...whom I would have retained with me,
that in thy stead he might have ministered
unto me in the bonds of the gospel: but
without they mind would I do nothing;
that thy benefit should not be as it were
of necessity, but willingly. For perhaps
he therefore departed for a season, that
thou shouldest receive him for ever;
not now as a servant, but above a
servant, a brother beloved, specially
for me, but how much more unto thee,
both in the flesh, and in the Lord?
Philemon 13-16
Restoration of a person who has truly repented is our responsibility to accept that person as a beloved brother. This is not just the word of the pastor or elders, or deacons, no it is every Christians duty. Let us then, look at sin, and repentance so that we have a clear understanding of these subjects.
Sin: You probably have heard that sin is: Missing the mark." This it is, but how is it that sin entered into man: you will say through Adam, and you would be right. Why does God punish man because of sin when man did not cause sin to enter into the human race? This is another important thing to understand for many ask this question. The Bible never states that God punished the human race for one man's sin. Whoa......! What? This is not what is taught in my Church, you may say, but that is true of the Bible "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). The world is not punished, (there is the operative word: punished) for one man's sin, but sin brought into the world death, but more, God punishes man for the disposition of sin. What is that? The disposition of sin is that man man claims to his right to himself, and this claim enter into man through one man Adam. Did he not claim for himself the right for himself? Yes! He made his decision to go against what he knew was wrong before God, but did it anyway and this disposition was passed down into all men from the time forward. Man brought sin into the world and that sin was passed down upon all men, but, God through Jesus Christ took the sin of the human race and put it away: "For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26). So, what is this disposition of sin? It is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the disposition of self-realization---I am my own god. Does this not go against the world's teaching that man must come to self-realization? Yes! This disposition is worked out in decorous ways, that is showing respect for social customs and manners. It is the culture of this world that is immoral and when we allow this disposition of sin to cause us to believe in self-realization we will sin and allow immorality to enter into our lives, and this due to one's claim to his own right: "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1Corinthians 6:20). You are not your own, you are God's possession and as His possession you must not claim your own right to yourself. Jesus was faced with all sorts of degradation and immorality and even men who were living upright lives. Jesus did not pay any attention to the moral degradation of the one or o the moral attainment of the other, He looked at something we do not see: the disposition.
You, and I are born with sin and we cannot touch it, we cannot change it, we cannot do anything about it no matter how good we may live. Only God can touch it and this He did in Redemption, on the cross of Jesus Christ where the sin of the world was redeemed from the possibility of damnation through this heredity of sin. You are not held responsible for the heredity of sin. The condemnation is not this heredity, Adam gave this heredity to the human race, you did not have a choice in this matter. Here is the crux of the matter: When you realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver you and me form sin, and if we refuse to let Him do so, then from that moment you are sealed for damnation. John wrote: "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:5): "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because there deeds were evil" (John 3: 20).
If Jesus is to regenerate you, or me, the problem He is up against is that you and I have a heredity and we must say: "I am not holy, nor likely to be," so we must recognize our sinfulness and the need for a Savior. So then, If Jesus Christ is to regenerate a person that person come to the understanding that he/she must holy but if this is all that Jesus teaches then we are in despair for we cannot be holy by means of ourselves or by self-realization, we become in despair. But, and this is the most important aspect of regeneration: Jesus must be the One to regenerate us and this by putting into us His holiness, then by this we can come to see what He means when He says that we must be holy. Only Jesus can put into man the heredity of Himself that heredity of His disposition and all the standards He gives based on that disposition. Sin brought death for all men, Jesus brought life and it this life that He puts into all who believe and convert to Him. This is the verdict that Jesus transacted upon the cross on sin.
Just as the disposition of sin entered into the human race by one man, so the Holy Spirit entered into the human race by one Man, Jesus Christ. By this then redemption is that you and I can be delivered from the heredity of sin and can receive through Jesus Christ the removal of the stain of sin, that tarnishing of self-realization. All this is done by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
How does this relate to the letter to Philemon? If you do not come to realize your state, your desire for self right and governing then you will make decision that are in opposition to God. We must realize that we have a responsibility to God when we believe and convert to Him. This is what is meant by an Authentic Christian. While not perfect will strive to live by the standards of God and not men.
And I commanded the Levites that they
should cleanse themselves, and that
they should come and keep the gates,
to sanctify the sabbath day.
Remember me, O my God, concerning
this also, and spare me according
to the greatness of thy mercy.
Nehemiah 13:22
As a priest of God: you are a Levite
Richard L. Crumb
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