| “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.” – Galatians 6:1 |
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| Restoration is part of God’s Plan with a Sinning Saint How do we minister to the sinning saint? The verse implies that the person who has been overtaken is a fellow believer. The call to action is clearly directed to a believer as Paul speaks to brethren. Please note he did not say Pastor or Elder here as this call is for each and every believer. Now he does give a qualifying statement in saying, “those who are spiritual” for it will take spiritual maturity to do the ministry that is needed with the sinning saint. Back to the question of how do we minister to the sinning saint. The sinning saint is to be, first, REBUKED. I Thessalonians 5:14 speaks of warning the unruly. 1 Timothy 5:20 says, “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.” Then what? Hopefully and prayerfully the sinning saint REPENTS. There is a change of heart that is going to lead to a change in action. What happens when the sinning saint repents? May I preach for a moment? Are we to now REJECT the repentant sinning saint? Are we to shoot our wounded? The Apostle Paul would shout NO! The Apostle Paul wants to see the repentant person RESTORED. The Greek means to “MEND for future use.” Like a fisherman would MEND a net or a doctor mend a broken bone. The mindset is to handle the fallen with care (gentleness), and with humility. Now Paul issues a major WARNING to those who are helping in the restoration and that warning needs to be heard and heeded. The warning is that as one helps another who has fallen you must never think you would never do the same thing. With this humble mindset the spiritually mature steps into the life of a sinning saint and begins to mend. The mending calls for establishing accountability. It calls for memorization of Scriptures connected to temptation. It calls for writing out resolutions (Daniel 1:8) It calls for praying that one would be submissive to the leading of the Holy Spirit as He will not lead one into temptation. In other words, restoration is going to take WORK and discipline!!! Just as one may fall and break a bone the broken bone with the right help can be mended and brought back to usefulness so too can one who has fallen spiritually be mended and be brought back to usefulness. Verse to DATE the Word on June 1 (6/1) is Galatians 6:1. It says, “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.” Restoration is part of God’s plan and it will take work by both the one being restored and the one(s) restoring! Continue Strong Restoring the repentant saint, And remember to DATE the Word |