March 2, 2012

Shall One Man Sin and God Be Angry with All the Congregation? (3/2)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Numbers 16-17.

If one person within a congregation sins, will all members of that congregation stand condemned before God? It depends.

This was the situation in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. A relatively small number of people rebelled, yet God was prepared to destroy the whole congregation.

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.’ But they fell on their faces and said, ‘O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?’ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abriram’” (Numbers 16:20-24).

Moses and Aaron thought it would be unfair for God to punish all the people for the sins of a few. Yet God intended to punish the guilty. This is why He gave the instruction to separate themselves from the rebels. Those Israelites who continued to accept the rebels and have fellowship with them also became guilty before the Lord.
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December 1, 2008

A People for God’s Own Possession

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

As Christians, we belong to God. We are to live in such a way that we can say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). We no longer live for ourselves but for God and His Son. We “have been bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20), that price being “the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19; cf. Acts 20:28).

Understanding then that we belong to God, how should we conduct our lives?
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April 1, 2007

Testing the Spirits

Man from behind

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

This warning from the apostle John is for us not to believe everyone who claims to be bringing a message from God. There are “many false prophets” – many who teach things that are wrong and lead to damnation. So we are to “test the spirits” and identify false teachers among us. It is important that we know how to identify such individuals.
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January 1, 2006

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees…” (Matthew 16:6).

In the verse above, Jesus warned his disciples about an influential religious group that He confronted on many occasions. He exposed them repeatedly and openly. There are lessons we can learn from the Pharisees that we need to heed so we do not fall under the same condemnation.
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