To Restore is to show Love

What Does It Look Like? It has hands to help others, feet to hasten to the poor and needy, eyes to see misery and want, ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.

Augustine

I have been transformed! I have been changed by God through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on Calvary and by accepting Him as my Savior, I experienced TRANSFORMATION. I am now employed. I have a job and a ministry. God has called me to be a witness. I am God's official REPRESENTATION.

We are not known in the world because we carry a name tag, wear a cross around our neck or tote a large Bible but rather we are known through our actions.

John 13:34-35 (New Century Version)
34 "I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. 35 All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other."

It is easy to love people who are lovable. The Koala bear is so cute an cuddly and the newborn baby smells so wonderful, it is both addictive and appealing to love these types of people but can you love the porcupine personality or the person whose smell from the stink of sin makes it hard to embrace them. Can you love them?

What about the person who messes up? Falls short? Does the unthinkable? What is our response to that person? We should restore them, that is place in demonstration what God has done for us.

Katartizō (to restore) literally means to mend or repair and was sometimes used metaphorically of restoring harmony among quarreling factions in a dispute. It was also used of setting a broken bone or putting a dislocated limb back in place. That is the figure used by the writer of Hebrews in calling on believers to "strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed" (Heb. 12:12-13).

Spiritual believers restore a fallen believer first of all by helping him recognize his trespass as a trespass. Until a person admits his sin, he cannot be helped out of it. Once he has done that, he must be encouraged to confess his sin before God and turn away from it in repentance, sincerely seeking God's forgiveness.

Restoration of fallen brothers and sisters is always to be done in a spirit of gentleness, which is characteristic of those who walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:23). A Christian who is critical and judgmental as he attempts to help a fallen brother does not show the grace of Christ or help his brother, but instead stumbles himself.

After a church has exercised proper discipline, the members should "forgive and comfort" the one who has been disciplined, "lest somehow such a one be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow" (2 Cor. 2:7). He should not be regarded "as an enemy, but [admonished] as a brother" (2 Thess. 3:15).
From the caution each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted, it is clear that even spiritual believers can stumble. They are made of the same stuff as those who have fallen. Because the exhortation looking to yourself is so vital, Paul uses a strong word (skopeō, to observe or consider) in the present tense, which emphasized a continual, diligent attentiveness to their own purity. They, too, could be tempted and even fall into the same sin for which they disciplined a brother.

The attitude of every Christian should always be the attitude of Jesus. And when a believer needs to help discipline a fallen brother, he should ask for a special portion of Christ's love and gentleness. If the Father does not want even one of His own to be devastated (Matt. 18:14), and if "the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:56), how much less do His followers have the right to be destructive rather than helpful?

What does your love look like? What type of love does our church display?

Owens

You Who Are Spiritual

"I have often thought that if I ever fall into a paraptōma [trespass], I will pray that I don't fall into the hands of those censorious, critical judges in the church. Let me fall into the hands of barkeepers, streetwalkers, or dope peddlers, because such church people would tear me apart with their long, wagging, gossipy tongues, cutting me to shreds".

John MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Galatians

Who is spiritual? What determines if someone is spiritual? Is it found in your dance? Tongue? Praise? Giving? Everyone is not spiritual!!! The paraphrased comments of James Boice are still blessing me as I deal with this area, " It is not in emotional highs but rather it is in concrete situations that the reality of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated in our lives." Your shout may not reveal your substance but conflict and crisis will unveil what may have been covered and cultivating in your life.

Transformation: The word "brethren" (adelphos) means to belong to the same people. It speaks of those who have the same parents or parent. It denotes fellow believers, united to one another by the bond of love. It suggests being united by a common cause or calling. Those to whom Paul wrote were united by their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. I once was lost in sin but Jesus took me in... I am part of the Lord's family because he changed me.

"Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass..."

The word "man" (anthropos) speaks of a human being, with the added notion of weakness, by which man is led into a mistake or prompted to sin. It has reference to the body and the soul. Paul was here lifting up the power of sin over human nature.

The word "caught" (prolambano) means to take before, to hinder or to take one by deterring him, that is, before he can escape or hide his crime. This word means to surprise. Sometimes sins overtake us rather than us overtaking sins. Caught implies that the sin was not premeditated. The word was once used to describe a Roman legion which had been overrun by a Jewish military force.

Representation: When this event happens, God calls on the people who are spiritual. All who are members of the church are not prepared to deal with the person caught or overtaken in sin. Those whom Paul urged to deal with the sinning saint were the spiritual.

The word "spiritual" (pneumatikos) always implies power. It speaks of those who are spiritually mature. It also speaks of people and things that have their origin with God and that are in harmony with his character and conduct.

This word speaks of all that is produced and maintained by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual person lives under the control of the Holy Spirit and manifests the fruit of the Spirit in his life. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This spiritual state is reached by feeding on the word of God and through prayer. It is maintained by obedience to God and devotion to him and his work.

The only way that we can be prepared to deal with a sinning saint is through the sins of others becoming our concern. Their sins should not be our concern for the purpose of picking the skin off the wound. We should be concerned about the sins of others so that we can help bring healing.

You who are spiritual, in this context, refers to those manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. These believers with Christlike character traits produced by the Holy Spirit encourage faltering Christians. The legalist is judgmental, harsh, and condemning toward those who struggle with sin (Acts 15:10). They know the law, and they know the consequences of falling short of obedience to the law. But they do not know mercy.

We will deal with Demonstration when we deal with RESTORE

Owens