My Thoughts. . .
Monday, 10-11-2021 & Thursday, 10-14-2021

Paul corrected Peter in Galatians 2. Did Paul have a debate with himself before he confronted the fisherman? Sometimes a situation presents a “no win results.” If he corrects Peter, will his intrusion be interpreted as poking his nose into something that is none of his business? What if Peter and others misinterpret what Paul is doing? His actions only adds more fuel to the fire making things worse? Did Paul grapple with the fact that he was not perfect and Peter could point out his sins too? If so, what if Peter’s revelation was more shocking about Paul than what Paul was correcting about Peter? Did Paul have any of those thoughts or did he just wade in to correct Peter despite the outcome?

When the Chloe family informed Paul of the sinful practices in the Corinthian assembly, why did Paul decide that only one man needed to be withdrawn from? Why did God continue to indwell those disciples? Were they without fault? Did God not know what Corinth was doing before the Chloe family put pen to paper?

Jesus told Peter that before the rooster woke everyone up, Peter would deny him three times. Peter not only denied Jesus, he added something to his speech to emphasize that denial. When Jesus rose from the tomb and sat eating with Peter and others, he turned and spoke to the apostle. If you were in Peter’s sandals, what would be the first thing to roll off your tongue in that situation? Would you not apologize for your blustering denial as well as your prideful speech before going to the garden where Jesus prayed? If your reply was the same as Peter’s when a young slave girl asked if he was a disciple of Jesus, would those who heard your impressive denials have thought, “Wow, you really loves Jesus”? What would be your first thoughts later on when Jesus came into your presence? Would your first words to him be an apology and tearful pleas begging for forgiveness?

There are times when we need correcting when our situation infects not only us, but many others. If one’s shortcomings forbids him from correcting another, then no one could teach another the gospel of Christ without first becoming perfect (sinless) himself. Paul never claimed to be perfect. No other apostle did.

The Corinthian brethren were riddled with error which needed to be corrected. That one individual who Paul commanded them to withdraw from was guilty of doing what pagans did not indulge in. God is patient and so He continued to indwell the membership while they made those speedless corrections. They needed to discipline that one person to save his soul, to stop the act he was engaged in, and begin getting themselves “right with God.” Our patience cannot be compared to God’s patience since our actions today show we would have withdrawn from the entire assembly in Corinth. We would not have restore that fellowship until the invitation given was quickly fulfilled by every erring member.

Some folks view Jesus as a strict, frowned face wearing Savior. For some, he never smiled. He never told a joke nor laughed when a disciple told one. He was all business and never happy unless his followers walked in sinless perfection behind him. Some believe he spoke English with a King James accent. The reason he did not condemn the adulterous woman brought before him is that he was not a “personal” witness of her sinful act. According to the Law he had to regretfully let her leave. Of course, was he not telling her to do the impossible by saying, “Go and sin no more”? Would you be capable of doing that?

Why were the first words out of Jesus’ mouth to Peter not, “You need to repent”? If someone in the congregation did what Peter was guilty of, would we slap him on the back and over look his transgression? We would probably feel justified in informing him that he needed to repent and ask for prayer! Is forgiveness given without repentance?

Perhaps all of the dialogue or events surrounding a particular event are not given. Only the point being made is. For example, did the apostles return the man’s donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on? Did they sell it rather than return it? Did the owner come out of the crowd and reclaim it after Jesus no longer needed it? Did they release it hoping it would find its way back to its owner? Did they give it away? When the father brought his son to Jesus and informed the Lord that the boy fell into the fire, did Jesus also heal his scars? When the “about three thousand” were immersed, where did they do it? Did they use some of the pools in the immediate area or did they go to the Jordan River? Who did the immersing? Was anything said prior to each person’s immersion? Since the Bible is silent, does that mean we are at liberty to do what we think the Lord would have done? If so, are we guilty of add to scriptures details which God did not give?

Sadly, Scripture does not always detail the details.