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June 8th
Devotional
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DISCIPLINE BRINGS LIFE
Matthew 18:18-19 "Verily I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I
say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which
is in heaven."
MATTHEW 18:15-19
Verses 18 and 19 have many applications, but taken in context, they are specifically referring to church discipline. Some might think that church discipline is only symbolic and carries no real weight; however, Jesus is making it clear that in the spiritual realm, discipline that is directed by the Holy Spirit has much power.
The scriptural commands concerning church discipline are designed to help restore the brother or sister who is in sin just as much as they are designed to protect other members of the body from that sin. If the person being disciplined repents, the objective has been achieved and no further action should be taken. Church discipline is two-fold. It consists of withdrawing both our fellowship and our intercession.
Proper intercession can actually keep Satan "at bay" though an individual is living in great sin.
This is good if the person uses this freedom to repent and come back to God. But, if the person takes this freedom from the wages of sin to commit more sin, there comes a time when this form of intercession ceases to be beneficial. In that case, intercession against Satan's attacks should be withdrawn, and we should actually retain that person's sins unto him so that he can no longer get by without experiencing the death that sin brings (Rom. 6:23).
23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through -
"in" Jesus Christ our Lord - This concluding verse as pointed as it is brief - contains the marrow, the most fine gold, of the Gospel. As the laborer is worthy of his hire, and feels it to be his due - his own of right so is death the due of sin, the wages the sinner has well wrought for, his own.
But "eternal life" is in no sense or degree the wages of our righteousness; we do nothing whatever to earn or become entitled to it, and never can: it is therefore, in the most absolute sense, "THE GIFT OF God."
Grace reigns in the bestowal of it in every case, and that "in Jesus Christ our Lord," as the righteous Channel of it. In view of this, who that hath tasted that the Lord is gracious can refrain from saying, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen!" (Re 1:5, 6).
As he starts reaping what he has sown, it, hopefully, will cause him to turn back to the goodness of God that he once enjoyed.
This is the binding and loosing being referred to in this verse. Heaven and earth are affected by our binding and loosing.
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