Category: Blogs

Posted September 30, 2025

Love and the Fear of the Lord

The Scriptures are clear that we need to obey the Father’s, the Son’s, and the Spirit’s commands if we will make heaven our eternal home. And They are not only concerned about our obedience but also our motive for obeying Them and doing Their will. They want us to serve them out of love and gratitude for what They have done for us.

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

Jesus put it this way:

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Commentator Albert Barnes says this about this verse:
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: “Do not show your love by grief at my departure merely; or by profession, but by obedience. This is the only proper evidence of love to Jesus, for mere profession is no proof of love; but that love for him which leads us to do all his will, to love each other, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow him through evil report and through good report, is true attachment.”

Sometimes, though, our love for and gratitude to the Godhead is not all that it should be, and in those times, the fear of the Lord will go a long way in helping us to obey Their commands.

Now, we may think that love and fear are not compatible with each other and that they therefore cannot coexist, but that is not so. The type of love that God calls us to manifest, agape love, is not just emotions or strong feelings, but above that, agape love is a deliberate act of the will, a choice we make.

So, when God speaks to us and commands us about something we should do or stop doing, however He may speak to us, and we are considering in our minds whether we will obey His command and do what He says or not. Often there is a struggle going on inside of us because a part of us does not want to obey Him, and sometimes the loving feelings for Jesus are not there, and our will is waffling. In these times, the fear of the Lord and of the consequences of disobeying Him could be the deciding factor in us ending up obeying Him and doing His will.

Though we, mankind, usually make fear out to be a very negative thing, in the Bible the fear of the Lord is always presented as a very positive thing.

Job 28:28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”

Psalm 19:19 “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”

Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.”

Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”

Malachi 4:2 “But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.”

Acts 9:31 “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.”

Philippians 2:12 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;”

1 Peter 1:17 “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;”

These scriptures, among so many others, demonstrate the truth that is known to all who have an honest heart: we need to both love and fear our glorious Lord.

I will end this article with two more verses from Hebrews that deal with godly fear. The first one pertains to us and the second to Jesus. Lastly, I will include Vine’s definition of “godly fear.”

Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Hebrews 5:7 “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear.”

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words: eulabeia – signifies, firstly, “caution”; then, “reverence, godly fear,” Hebrews 5:7; Hebrews 12:28, in best manuscripts “reverence”; in general, “apprehension, but especially holy fear”; “that mingled fear and love which, combined, constitute the piety of man toward God; the Old Testament places its emphasis on the fear; the New Testament on the love, though there was love in the fear of God’s saints then, as there must be fear in their love now.”

Savior AND Lord

Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Here is the process by which we are saved. We confess with our mouth Jesus as our Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. With our heart we believe and are made righteous and with the confession of Jesus as our Lord we are saved.

What happens, though, if we believe in Him and confess Him as Lord but do not obey Him as Lord and do His will, are we still saved?

Suppose a person receives Christ as their Lord and Savior and then reads in the Bible the Lord’s command to be baptized in water and with the Holy Spirit. If he refuses to obey Him and do these things, is he saved? How much of God’s will that is revealed to us in His Word, and by His Spirit can someone refuse to do and still be saved? If they refuse water and Spirit baptism, could they also refuse to forgive others, refuse to love one another, refuse the great commission to go into the world and preach the gospel, or refuse to do anything else that the Lord commands us in His Word to do after we are saved, and remain saved?

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

Now, we are certainly not made righteous, justified, by what we do. We are forgiven because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and because we have put our trust, faith, in Him. I understand that. But I also believe that the Bible teaches very clearly that we can be made unrighteous after we have believed in Jesus by what we do or what we refuse to do that is in rebellion to His will as it is revealed to us in the Bible or by His Spirit.

1 John 3:7 “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8 He who sins is of the devil…”

I know that the process of salvation takes place over a lifetime and is worked out between God and His child. We work through things by God’s grace, and He is patient and gentle, loving and kind, and He never gives up on us. If He did, we would all be lost.

Thank God that we can repent, confess our sin, and ask for forgiveness as many times as we need to in this process, and He will forgive us and we can then continue on with a clean slate. I also thank God that He is the One who judges us, and that it is not me or any other man. He knows what is in our hearts, and I believe that if we love and fear Him, and we are seeking to obey Him and do His will, it will be well with us on Judgment Day even though we are far from perfect.

But I write this because I see many Christians who treat doing the Father’s will as though it were optional. Then I read scriptures like Matthew 7 where Jesus, speaking to His disciples, says, there will be many, many Christians, on Judgment Day who will not enter heaven because they did not do the will of the Father.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

And there are many leaders in the Church today who teach this easy believe-ism, rather than teaching the full counsel of God’s Word. They don’t warn their followers to flee from sin, worldliness and carnality, and to do the Father’s will, and this scares me. They tell people what they think they want to hear so that they can get them into their churches, when they are supposed to be preaching the whole counsel of God to them so that they can get them into Heaven.

Whose kingdom are they building, theirs or God’s?

The Goodness and Severity of God

God our Creator is such a good, kind, loving, merciful, patient, gracious, tender, gentle, and forgiving God to us, that sometimes I think we can make the mistake of interpreting His goodness and love and forgiveness to mean that He does not really care about our sin. But Paul tells us clearly in Romans that His gracious dealings with us are not to cause us to become complacent in our sin, but rather to lead us to repent of it.

Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
6 who “WILL RENDER TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS”:
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,
9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
11 For there is no partiality with God.”

In verse 4, Paul says that the goodness of God is meant to bring us to repentance. He also mentions two other words in that verse: forbearance and longsuffering, which both mean self-restraint before proceeding to action. Peter teaches this same thing in his second letter to the church:

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

We cannot afford to allow the devil and our flesh to convince us that because God is dealing with us in love, kindness, goodness and patience, that it means He does not really care about our sin or carnality.

Some may believe that because God is dealing with me about my sin that means I’m still saved – but God deals with everybody about their sin to one degree or another, so in reality, that is no assurance of salvation.

Others may think God is using me even though I am living in sin, so I must be okay. The Bible records many instances of God working through people who were not saved, so that is not a guarantee of salvation either. He does tell us, though, that if we repent and turn from our sin, carnality, and self-will, and return to Jesus and follow Him, that we will be saved.

God is a good God, and He is trying to keep us from perishing and from experiencing His wrath, but we must repent.

Later on in his letter to the Romans Paul warns:

Romans 11:22 “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”

What should our response to Paul’s exhortation be?
He tells us a few verses later:

Romans 12:1“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

We should repent of our sin and present our lives completely to the Lord to live out His good, acceptable and perfect will. God is good and He is severe, so let us allow His goodness to lead us to repentance and then let us continue in His goodness so that we will not experience His severity and be cut off!

Love, Fear, and Judgment

By writing as much as I have about; repentance, obedience, receiving the Holy Spirit, the fear of the Lord, getting victory over the flesh, holiness, being conformed to the image of Jesus, walking in the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body, doing the will of God, etc. I am in no way belittling the love of God, His mercy and grace, His patience and goodness, gentleness and kindness, or His faithfulness, the fact that He never gives up on us, nor the truth that He pursues us even when we want nothing to do with Him.

If not for all these wonderful attributes of God and His million other glorious qualities that He manifests towards us, His creation, none of us would be saved. I have not been deluded; I need every one of His gracious mercies and all of His divine love to even have a chance of making Heaven my home. I am under no delusions, without Him, left to myself, I would not even stand a chance of making it into the imaginary realm of purgatory.

My reason for focusing on the subjects I have is that there is so much emphasis on His love and all His other wonderful attributes in Christian literature, preaching and teaching, Christian music, the internet, blogs and all the rest, but so very little mention of our responsibilities to Him.

The revelation of His love is to cause us to fall in love with Him. His goodness is meant to lead us to repentance. His forgiveness is to lead us to forgive others. His desire for our best is meant to lead us to trust and obey Him in every area of our life. His call for us to live holy, be gracious, kind, forgiving, merciful, loving, patient, gentle, self-controlled, humble, faithful, etc. is meant to draw us to Him for His grace to live that way, to show us our need to be born again, filled with the Spirit, connected to the Vine.

Because of His great and steadfast love for us He is doing everything necessary for us to be able to be and do all that He created and redeemed us to be and do, but we have to do our part. No one is going to coast into heaven on cruise control. We can’t just sit back and leave the driving to Him; He’s not Greyhound. We are responsible moral agents, created in His image with a free will and we will be held accountable by Him for what we do with our life. Someday every one of us is going to stand before Him and give an account of what we did with this life He has entrusted to us.

Romans 14:10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written: ‘AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD.’
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

There won’t be any excuses on that day. No shucking and jiving and fast talking Him; He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Everything will be exposed for what it is and was, end of story.

There is another portion of Scripture though that gives us great insight and hope for the day of judgment. There are actually a number of them, but I want to look at this one because it relates to what I talked about in the first part of this blog.

1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

What I see in these verses is: God is love and He loves us totally; so much so that He gave His Son for us. He loved us first and because we have known and believed the love He has for us, we have chosen to love Him in return. “We love Him because He first loved us.” This as I said earlier is one of the purposes of God revealing His great love for us; so that we would love Him in response.

Verse 17 says some really exciting things. First that this love has been brought to maturity in us which gives us boldness in the day of judgment. It continues; “as He is;” how is He? He is love; “so are we in this world.” As God has loved us, now we are loving Him and others in the world. The Bible is very clear and says over and over that to love others is the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets. If I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and obey Him and love my fellow man I will not sin against God or man! So, I have no need to fear judgment; I have been made perfect in love and perfect love casts out fear! Let’s make sure that we are clear on this point, the only way I can love others is if I first love God completely. That’s why He can say if I hate my brother, I don’t love God, because if I love God, I would love my brother. And of course, this is only possible because of the work and power of the Holy Spirit abiding in us. He is the One who develops this fruit of love in us. This is great news for us!

God does not want us to live our Christian life in fear of judgment. He wants us to love Him and love one another and live above sin. And if we are doing that then our lives should be filled with the peace of God and the joy of the Lord. But if we don’t love Him, then we won’t love one another either, and if we choose to live in sin and rebellion to Him then we should live in fear of judgment.

Hebrews 10:26 “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”

To be honest this admonition was written to a specific group of people, to Jewish Christians who were considering turning back from following Jesus and returning to the Jewish religion, but the principles still do apply to all who choose to sin willfully. If we choose to sin, we will sense that we are endangering our souls, and we will live in fear of judgment. We see this truth evident right from the beginning of the Bible when Adam and Eve sinned, they were afraid and hid from God. The source of this fear in our hearts is the Holy Spirit convicting us in an effort to bring us to a place of repentance. When we repent of and confess our sins, we receive God’s forgiveness, and we will once again be able to enjoy the peace of God and the joy of the Lord.

I said that God does not want us to live in fear of judgment; that should only be our lot if we are living in willful sin. But I am not saying that God does not want us to fear Him. The fear of the Lord is a good thing. It is pure, holy, clean, righteous and to be desired; in fact we should pray for God to give us a healthy fear of Him. The fear of the Lord can help to keep us from sinning, but if we do sin, the fear of judgment can help to bring us to a place of repentance.

No Fear

In recent history as the church returns to being the Book of Acts, New Testament church it was meant to be, we see progress was made first with the restoration of the teaching of justification through faith in Jesus Christ. Then a return to water baptism after repentance and trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and tongues. We’ve also seen a resurgence of miracles, signs and wonders, with more to come in the future I believe.

But one of the things that was prevalent in the Old and New Testament church was the fear of the Lord, and it doesn’t appear that has been brought back to the same place of prominence that it held back then. The emphasis in our day is on grace, faith and love, and rightly so as these are paramount to God’s people, but not to the expense of neglecting the fear of the Lord.

We are commanded all through the Word of God to fear Him.

God said, “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever” (Deuteronomy 5:29)!

Moses said, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12),

Jesus said, “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him” (Luke 12:5).

Peter said, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear” (1 Peter 1:17);

Paul said, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

The writer of Hebrews said, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).

The Bible in Philippians 2:12-13 says, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

But most Christians are not working out their salvation, they are coasting along, and I believe one of the main reasons for that is because they have no fear of God.

In Paul’s description in Romans 3 of how and why all people are sinners, one of the things he lists is:

Romans 3:18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

Sinners have no fear of God and when Christians lose a healthy fear of the Lord, they start to live like sinners again. All people have a sinful nature, the flesh, which has no fear of, nor love for, God; it loves the things of this world. So, if we don’t fear the Lord, we end up living our life in the flesh for the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And our lives end up producing the works of the flesh, of which the Bible says in Galatians that those who do are not going to heaven.

Galatians 5:19 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

These things are sin, and the wages of sin is death, eternal death, separation from God forever! Hell is for those, sinners, who have no real love for nor fear of God, who don’t repent and serve Him, but live their lives serving the flesh, the world, sin, self and unwittingly the devil.

Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Who are those who do not live according to the flesh and die and go to hell, but who by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, the works of the flesh, and inherit eternal life in heaven?
We can answer that by looking at how the Bible describes those who make it into heaven in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 11:18 “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Revelation 19:5 “Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great.’”

One of the chief characteristics of those who serve Him and who God says are going to heaven is that they all fear Him; both the small and the great. The reason for this, I believe, is that without a healthy fear of the Lord, we will not serve Him, and serving the Lord is another attribute of those who will make heaven their eternal home.

In fact, we have a Word of prophecy from the book of Malachi, which talks about a people who fear and serve the LORD, which I believe are the same people we just read about in the Book of Revelation.

Malachi 3:16 “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.
17 “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”
18 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.”

The one who serves the Lord is the one who fears Him, and the Lord puts their names in His book of remembrance (the Book of Life?) and He spares them and makes them His jewels. I believe these are the ones that the Bible shows us, in the Book of Revelation, who are going to be with the Lord in heaven forever and ever!

The fear of the Lord is not a negative thing, in fact, the Lord values it in His children because it is one of the chief attributes of those who serve Him; those who will be His bride in Heaven for all of eternity!

Jesus Modeled What He Commands

September 27, 2025

Luke 5:16 “He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”

Matthew 6:6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place;”

Jesus always modeled for the disciples (that would include us) what He commanded and taught. This was not only true regarding prayer, as we see above, but also as it pertained to the rest of the Christian life.

He was born of the Spirit and He tells us we must be born of the Spirit.

Matthew 1:20 “…Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

He was baptized in water, and He commands us to be baptized in water.

Luke 3:21 “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized…”

Mark 16:16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.”

He commands us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and He modeled that for us when the Spirit came down upon Him in the form of a dove at His water baptism.

Acts 1:4 “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”

Luke 3:21 “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him…”

He was filled with the Spirit, and He commands us in His Word to be filled with the Spirit. He was also led by the Spirit, and His Word tells us if we are truly God’s children, we too need to be led by the Spirit.

Luke 4:1 “Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”

Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”

Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”

We must be born of the Spirit to become a child of God, and the proof that we are children of God is that we are led by His Spirit. Only the Father knows His will for our lives and only He can reveal that to us and enable us to live it out. He will do that as we live in intimate fellowship with Him and allow Him to lead and empower us day by day by His Spirit.

I do not know all of where the Spirit will lead you, but I can tell you this from my own experience, from what I read of Jesus’ life, and from what I’ve read of disciples’ lives past and present: He will lead you to places where the flesh, self, the sin nature, will be put to death so that the image of His Son can be manifest in you. This process is never pleasant; it can, in fact, be painful physically, mentally, and emotionally, as we suffer with Christ.

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

Our being transformed into the image of Jesus is a major part of the Father’s will, plan, purpose, and destiny for us. Only God, through Jesus, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, can bring it to pass – so we must stay connected to Him in daily fellowship.

Trust and follow Him even when the going gets difficult and painful. He knows what He is doing, and He will bring you through.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Sinners being conformed to the image of His Son is very much like caterpillars being transformed into butterflies. It requires that the old must pass away so that the new can come. The Lord is doing a great work in us, so we need to be patient, faithful, obedient, diligent, and cooperative if we want to see it brought to fruition.

It is the work of a lifetime, with many twists and turns, ups and downs, setbacks and breakthroughs – and it will not be completed until we go home to be with Him, so stay faithful and enjoy the journey.

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

A Common Pitfall

September 27, 2025

For those of you who have obeyed the Lord and been baptized in water, received the Holy Spirit and been born again, and are now being led by the Spirit, let me share something of what I have experienced that I believe might help you to avoid a very common pitfall.

When we first get saved, we are so in love with Jesus that we would do anything for Him. We get baptized in water and in the Spirit, and we begin to allow the Spirit to lead us wherever He wills. It does not matter to us where He leads us or what He requires of us; we love Jesus and just want to please Him.

We follow and obey Him without question until He tells us to do, or stop doing, something that we feel is just too hard – too much to give up, too unreasonable, or too much for Him to expect of us. As I shared in my book I got to that point when He told me to love my wife. When we get to one of those points in our walk with Him, we can do one of three things:

1. We can choose to obey Him, humble ourselves, and ask Him for the strength and grace to do what He wants us to do (or stop doing), and then continue to follow Him.

2. We can turn away from Him and go back and serve the world, the flesh, and the devil.

3. We can do what I did (and what I think most of us do): get religious.

I knew Jesus was real, so I could not deny Him and just turn away and leave the church, but I still refused to obey Him, and so I became religious. What I mean by that is that I adopted a set of rules to live by which I determined would get me into Heaven. I would go to church, pay my tithes, be involved in ministry, and do a few other things to help me feel secure in my salvation, without actually obeying Him completely.

The problem was, I was miserable. I had no joy, and I was not enjoying the eternal life that comes from intimacy with the Father. So, I ended up trying to suck life out of this world. This led to bondage, carnality, and allowing all kinds of worldly and sinful habits into my life while still being active and faithful to church; not to Jesus, but to church.

This went on for years and years, as I shared in my testimony. Eventually, my pastor had to take me out of ministry, my marriage fell apart, I was in bondage to sin, and my life was a total mess.

But God! Oh, thank God that there is a, But God! He never gave up on me. He continued to deal with me to repent and to do what He had told me to do, and finally, in desperation, I did! When I did, it was amazing! My relationship with Him was instantly restored; He delivered me from my bondages; and the joy, peace, and contentment that I had known before returned. I still had to suffer through some of the consequences for my actions, but that was all right. He helped me through it all. And He began to lead me into His will for me once again.

Now, I said all that to say this: If you were once walking in intimate relationship with Jesus – hearing His voice and doing His will, being led and empowered by His Spirit, and honoring and glorifying the Father with your life – but you came to a place like I did where you refused to do His will, and you have become religious, or have left the church and are bound in sin… repent and turn back to Him! He is waiting for you with open arms.

If you have never known God, never been a Christian, never experienced His love and forgiveness or walked in communion with Him, know that He loves you and has His perfect plan for your life waiting for you; the plan He created you to live. Repent of your sin and turn to Him! His thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace and His desire is to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

What I want to show here is how the devil tries to twist God’s patient love and goodness, one of the main means that He uses in trying to bring us to repentance and conversion, and use them for his purpose, which is to keep us from repenting so he can keep us bound in our sin and separated from God.

In the Book of Romans chapter 1 Paul confronts us with a list of man’s sins, this is aimed primarily at the Gentiles but is not limited to them. (When reading this list of man’s sins, if we didn’t know better, we would think Paul is alive today and writing about this generation.)
Romans 1:26 “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

We will pick the narrative up in chapter 2 verse 1 where Paul confronts the Jews and/or any other self-righteous person with being guilty of many of these same sins that he listed in chapter 1.
Romans 2:1 “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

What is Paul doing in these verses and the ones preceding these in chapter 1?
He is being used by the Spirit to convict people of sin, righteousness and judgment.

What is Paul saying with his question in verse 3?
You know that the sins I just listed are wrong and so you are judging and condemning those, the Gentiles primarily, who are committing them. But you’re doing some of the same sins, and yet you think you are going to escape the judgment of God.

Why do you think that these thought they would escape God’s judgment even though they were living in sin that they knew deserved the judgment of God?
For the same reason the rest of us do. We all live in sin our whole life, that is until we repent, and God doesn’t judge us and send us to the hell we deserve. Instead, He blesses us. He gives us everything we need for life. He gives us health and wealth and enjoyment, and if we are Christians, when we sin, He forgives us when we ask Him to even if we go back and commit that sin a thousand times. So, the devil and our flesh lull us into believing that God is not really that concerned about our sin, so we don’t need to worry about repenting and turning from our sin.

But what does the Bible say is the reason that God has treated us so well and has not judged us, killed us, and sent us to hell?
Paul tells us in the next verse of chapter 2.
Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

What does the word despise mean?
To scorn, render of no effect, disrespect, look down 0n, disdain, to think little or nothing of, to hold in contempt, to think lightly of, to neglect, not to care for. Synonyms – to regard as nothing, despise completely, to cast off, reject, to dishonor, treat shamefully, to disesteem.

What are the things that Paul says believing and unbelieving sinners despise or treat lightly?
“the riches of His (God’s) goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering,”

What do the words, goodness, forbearance and longsuffering mean?
Goodness also means kindness and gentleness.
Forbearance means delaying, self-restraint, temporary long suffering, a holding back, tolerance.
Longsuffering means self-restraint before proceeding to action, patience, slowness in avenging wrongs.
So, Paul is saying in essence, that our loving, holy God in His goodness, kindness, and gentleness is patiently, in self-restraint holding back from avenging our sins against Him by delaying judgment.

Why is God doing this; what does Paul say in Romans 2:4 above that God’s goodness, kindness and patience are meant to do?
Lead us to repentance, give us an opportunity to change our minds about serving sin and to turn and serve God with our lives.

But what does the devil and our flesh tell us that God not judging our sin means?
To unbelievers they say, there is no God, no sin, no judgment. If there really was a God, He would do something about all this wickedness in the earth. There is no need to repent, change the way you’re living because God does not exist. Or, even if there is a God who is going to judge the world, you’re better than most so you’ll be okay as long as your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds.
To believers they say, God judged your sin in Jesus, so it doesn’t matter if you repent and do or stop doing what He is dealing with you about, you’re saved. God loves you and He is so good, kind, and merciful He will never judge you. He knows no one is perfect, and besides lots of other Christians are doing what you’re doing, and some are doing a lot worse, so you’re safe.

But what does the Bible tell us in the next verse is going to happen to us if we don’t repent and turn from our sins and begin to do God’s will?
Romans 2:5 “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent (unrepentant) heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,”

What does this verse say we are doing if we refuse to repent?
“you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,” The term treasuring up means we are storing up, stockpiling, for ourselves, wrath, God’s wrath! We can despise, take lightly, His goodness now and not repent and turn from our sin, but on judgment day we will wish that we had not listened to the lies of our flesh and the devil and had repented of our sin instead. But then, of course, it will be too late!

Let me just add here that I understand the process of sanctification that we as Christians, redeemed sinners, are going through. It is a process, and sometimes we struggle with deeply embedded habits, sins, character flaws, etc. for months and even years. If we are genuinely contending for dominion and deliverance in these areas, even if we fail numerous times, if we will repent, confess our failure, and ask God for forgiveness, I believe we will be alright and that God is pleased with us.

The problem though is when we give up and accept our sin and stop striving against it, when we say, “well this is just the way I am, and God is going to have to accept me as I am” and “if He hasn’t changed, delivered, me yet then I guess it really doesn’t matter that much to Him.” Or if we are telling ourselves, (or maybe it’s actually the enemies voice we are hearing) “God’s still dealing with you about this sin so that means you’re saved.” Listen, God deals with everyone, believer and unbeliever, about their sin, but that doesn’t mean they are saved, it just means He loves them and is trying to get them to repent and turn away from their sin.

Or another lie we/the devil tell ourselves is, “even though you are rebelling against God and not repenting but continuing to sin in this area of your life, God is using you so that means you’re saved.” God using someone does not guarantee that they are saved as many will find out on judgment day.

Matthew 7:22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

What is “that day” that Jesus is referring to?
Judgment day.

Who are the “many” that Jesus is talking about?
Believers, who He used powerfully. They prophesied in His name, cast out demons in His name, and did many wonders in His name!

What was Jesus’ message to these on judgment day?
“I never knew you; depart from Me,”

Why were they sent away instead of welcomed into heaven?
They had not repented and turned from their sin, they were still living in, practicing, lawlessness/sin.

God may use you even if you are backslidden to help bring others to Himself because He loves all people and doesn’t want anyone to perish but all to come to repentance, but again that is no assurance that you are saved and on your way to heaven.

We will look next at what Peter wrote concerning the exact same things Paul wrote to the Roman church about; God’s goodness and patience in holding back judgment, to give people an opportunity to repent. (Peter actually says in this portion of Scripture we are going to look at that Paul has written to them the same things that he is writing to them about.)

We’ll start reading in verse 3 of Second Peter chapter 3 but you need to read all of chapter 2 of this letter to understand exactly who these people are that Peter is talking about.
2 Peter 3:3 “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,”

Who are these scoffers that Peter is talking about?
False teachers, backslidden Christians who are in the church, but are not living a holy life, they are “walking according to their own lusts.”

Let’s see what they are saying/teaching.
2 Peter 3:4 “and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’”

What is the promise of His coming that they are questioning?
Jesus’ promise to return to earth and judge the world.

What is the argument they are using to put in question Jesus’ promise?
Nothing has changed, it’s been the same since the beginning of creation.

What are they trying to do with their line of reasoning?
Undermine peoples’ faith in Jesus and His Word. And remove their fear of impending judgment.

Let’s look at how Peter refutes their argument in the next verses.
2 Peter 3:5 “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.”

What is Peter’s response to their false teaching?
They are willfully forgetting, being deceitful, because they know that things have not remained the same from the beginning of creation but by the word of God the world was judged when God judged man’s sin in the great flood in Noah’s time.

But Peter doesn’t stop there.
2 Peter 3:7 “But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

What is Peter assuring his readers is true?
The heavens and earth which now exist are being preserved by the Word of God for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Jesus is going to return and judge the earth just like He said.

Peter then returns to their question, “Where is the promise of His coming?” And encourages the believers with these words.
2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

What does he mean by this?
Jesus is going to keep His promise to return and judge the world but He is not on the same time schedule as man.

Peter then explains why Jesus has not yet fulfilled His promise to return and judge the world.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Why hasn’t Jesus fulfilled His promise and returned and judged mankind?
Because He loves us, He is suffering long with us as we persist in our sin giving us opportunity after opportunity to repent and turn from our sin so that we will not perish when He comes for judgment.

Who is He calling to repent?
“That all should come to repentance.” All means all. Unbelievers, believers who are living in known sin, backslidden believers, false teachers, those who are living in the flesh, those living for the world, those who are living to serve themselves, a-l-l, ALL, need to repent or they will perish.

Even though Peter assures us that Jesus is His goodness is being patient and giving us opportunity to repent so that we don’t perish, he also assures us that the day of God’s judgment will eventually come like a thief in the night.
2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

What does this verse tell us about Jesus?
That He is a God of His Word, if He says He is going to come back to the earth and judge the world, we know for certain that He will. He is God who is love and He is also holy and therefore He must judge sin. As surely as mankind’s sin was judged in Jesus when He died on the cross, so Jesus will judge our sin in us if we have not repented of our sin and trusted Him as our Savior.

Peter tells us in verses 11 and 14 how we are to live if we are going to avoid God’s judgment and make heaven our home.
2 Peter 3:11 “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,”
14 “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;”

How does Peter say we as Christians should live if we want to escape God’s judgment and make heaven our eternal home?
“in holy conduct and godliness, without spot and blameless;”

Peter continues.
2 Peter 2:13 “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Who are the “we” that are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells?
Those who have repented of their sin and are living holy, godly and blameless in this life.

Peter concludes this letter to his fellow Christians with these words.
2 Peter 3:15 “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”

What is Peter referring to when he says, “the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation?”
God patiently holding back Jesus’ return and His sure coming judgment of the world, lovingly giving His creation opportunity to repent and turn from their sin so that they might be saved.

What does Peter say about Paul?
That he teaches these same things in all his epistles/letters to the churches.

What does Peter say that unstable and untaught people do with this teaching and the rest of the Scriptures?
They twist them.

For what purpose?
To try and get God’s children to fall from their steadfastness in living holy and serving Him. These wicked people desire to lead God’s people into error, sin, carnality, through their false teaching.

The conclusion then of what we have studied in this segment is. God in His love, mercy, goodness, patience, and kindness is holding back judging man’s sin to give him opportunity to repent and turn from his sin that he might be saved and not perish. The devil, often through false teachers/preachers in the church, and with the help of the world and our fleshly carnal natures twists this truth in an effort to keep unbelievers and believers who are living in sin and rebellion from repenting. And, to turn believing saints who are living holy, godly, and blameless away from their steadfastness and get them to go back to sinning, walking in the flesh and living for the world.

False teachers and leaders in the church are not passing out drugs at the door, or getting behind the pulpit and telling everyone, “let’s all get naked and have an orgy.” Although some are blatant in their promotion of sin even to the extreme of ordaining practicing homosexuals and lesbians as pastors and leaders! But most are much more subtle than that. They simply do not teach and preach the full gospel message.

They never allow the Holy Spirit through them to confront/convict people of sin, righteousness and judgment. They don’t call for both unbelievers and believers to repent and turn from their sin in order to be saved. They don’t tell people they need to not only believe in Jesus but obey Him and do God’s will or they will not make heaven their eternal home. They never preach on our need for holiness, but how could they when they are not living holy.

Their message instead focuses on God’s love and forgiveness, His blessings in this life and in the next, if you’ll just believe. Believing is a major part of the gospel, but it is not the whole gospel. And their message is not just with the words they speak, but with the lifestyle they live. They are carnal, fleshly and worldly, in fact there is not much difference between the way they live, and the way most unbelievers live, except they are in church.

God is good, loving, kind, merciful, patient and is holding back His judgment from all people to give us a chance to repent and turn from our sin so we will be saved. Don’t let the devil, your carnal nature or false teachers trick you into believing that it is because He doesn’t really care about sin, that is a lie. Don’t use that lie as a license to continue in sin and refuse to repent as God commands us to, because if you do, then on judgment day you will surely experience His wrath.

Romans 2:5 “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent (unrepentant) heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
6 who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds:’”

If we refuse to repent, what are we treasuring up for ourselves?
God’s wrath!

What is God going to judge each one of us according to?
Our deeds, not just what we believe, but what we do, our actions, how we live. So, if we are not living right, if we are living in sin and disobedience, we need to repent, turn from our sin and do works, deeds, that prove we have really repented, and are converted, and are living for Him! Just as Paul said he taught all those that he preached to.

Acts 26:20 “but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.”

What did Paul command both Jew and Gentile to do?
“repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.”

If we obey Paul’s admonition, we will have nothing to fear on Judgment Day!

If confronting people with their sin and calling them to repent and be converted was what the New Testament church did, why doesn’t the majority of today’s church do that?

John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter and Paul confronted people with their sin and called them to repent and be converted, and then told them to believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of their sin. They witnessed great revival in those who responded positively to their message; they also suffered great persecution from those who responded negatively to their message.

John the Baptist was imprisoned and then had his head chopped off. The people tried to stone Jesus a few times, among other abuses, and then in the end crucified Him. Peter was beaten and imprisoned and eventually according to tradition crucified upside down. Paul was beaten numerous times, imprisoned often, run out of many towns, stoned once and eventually executed. So, it’s not hard to understand why Christians today would rather preach a message of God’s love and forgiveness, and believing on Jesus, than confronting people with their sin, and calling them to repent.

Many will respond to the message of believing in Jesus to be saved, but without conviction leading to repentance, you end up with unconverted believers who are unfit for the kingdom. You can build a big church with this type of believer, and you will suffer no or very little persecution, but you are not building God’s kingdom, only your own.

The leader of our fellowship used to say that our job as Christian witnesses is to; “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” This means that those who have been afflicted, convicted of their sin, we need to comfort by leading them in a prayer of repentance and by sharing the good news of the forgiveness of their sins through believing on Jesus as their Savior. But those who are comfortable in their sin we need to afflict, allow the Spirit through us to convict and make them uncomfortable in their sin, with the intention of seeing them repent and be converted, and then believe on Christ as their Savior.

God’s Word is a two-edged sword, with one side it first cuts and then with the other side it heals. That is why we need to preach the full gospel message, which will first make people uncomfortable, convicted, in their sin before it comforts them with the message of God’s gift of repentance and forgiveness made available to us through Jesus Christ.The problem with most Christians today is, they are comforting those who are already comfortable in their sin and convicting/afflicting no one.

What does the word convict mean?
To convict, reprove, rebuke, expose, make manifest, correct, admonish, convince, accuse, refute, reprimand, bring to the light, find fault with, call to account, show someone his fault, prove by reasoning, convince of a crime, reprehend severely, chide, tell a fault, convince of error.

Here is Jesus’ teaching on why He was going to send the Holy Spirit.
John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”

Who is Jesus talking to?
His disciples, His followers.

What did Jesus tell them He was going to do?
Go away, He was going to return to the Father, and then He was going to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit.

Where was He going to send the Holy Spirit?
“I will send Him to you.” The Holy Spirit was going to come and live inside of them.

What was the Holy Spirit coming to do?
“when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”

How was the Holy Spirit going to convict/confront the world of sin, righteousness and judgment?
Through the ones He is living inside.

Here is Paul allowing the Holy Spirit to do through him exactly what He was sent into the world to do.
Acts 24:24 “And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.’”

Did Paul confront Felix and Drusilla about sin, righteousness and judgment?
Yes.

Were they convicted by the Holy Spirit through what Paul said?
We know that Felix was because it says he was afraid. Unfortunately, Felix did not respond positively to the conviction of the Spirit and repent of his sin, but the Holy Spirit was able through Paul to do what He was sent to do.

Paul also exhorted other believers to do the same thing he did. He wrote this to the Ephesian church.
Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.”

What does Paul tell these believers not to do?
Not to have fellowship with those practicing these unfruitful works of darkness/sin.

What does he tell them to do?
Expose them and their practices for what they are, sin.

Paul wrote this to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:1 “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”

What is Paul charging Timothy to do?
Preach the word!

What did preaching the Word include?
Convincing, confronting, convicting, people of their sin.

Let’s look at some of these Holy Spirit filled New Testament preachers in action and see how the Spirit was able through them to convict sinners of their sin and bring them to repentance and conversion, and then to faith in Jesus when they responded positively to their message. Or how these preachers experienced persecution at the hands of these sinners when they responded negatively to their message.

We’ll start with John the Baptist because he is the first Spirit filled preacher that we meet in the New Testament.
Luke 3:19 “But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.”

How did Herod respond to John confronting him with his sin?
Negatively, he did not repent but instead put John in prison.

John also confronted the multitudes about their sin and called them to repent.
Matthew 3:1 “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him
6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

How did these respond to John’s preaching?
Positively, they confessed their sins, repented, and were baptized by John in the Jordan.

Here is Jesus, the greatest Holy Spirit filled preacher of all time, confronting some religious people with their sin.
John 8:7 “So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last…”

How did these respond to Jesus confronting them with their sin?
Positively in the sense that they were convicted of their sin, but negatively in the sense that they did not repent and turn from their sin.

Next, we’ll look at the Apostles Peter and John in action.
Acts 3:13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,”

Does Peter, by the Holy Spirit confront these with their sin?
Yes, in great detail.

What does he tell them that they need to do?
Repent and be converted.

How do the people respond?
The following verses tell us.
Acts 4:1 “Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,
2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”

What were the people’s responses to Peter’s message?
The priests, the captain of the guard, and the Sadducees responded negatively, were greatly disturbed, laid hands on them, and put them in custody. But many of those who heard their message responded positively and believed the word that Peter preached, repented, and joined the disciples; and the number of men came to be about 5000!

Here is another example of Peter and John preaching the gospel.
Acts 5:30 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.
33 When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them.”

Did Peter confront these people with their sin?
Yes, he said they murdered Jesus by hanging Him on a tree.

Did he tell them who Jesus was?
Yes, their Prince and Savior.

What did he tell them that Jesus was going to do?
Give them repentance and forgiveness of sins. (Note the order.)

What was their response?
“They were furious and plotted to kill them.”

Why do you think it is that no one is ever furious and wants to kill us after we share the gospel with them?
It’s probably because we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin, righteousness and judgment through our words like those in the New Testament did.

Speaking of Christians allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to people about their sin through them and people wanting to kill the person for it; let’s look at Stephen as he ministers to the Jewish leaders.
Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.
54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him…”

Do we see the same pattern here that we saw above?
Yes. Stephen preached in the power of the Holy Spirit and confronted these people with their sin. They were cut to the heart, convicted, afflicted, but instead of repenting they responded negatively and killed the messenger.

As we know from history all of the apostles except one were killed for their gospel witness to sinners. Multitudes of other Christians through the ages have also been persecuted and killed for their witness for Christ and that continues on still today in many parts of the world. We do not have to worry about that happening to us though if we allow those who are comfortable in their sin to remain that way. But if we begin, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, to afflict, convict, those living in sin, we may suffer some persecution, but we will also see people genuinely repent and be converted to Christ.

More Conviction and Repentance

It is not only unbelievers who need to be confronted about their sin and brought to repentance, the same is true for those of us who believe. You see, salvation begins with repentance but those of us who are saved know that that is not the last time God by His Spirit and through His saints will convict us of sin and call us to repent. If we are going to become all that Jesus redeemed us to be we will repent many times in this life. The following are some biblical teachings on this subject.

This is Paul giving instruction to Timothy.
1 Timothy 5:19 “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.
20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.
21 I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.”

What does Paul tell Timothy to do if two or three witnesses come to him with an accusation against an elder?
If the accusations are true, he is to rebuke, confront, expose the person in the presence of all.

Why in the presence of all?
First, because the person is a leader in the church, and second so that the people will fear. So the people will see how seriously God takes sin in His church, His people, and either not commit sin or repent of the sin they are committing and turn from doing it.

Here is Jesus’ instruction to the church.
Luke 17:3 “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.”

What does Jesus say we need to do if a brother sins against us?
Rebuke him, confront him with what he did.

And if he repents, what are we to do?
Forgive him!

Paul gives these instructions to Titus.
Titus 1:12 “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,”

What does Paul say is true of the Cretan believers?
They “are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

What does Paul tell Titus to do to the Cretan believers?
Paul told Titus to rebuke, confront, convict, these Christians sharply.

Paul practiced what he told Titus to do when he sharply confronted the Corinthian church with their sin in his first letter to them.
1 Corinthians 5:1 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!
2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.”

What is their sin that Paul is confronting?
A man in the church had married and/or is sleeping with his father’s wife, and those in the church have not dealt with the man. In fact, they are proud of how loving and tolerant they are to this man.

Their response to his rebuke is worth looking at as it is recorded in Paul’s second letter to this church.
2 Corinthians 7:8 “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while.
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

How did Paul’s rebuke first impact the Corinthians?
They were made sorry, which is often what happens when people are confronted with their sin.

Why does Paul say that he rejoiced in their sorrow?
Because their sorrow led them to repent, have a change of mind about this sin, and to deal with the perpetrator.

What does Paul say that this godly sorrow and repentance produced in the Corinthian church?
“What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

Even though Paul exhorted Titus to rebuke the Cretans sharply and Paul rebuked the Corinthians rather sharply, that doesn’t mean all confrontation of Christian people’s sin needs to be done in that way. In fact, I think that may be the exception and not the rule as we’ll see in these following Scriptures, some of which were spoken by Paul himself.
2 Timothy 2:24 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

How does Paul say that a servant of the Lord should correct those who are in opposition?
Gently, patiently and in humility.

Next, we’ll look at Jesus rebuking and calling the Laodicean church to repentance.
Revelation 3:17 “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”

What can we learn from Jesus’ example here?
Confronting, convicting, rebuking unbelievers or believers about their sin must always be done out of a love for the person. Redemptively, with the intention of seeing them come to repentance and to turn from their sin so that they can be restored to right relationship with God. It is not for the purpose of condemning people, that’s what the devil does, not Jesus’ servants.

Here is what James the Lord’s brother has to say about this subject.
James 5:19 “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

What does James say that Christians should do if a brother or sister wanders from the truth?
Turn/convert them back, turn/convert them from the error of their way.

Why?
Because if someone continues in their sin it will lead to eternal death, but if we confront them, and they repent and turn from their sin, they will be saved.

Here is one more admonition by Paul concerning this subject.
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

What does Paul give here as the one qualification for the person who God would use to restore a brother or sister overtaken in any trespass/sin?
“you who are spiritual restore such a one”

What does it mean for a person to be “spiritual”?
Someone who is born again of the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, anointed with the Spirit, and submitted to the Spirit of God.

Why is it necessary for the person God would use to confront people with their sin to be led by and submitted to the Holy Spirit?
First, if they are walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh they will not be tempted themselves. Also, the love and gentleness required in dealing with people is fruit produced in us by the Spirit. The Spirit will also guide the person in how exactly to deal with each individual. And the Spirit moving through the Spirit filled person is the One who will convict/convince the person of their need to change the way they are thinking about their sin and turn them from it.

The New Testament begins with Jesus confronting sinners and calling them to repent.
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Shortly after that He tells people what will happen if they don’t repent.
Luke 13:5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

And the New Testament ends with Jesus confronting His followers in the churches and calling them to repent.
Revelation 3:3 “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

What is Jesus message to those in the church in Sardis?
He tells those living in sin to repent and those living righteously to hold fast and not go back into sin. He says that those who do that, repent and/or hold fast, will overcome and “shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” And it is inferred that those who do not repent and/or hold fast the opposite will be true which is in line with what He said earlier “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

What is the conclusion then of what we have studied in this segment?
Repentance is one of Jesus’ main commandments that He preached in the New Testament, and He preached it from the beginning to end of the book. He intended for His church to continue to preach this message and for that purpose He sent the Holy Spirit into the world to convince/convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.

He puts His Spirit in those who choose to receive Him, the Spirit, and uses them to confront both unbelievers and believers with their sin and to call them to repent, have a change of mind about sin and God, and convert, turn, from serving sin to serve the living and true God.

People’s response can be positive or negative depending on the condition of their heart. Some will be saved, and some may persecute us. We are not to be concerned about how they respond, but we are to preach repentance and faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins as He commanded us to preach.

Luke 24:46 “Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

If we will do this we will see sinners converted and the kingdom of God advanced in the Earth. By the power of the Holy Spirit in us we can do that in love and humility with patience and grace; to Him be the glory.