Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #29: Given Over
“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”—1 Timothy 1:18-20
If we continue to give ourselves over to sin, then God will act because He will not have His name impugned. Whenever a believer obstinately refuses to repent, habitually continues in a known sin without any desire or action to turn from that sin, God will eventually give them over to the full consequences of that sin.
Whenever a believer in Christ sins, we are to come alongside that person to restore them to proper fellowship with Christ and His church. As Paul wrote, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted”—Galatians 6:1. Jesus also said this in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” But what happens if the brother or sister refuses to listen? Jesus explains it further,
“But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”—Matthew 18:16-17.
The process for biblical confrontation then is going to the person who has wronged or sinned against you. If they listen, then you have won your brother—which means that the two of you have been restored to proper fellowship together and God is glorified (cf. John 13:35; 17:21). If the brother or sister refuses to listen, then two or three witnesses to that sin come along with the offended brother. If the offender listens, fellowship is restored and God is glorified. If not, then the issue is brought before the entire church body. If the brother or sister repents, then once again, God is glorified, but if their heart is hardened to that, then they are removed from church fellowship. The principle serves to illustrate the seriousness of sin—it can have an effect on the entire church body, and since the sinning person is intentionally turning against God and His people, they are removed from the fellowship which illustrates the tangible physical element of what God has decreed to happen spiritually. As Paul wrote to the church at Corinth when having to deal with someone in blatant, unrepentant sexual sin, “…you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord”—1 Corinthians 5:5.
In today’s passage, Paul writes about two men who were to be handed over to Satan—Hymenaeus and Alexander. We don’t know much about them save to say that they had shipwrecked their faith and their conscience by indulging in some type of sin (commission or omission) that we are not privy to. The specifics, which led to their church discipline, are not listed, but the results are—they were removed from fellowship. Whenever a believer is removed from fellowship it is not for the purpose of humiliation, but in the hope of restoration. The believer is handed over to the “god of this world” so that they might understand the error of their way. The hope is that the person having been removed from the community of God and the blessings and hedge of protection (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:5) thereof will see the error of his or her ways and then turn back to God.
The question we must ask ourselves is this: are we giving ourselves over to sin so much that God might give us over to Satan? Or are we running to the cross in sorrow and repentance once we have sinned, asking God to forgive us and then accepting that forgiveness? Are we tolerating any known sin in our life, even to the point that we are excusing it? Or are we willing to drag it into the light of God’s word, willing to have God bring conviction so that it might be confessed, forgiven and forsaken? God desires that we live pure and holy lives. We know that we sin every day and that there are certain sins with which we have wrestled for years. But, we also know that God desires for us to have sensitive hearts quickened by the Spirit of God for the purpose of forsaking sin so that God’s power may radiate from us.
May God give us the courage to drag our sins into the light of His countenance so as to receive the forgiveness made available through the death and resurrection of Christ. Amen.
If we continue to give ourselves over to sin, then God will act because He will not have His name impugned. Whenever a believer obstinately refuses to repent, habitually continues in a known sin without any desire or action to turn from that sin, God will eventually give them over to the full consequences of that sin.
Whenever a believer in Christ sins, we are to come alongside that person to restore them to proper fellowship with Christ and His church. As Paul wrote, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted”—Galatians 6:1. Jesus also said this in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” But what happens if the brother or sister refuses to listen? Jesus explains it further,
“But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”—Matthew 18:16-17.
The process for biblical confrontation then is going to the person who has wronged or sinned against you. If they listen, then you have won your brother—which means that the two of you have been restored to proper fellowship together and God is glorified (cf. John 13:35; 17:21). If the brother or sister refuses to listen, then two or three witnesses to that sin come along with the offended brother. If the offender listens, fellowship is restored and God is glorified. If not, then the issue is brought before the entire church body. If the brother or sister repents, then once again, God is glorified, but if their heart is hardened to that, then they are removed from church fellowship. The principle serves to illustrate the seriousness of sin—it can have an effect on the entire church body, and since the sinning person is intentionally turning against God and His people, they are removed from the fellowship which illustrates the tangible physical element of what God has decreed to happen spiritually. As Paul wrote to the church at Corinth when having to deal with someone in blatant, unrepentant sexual sin, “…you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord”—1 Corinthians 5:5.
In today’s passage, Paul writes about two men who were to be handed over to Satan—Hymenaeus and Alexander. We don’t know much about them save to say that they had shipwrecked their faith and their conscience by indulging in some type of sin (commission or omission) that we are not privy to. The specifics, which led to their church discipline, are not listed, but the results are—they were removed from fellowship. Whenever a believer is removed from fellowship it is not for the purpose of humiliation, but in the hope of restoration. The believer is handed over to the “god of this world” so that they might understand the error of their way. The hope is that the person having been removed from the community of God and the blessings and hedge of protection (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:5) thereof will see the error of his or her ways and then turn back to God.
The question we must ask ourselves is this: are we giving ourselves over to sin so much that God might give us over to Satan? Or are we running to the cross in sorrow and repentance once we have sinned, asking God to forgive us and then accepting that forgiveness? Are we tolerating any known sin in our life, even to the point that we are excusing it? Or are we willing to drag it into the light of God’s word, willing to have God bring conviction so that it might be confessed, forgiven and forsaken? God desires that we live pure and holy lives. We know that we sin every day and that there are certain sins with which we have wrestled for years. But, we also know that God desires for us to have sensitive hearts quickened by the Spirit of God for the purpose of forsaking sin so that God’s power may radiate from us.
May God give us the courage to drag our sins into the light of His countenance so as to receive the forgiveness made available through the death and resurrection of Christ. Amen.
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