Christian Basics
Christian Basics Part 2
Basic Law is love (v.8)
Love forbids stealing (v.9).
Love forbids a false witness (v.9).
An Indian Christian, Sandhu Singh, made a perceptive statement when he said, "One day I was sitting on the banks of a river. I took from the water a round stone and I broke it. Inside it was perfectly dry. That stone had been lying in the water for a long time but the water had not penetrated it. Then I thought that the same thing happened to men in Europe. For centuries they have been surrounded by Christianity but Christianity has not penetrated, does not live within them.“ Contributed by Owen Bourgaize
Are you ready to get back to work on your Christian basics? Let’s see what additional things God wants to work throughout us…
Love forbids stealing (v.9).
For this…Thou shalt not steal… Romans 13:9
“Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15; Deut. 5:19).
Stealing means to cheat or take wrongfully from another person, either legally or illegally.
The laws of men are not the laws of God...
Something often misunderstood about stealing:
Men sometimes use the law to steal.
Men can take from others without ever breaking a law.
Men can secure too much, well beyond what they need—something that rightfully belongs to others.
The Bible teaches that taking something which is actually possessed or personally owned by another is stealing.
If they own it, you take it, your guilty of stealing.
“Not purloining [stealing], but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (Titus 2:10).
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief” (1 Peter 4:15).
“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1).
“It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth” (Proverbs 20:14).
A person steals by hoarding and banking more than needed. What are they truly trusting in?
…Keeping back is stealing...
·keeping what is not needed for one’s own needs.
·keeping back what is desperately needed by others.
·taking away what nature and the earth provide to meet the needs of the all.
·hoarding knowledge, gifts and blessings God gave to be used for the welfare of a desperate world filled with so many less privileged and gifted.
You call it what you like, God calls it stealing.
God commands:
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
God says: love each other and share the blessings of the earth.
When we use our God-given ability to make money and produce goods, and then begin to keep back and hoard, we are stealing; by keeping for ourselves what rightfully belongs to others.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
What is the answer? Love—loving people enough to stop stealing from them, remember that words alone are not enough.
Scripture says:
“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).
“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity” (Eccles. 5:10).
Love forbids a false witness (v.9).
For this…Thou shalt not bear false witness… Romans 13:9
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16; Deut. 5:20).
Most people think this means in a courtroom and lying against someone in court.
But not bearing false witness means far more than not lying against someone in court. Bearing false witness means any kind of lying.
Rumor, gossip or tale-bearing:
“And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not” (1 Tim. 5:13).
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters” (1 Peter 4:15).
“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people” (Leviticus 19:16).
“A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” (Proverbs 11:13).
“A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends” (Proverbs 16:28).
“Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth” (Proverbs 26:20).
Suggestive hints:
“Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness” (Exodus 23:1).
“Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders” (Jeremiah 9:4).
Deception:
“He that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit” (Proverbs 12:17).
“Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause; and deceive not with thy lips” (Proverbs 24:28).
Charges and criticism:
“For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life” (Psalm 31:13).
Exaggeration and blown up flattery:
“Let me not, I pray you, accept any man’s person; neither let me give flattering titles unto man” (Job 32:21).
“He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips” (Proverbs 20:19).
“A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin” (Proverbs 26:28).
“He that rebuketh a man, afterward shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue” (Proverbs 28:23).
“A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet” (Proverbs 29:5).
“The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things” (Psalm 12:3).
So does this mean God leaves no room for us to discuss bad news with others?
In so speaking, we should not discuss bad news about another person, because it’s almost impossible to discuss bad news about someone and not bear some false witness.
Instead we are to love and comfort in bad times.
God expects the person to be led to repentance and restored. God does not expect the person to be torn down by false witnesses.
Be careful:
False witness is usually shared with loved ones and good friends, who we feel are trusted. What is overlooked is that our loved ones and friends have friends who can also be trusted. So the bad news spreads farther and more damage and hurt done to the cause of Christ. This is why God forbids we share failure, except in dealing with the person about the issue.
Bearing tales about a person, true or untrue, always hurts the person.
“All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt” (Psalm 41:7).
“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Proverbs 18:8).
“A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow” (Proverbs 25:18).
Have you put away these things in your life?
The only way to truly put them away is to come to the love that is found in submission to Christ Jesus alone. Will you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in your life today?
Then will you commit to attend at least one additional Christian fellowship this next week? We would love the additional time of fellowship with you.
