Thursday Devo
Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 5:12-13
12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
Commentary from the ESV Study Bible:
5:13 “Purge … from among you.” As the newly constituted people of God (10:32), the Corinthians are to follow God’s instructions to Israel for preserving its holiness when flagrant, unrepented-of sin is in its midst (Deut. 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21–22, 24; 24:7). In this case, they are to do so by excommunicating the man committing incest.
Study Questions:
- Finally, Clayton's last point was, "Don’t judge outside the FAMILY." Luke uses the word "friend." Matthew uses the word "brother." Jesus is talking about a fellow disciple, someone who is also in the family of God. This is where we miss it BIG time. The church has been bad about lobbing truth grenades over the walls of the church as they huddle inside, doing damage to our message and to those that need to hear it. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul says it's not our business to judge those outside the church, but we should judge those inside. So we shouldn't hold non-christians to Christian standards. Have you been guilty of holding non-Christians in your life to Christian standards, and as a result you have judged them unfairly?
- So, we shouldn't judge those who aren't believers, but we should EXPECT other followers of Jesus to confront us about our sin. "Only God can judge me!" NOT true if you're a follower of Jesus. A family lovingly holds each other accountable. Do you feel like you are truly open to both giving and receiving judgement inside your church family? Do you have relationships like this in your life? Are you in a City Group? If not, check out the groups tab in our app and find one today! Or, are there some friends/family that you can ask to start a new one with you?
Pray:
- That you wouldn't judge those outside of the family of God.
- That you would make sure you are in a small group where you all can hold each other accountable.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
5. Why do I follow Jesus? I follow Jesus because Jesus rose from the dead proving that He is the way, the truth and the life.
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
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