Thursday, August 15, 2013
No Need To Teach?!
A startling verse in Jeremiah (31:34):
Mark Roberts comments on this passage:
So often we approach evangelism as if people do not know they are sinners - they know it, they just can't face it. Our job is not to teach them they are sinners, but simply to look at what is plainly in front of their face. It is more a matter of counseling than teaching.
I wonder how different things would be if we quit teaching and got busy dealing with people directly and intimately?
counseling sin teaching
“And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."Will not need to teach! Will not need to teach? I thought it was all about preaching and teaching.
Mark Roberts comments on this passage:
The Jewish people knew that their sin had gotten them into deep trouble. The Lord had promised to bless them richly if only they were faithful to his covenant and kept his law. But they consistently rejected God and his ways.
[...]
We also long to be forgiven and to have our lives made right by God. Yet our longing is unlike that of Israel, because we can enjoy God’s forgiveness right now through faith in Christ. What God promised through Jeremiah can be ours today.
Yet, at the same time, we recognize that the full impact of God’s forgiveness is yet to come. The restoration of all things has begun, but is not yet completed. Even in our own lives, the impact of our sin often remains even though God forgives us.We know our sin. It is evident in our lives. We may choose to ignore it. We may rationalize it as not being sin, but we KNOW our sin. And once we are in touch with our sin, the gospel sort of falls in place like dominoes in a line.
So often we approach evangelism as if people do not know they are sinners - they know it, they just can't face it. Our job is not to teach them they are sinners, but simply to look at what is plainly in front of their face. It is more a matter of counseling than teaching.
I wonder how different things would be if we quit teaching and got busy dealing with people directly and intimately?
counseling sin teaching
