As disciples of Christ, we have a responsibility to non-believers to witness to them. However, they may raise objections to that sting. This daily devotional looks at how we stay away from evil and respond when non-believers call us for our failure to do so.
Nuggets
- Disciples of Christ must stay away from some situations, as appearances can be deceiving.
- Non-believers may make false accusations – or point out our failures in following God’s laws and commandments – but we need to act the way God wants us to.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Moralities Lead to Godliness series
We’ve been stepping through Manton’s sermon entitled The Moralities of Christianity to see what we can glean to aid us in redoing our character. The next section discusses something that we don’t always want to hear. Manton wrote, “There are some things which have no express evil in them, but they are not of good fame.
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Let’s see where the verses take us.
Let's Put It into Context
The definition of moral, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.” Morality, then, is “a doctrine or system of moral conduct.” When it is the plural form — moralities — it is a “particular moral principles or rules of conduct.”
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Our morals determine our character. Character, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”
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Evil is equated with sin because it is that which goes against God and His purposes.
Disciples of Christ Need to Be Conscious of Temptations
“Stay away from every kind of evil” (I Thess. 5: 22 CSB)
Disciples of Christ must stay away from some situations, as appearances can be deceiving.
I try to use the newer versions for verses to cut down on the Shakespeare speak. But sometimes the versions seem to soft petal what the verse says in the King James Version.
Case in point. The newer versions of translate First Thessalonians 5: 22 to say just stay away from evil.
The King James Version translated it as “abstain from all appearance of evil” (I Thess. 5: 22 KJV). Stay away from anything that even looks like evil.
I think what Manton is getting at is appearances can be deceiving. We have to look below the surface to see the temptations it presents us.
We can’t put ourselves into positions that are tempting us to sin. Brooks wrote, “A man will never begin to be good till he begins to decline those occasions that have made him bad …” That means we have to turn away from the opportunities to sin.
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The small sins can be just as dangerous as the large sins. Well, sometimes they can be even more dangerous because of their deceptive nature. They can take on a variety of forms.
It boils down to what sort of temptation is leading us away from God.
God commanded the Israelites to destroy all the idols of the nations they conquered (Deut. 12: 2-3). They weren’t supposed to leave them around to tempt them into sinning.
We have to be careful as to how others interpret sin. We are never going to totally agree that something is a sin. (Case in point. Abortion: is it murder or not?)
We have to watch what obstacles we put in someone else’s path. “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother” (Rom. 14: 13 ESV).
Paul used food as an example. “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble” (I Cor. 8: 13 ESV). It is better to give up something that really isn’t a sin than to have you or someone else commit the sin because of it.
Beddome cautions that this must be within reason. We need not give up something because someone has an unreasonable belief that it is a sin but has no substantiation in Scriptures.
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Then there are the things that border sinfulness or could lead to sinfulness. David walking around the rooftop in the middle of the night wasn’t sinful. The sin came in when he didn’t turn away from the sight of Bathsheba. Instead, he chose to commit adultery and murder (II Sam. 11).
We have to remember that our relationship with God is an inward thing that presents itself outwardly. Peck wrote, “Hence outward religion comes to be magnified at the expense of inward holiness.”
Don’t read that to mean our actions aren’t important. They are. Peck also said that “… the appearance of evil is an essential attribute of entire sanctification.” Sanctification uses our actions to change our character to be like God’s.
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Glossary
Deems encouraged us to focus on what this passage was really trying to tell us. If it is truly is a sin, abstinence is our best bet to keep us from committing it — whatever form it morphs itself into. It just may not look at it at first glance.
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Man, I feel like we circled around a lot of things there. But that goes to show how difficult it is to resist sin. The only way we can do it is to be grounded in God.
Disciples of Christ Need to Watch Their Witness
“Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits” (I Pet. 2: 12 CSB)
Non-believers may make false accusations – or point out our failures in following God’s laws and commandments – but we need to act the way God wants us to.
Peter stopped me for a second with what he said first. “Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles …” (I Pet. 2: 12 CSB).
Is Peter trying to tell us we act differently depending on who we are around? We act differently Sunday morning when in worship service than we do Monday morning at work???
Should we? Peter answered with a big no. We are to conduct ourselves honorably. That tells us a couple of things.
- We are to be in the world. We are to have contact with non-believers.
- We are to be consistent in our behavior.
Easy-peasy? No way!
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
When we make a profession of faith, we need to make sure we do the turn-away part of repentance. Repentance is acknowledging our separation from God and expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to changing ourselves through obedience so that we no longer do the wrong things.
Paul talked about becoming all things to all men (I Cor. 19-23). We do need to do that to a point. However, we cannot change our beliefs — and commit sins — to fit in with others.
What Peter is really getting at here is that we have to remain pure in heart regardless of our location and company at the time.
Arnot explained this for us. He wrote, “… the sense in this text is, the whole habit and life course of a person — his character and temper and conduct in presence of his fellows. At all times, and in all circumstances, walk circumspectly, for you never know who may be looking on.”
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This is talking about our walk. We are directed to walk in the Spirit.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
A couple of devotions ago, we said that honest, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a “adherence to the facts” and “fairness and straightforwardness of conduct.” Arnot described that this way: “Let all the circumference of your life shine in the beauty of holiness.”
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Isn’t it a little scary that Peter said, “… so that when they slander you as evildoers …” (I Pet. 2: 12 CSB). Not if. When.
Paul said about the same exact thing. He did give us a little clue as to how to accomplish the good works.
“In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us” (Ti. 2: 7-8 NIV).
We are going for an honest, pure life. We want to keep it pure because those watching — and non-believers will be watching — usually believe what feels the opposite of what we do.
All disciples have the job description of preach the gospel and make disciples. But many of us aren’t comfortable with doing that.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
We see all of our sins and think God can’t use us. We forget, as Barrow said, that “Christianity itself never supposes its followers to be without fault, that its influence can secure unerring obedience to its own laws.”
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God calls us to live our lives as a witness — and to use our words to tell about Him. But He doesn’t take away our free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
We have to make daily choices to follow God. Unfortunately, sometimes we make the wrong choices. God will forgive us when we ask. Forgiveness is, when we ask, God pardons us because we have broken His laws and commandments and restores our relationship with Him.
Peter reminded us that the good works we do are to glorify God. It is not so we get attaboys and attagirls. We are performing kingdom tasks to expand His kingdom.
I had no idea what Peter was talking about when he wrote, “… on the day he visits” (I Pet. 2: 12 CSB). Rogers explained that is the day of conversion.
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The only way we can glorify God is to accept His gift of salvation. Salvation is deliverance from evil and the consequences of sins to replace them with good and eternal life.
God, through His mercy, comes to us to call us to salvation. It doesn’t matter what we have done or have not done. God can forgive us of our sins.
Making the Connections
Deems reminded us that “the most important thing about any man is his faith.” Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives. Our beliefs reveal themselves in our actions.
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Paul was big on unity. “There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope at your calling — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4: 4-6 CSB).
Still, are we really going to all believe the same thing? What some believe is a sin, others won’t. We aren’t going to have total agreement. Plus, if we do agree it is a sin, we won’t have agreement on how to avoid it.
If all parties involved believe that we have to
- admit that mankind was separated from God after the original sin, making us sinners;
- believe Jesus paid the penalty for those sins to become our Savior and Redeemer;
- confess God as Sovereign God; and
- demonstrate that commitment by submitting our lives to follow His laws and commandments,
we shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.
How Do We Apply This?
We need to “keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4: 23 KJV). It is more than just keeping it “above all else” as the newer versions translate it. It is the diligence — a consistent, persistent effort.
We have to hook that with watchfulness. The situation may not be sending up red flags that evil is in the building. We have to be ever mindful of how God wants us to act.
Doesn’t that flip the narrative? It isn’t about do this, don’t do this. It is about being. Our goal must be to always obey God by having His godly character as our own.
When non-believers give us a bad report, we need to look to God and see how He wants us to change. Then we make sure that we are living what we profess.
Father. We want to be like You. We want to have Your character. That is more than just doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. We are preparing ourselves for the day You will call us home. Amen.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
What do you think?
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