“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother, But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” Matthew 18:15-17
It is not an easy thing when someone has, or is, offending you. The innocent party, who has been wronged, naturally feels like it is the offender’s duty to do whatever is necessary in apologizing, etc., to make things right. But guess what…that is not the way it works in most cases.
We must consider what it took for us, the offender, the transgressor, the sinner, the guilty party, to become reconciled with God. If it had been left up to us, it never would have happened. We would have just continued on as a sinner, offending God. It took God, whom we have all offended by our sin, to send His righteous, only begotten Son to suffer and die for our sins, so as to make possible our reconciliation with Him.
Thus when it comes to those who have offended us, God calls upon us, the innocent party, to take the steps necessary to resolve the matter with the guilty party: “…if thy brother shall trespass against thee, (you) go and tell him his fault…”
Yes, the offense is the offender’s guilt and fault, but just fixing the guilt doesn’t and won’t resolve the problem, anymore than the proof that we are sinners before God will result in reconciliation with God.
If we expect to get out from under the stress that the offense against us has caused, we must necessarily follow the Lord’s example as well as obey His commandment to go to the offender ourselves, following the course that Christ said to follow in Matthew 18:15-17.
Christ did not say to just wait for the other person to quit offending, or move away; or just wait for it all to go away; or wait for the church, or someone else to solve this problem for you. He said you go and undertake to solve the problem according to God’s Word, doing so by faith in God’s will and way. Should we not obey Christ, we have no one to blame but ourselves for the problem not being solved. FAITH IS THE VICTORY!
SHARING
