"We all lived among them at one time in the cravings of our flesh, indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath."
Jesus didn't die because He loves us...He died because we sinned.
He chose to die because He loves, but our sin made it necessary.
We were terminal. Infected by our sinfulness and His sacrifice saved us. If we now ignore the sins of others in the name of tolerance, we lose the opportunity to show them the path to healing. If we shun those who suffer with the same disease we have been delivered from, we become the ultimate hypocrites.
I have never met a Cancer survivor who doesn't hate cancer, and at the same time deeply love those who suffer with it. Never would they ignore the disease, nor shun those who have it.
We can never condone sin, nor reject those suffering from it.
We must realize our sin was not ignored, it was paid for...we were children of wrath...destined for destruction. But we have been redeemed, and that changes our mission.
As Christians we are not hospice workers...we are first responders. We are not here to avoid offending those who are perishing and make them comfortable. We are here to aggressively deal with what is killing them, and provide the healing truth of the gospel, all the while remembering that we were healed by the same free grace we offer them.
Keep both of these points clear and you will be an effective minister ... confuse either one and you will be of no use in the battle against sin.
"He who has felt his own ruin will not imagine the case of any to be hopeless; nor will he think them too fallen to be worthy his regard." - Charles Spurgeon
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