s followed. Remember, we have a responsibility:
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.” (Galatians 6:1, AMP)
There are other books in the Bible that speak to this issue – Titus 3, Matthew 18, Ephesians, etc. Our responsibility is to confront sin in order to save the sinner… not allow the sin.
God doesn’t want any of us to separate ourselves from Him. But He also allows us to do what we choose. If we choose Him… we have to choose all that is associate with Him. There’s no picking and choosing, just as it is with the scriptures – they are truth, regardless of whether we like it or not. Remember the scripture which is both an opportunity and a responsibility:
“My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and falls into error and [another] one turns him back [to God], let the [latter] one know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save that one’s soul from death and cover a multitude of sins [that is, obtain the pardon of the many sins committed by the one who has been restored].” (James 5: 19-20, AMP)
Loving the sinner and hating the sin is not license to continue in the sin. Repentance has to accompany the situation. If the sinner refuses… then it is they who have the right to decide. We can pray. We can intercede. We can’t choose for them.
