Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Leviticus 19:16-17)
Four things in this part of the Law; don’t gossip, nor confirm gossip that may harm a person, don’t hate in your heart and correct a sinner so that he won’t continue in it.
Gossip is something that people love to hear and don’t realize that it’s demonic. It accuses the brethren, which is what the devil does. He is called the accuser of the brethren. (Job 1:6-11; Revelation 12:10) Even if the gossip is true, we are commanded not to gossip. Gossip is the product of what Peter called malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, and evil speakings. (1Peter 2:1) Its intention is to do ill towards another. It’s a scheming manner in which to harm another. It’s deceitful because while trying to bring harm to another, the gossiper is lifting himself up as more righteous. It has its roots in envy. It is evil and destructive especially if it’s gossip about a pastor or someone in authority. It rips them of their position, influence and ability to do what is required. We should not be any part of gossiping nor allow it to continue.
We are commanded to approach the brethren that is sinning. The Scripture is not clear if it means either the gossiper or the one who is being gossiped about. But we can see that we must approach the brethren to repent, the gossiper or the one who is being gossiped about. David wrote: “A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.” (Psalms 15:1-3) Other versions say in verse 2, “...the one that is blameless...” instead of walks uprightly. None of us are perfect, but our hearts should be blameless. (James 3:2) It is demonic and evil to wish anyone harm, even if they are sinning. Many of the brethren are sweet as honey to one’s face, but in their hearts may hate you because of sin or alleged sin. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1John 4:20)
The Word of God has given us a way to approach another brother with whom we have a problem. The Law says in Leviticus “rebuke thy neighbor,” in other words correct him. Jesus gave us a way to approach a brother who has sinned against us. But it’s possible to use this manner in approaching a brother who is in sin. Right away I know people are protesting about approaching a brother who is sinning, but it’s Scriptural. “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20) Our motivation is what will determine if we should approach a brother or not. Is it to point out his sin to him or to save him? Our motivation and heart desire must be because we love our brethren and desire for him to repent and be reconciled to God. And it should be done in private. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32) God loved us while we were His enemies. God loves the sinner, but not the sin. “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) They may or may not receive it. If they do, then you have saved them. If not, you are free from blame.
There is Scripture from Ezekiel about pointing out sin. The Lord made Ezekiel a watchman over Israel. In other words, he was to warn Israel when they sinned so they would turn from their sin. God has made us watchmen over each other, not to lord it over each other but to love each other enough to point us in the right direction when we are going the wrong way. “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.” (Ezekiel 3:17-21)
Remember that Ezekiel lived before Jesus. There was no propitiation for sin. It’s a sin of omission when we fail to warn our brethren. But because of Jesus, this sin is forgiven. Although we are redeemed and all of our sin is forgiven, the blame and guilt that will come when a brother dies in sin will be a hard thing to overcome in our consciousness. I believe the majority of us will not warn a brother of sin because we don’t like to offend, or we are afraid that our brother will not accept the correction and will no longer consider us their friend. It’s not something to take lightly. It’s a necessary thing to do if we love our brother, but when we do approach our brethren about sin in their lives, we need to approach it knowing none of us are blameless in our flesh. “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? (Matthew 7:3) Approach the brother from a motivation of love. (Ephesians 4:32) Approach him at the right time and only about that issue. And approach him privately. (Matthew 18:15) And have Scripture available.
We tend to obey parts of the Bible that are agreeable with us. Some commands like the one above are difficult to obey, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be a blessing to our brethren. We all have brethren that have sin because we all sin. (1John 1:8) Sometimes it’s just a temporary slip due to circumstances. We can pray for them at those times. But we must address continual, blatant and progressive sin because we love them.
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