Every day, believers live before the face of Father God. As well, every day the believer faces temptation to sin. When we try to hide from the Lord, he finds us and disciplines or corrects us. Scripture teaches this holy rebuke leads us on a transformational journey; in this way God loves our souls into wholeness (Heb. 12:6).
The word, ‘rebuke’ in Scripture involves a corrective action; it encourages repentance of sin, a turn toward the Truth, and welcoming the work of the Spirit for transformation. It does not involve tearing down a person or heaping a load of guilt on him or her. The goal of rebuke is restoration. It is accomplished by exposing sin and how it is seeking to destroy souls. When a person turns back to God, forgiveness is given and the work of faith to pursue righteousness is restored.
Believers are called to rebuke one another or speak the Truth in love, as well. This is how we support and encourage one another to press on toward God’s call from heaven through Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14). Because of the constant temptation before us, we can get terribly distracted and wander off course. The world tempts us with a lot of bright shiny objects—something visually appealing but temporal—that draws our attention away from the most important or eternal things in life.
In our passage today, Luke teaches a rebuke must reveal the big picture, because we are not called to point out every sin we may see in a person. We do bring sin to a person’s attention in order to restore him or her to God and many times to others. Forgiveness is the purpose and rebuke helps to accomplish that godly goal. Who needs forgiveness? The answer is everyone! We may not like being confronted with our wrong attitudes or actions, but we all need forgiveness and by the grace of God we can find the Way.
Luke 17:1-4 NLT Teachings about Forgiveness and Faith
1 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves!
“If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the tremendous work of the Truth to bring the necessary rebuke to our lives. We need the Truth spoken to us in love, because that is how you raise us as your children. Becoming offended by the Truth causes us to wander longer and experience more suffering. May we be quick to listen to the rebuke of the Spirit, as well as the love motivating our brothers and sisters to get our attention. We can certainly be blind to our own issues and we need your love to save us. Thank you, Lord, for your faithful love and forgiveness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.