God is no Respecter of persons and neither are his sons (naaangkop ito sa kapwa lalaki at babae). Kahit na, that’s how it should be. In James 2:1 ito ay nakasulat, My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Gayunpaman, this doesn’t always happen in daily life. May mga tao, who call themselves Christians and say to know the Bible, but unlike God, they do have respect of persons. What does the Bible say about respect of persons? Is having respect of persons a sin?
God is no Respecter of persons
God has made His will known through His Word and expects His sons that by the renewing of their minds with the Word, they know His will and execute His will on earth, tulad ni Hesus, who is our Example and has shown us, how a son of God should walk in obedience to God, unlike the sons of the devil, who walk in disobedience to God.
The Father is no Respecter of persons, Panginoong Hesukristo, ang Anak, is no Respecter of persons, at ang Espiritu Santo, Who abides in the new man, also is also no Respecter of persons, but is holy, righteous and acts according to the Word (Basahin din: The conviction of sin in the three dispensations).
The Father has no respect of persons
But glory, honour, at kapayapaan, to every man that worketh good, sa Hudyo muna, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God. Sapagka't ang lahat ng nagkasala ng walang kautusan ay mapapahamak din ng walang kautusan: at lahat ng nagkasala sa batas ay hahatulan ng batas; (Sapagkat hindi ang mga nakikinig ng kautusan ang matuwid sa harap ng Diyos, ngunit ang mga gumagawa ng kautusan ay aaring-ganapin (mga Romano 2:10-13)
God has no respect of persons. God is holy and righteous and makes no distinction and doesn’t consider the natural status and/or the right someone has, which means a privileged position like the right of the firstborn son and the right of the sons of Israel (Jacob (ang sambahayan ni Israel)).
God doesn’t look at that and doesn’t act according to one’s natural position or status, but God acts according to His Word.
God only wants one thing and that is obedience to His Word and that’s only possible if someone believes in God and loves God with all his heart, kaluluwa, isip, and strength and has a fear of God.
Because if this is lacking in a person’s life, the person shall not believe and obey the words of God and keep His commandments, and because of that the person shall not walk in righteousness doing His will.
Adam was God’s son and walked with God until Adam became disobedient to God and left His commandment, and because of his act of disobedience, Adam made God, as it were, a liar.
God spoke the truth, the devil lied, but man chose to believe the words of the devil, na mga kasinungalingan, and obeyed his lies. Because of Adam’s deed, the spirit of man died and man fell from his position and lost his dominion to the devil (which has been restored through – and in Jesus Christ (Basahin din: The peace which Jesus restored between man and God)
Cain was the firstborn and owned the birthright, gayunpaman, Cain didn’t submit to God, but went his own way and rejected the words of God, whereby God rejected Cain (Genesis 4 (Basahin din: Bakit hindi iginalang ng Diyos ang handog ni Cain?)).
Esau was the firstborn of Isaac and possessed the birthright, but Esau was profane and considered his carnal lust more important than his birthright, which was given by God. And so Esau sold his birthright to satisfy his (temporary) hunger, which was objectionable to God and He despised (Genesis 25-28).
Even David, who was a man after God’s heart, did not escape the penalty of his sin (2 Samuel 11-24).
There are many more examples, where God spoke and acted according to His Word; His Law, and His righteousness and was not led by the natural right someone owned, a position of power someone had, nor His feelings and emotions.
The judges of the law were forbidden to judge with respect of persons
And He set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, Who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts (2 Mga Cronica 19:5-7)
These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them. Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer (Kawikaan 24:23-26)
God had made His will known through the law and revealed good and evil and treated everyone equally. God was not partial and didn’t judge with respect of persons and God wanted His judges of the law, who would judge for the Lord and not for man, that they would judge everyone equally and didn’t judge with respect of persons, just like God.
If something was evil then it was evil, if something was good, it was good. If someone had done evil, then the evil had to be punished according to the law, no matter who was standing in front of the judge(s).
The judges of the law were also not allowed to take gifts of people, because that could also influence their judgement.
Eli had respect of persons
The sons of Eli were an abomination to God, but unlike Eli, who knew about the sins of his sons but didn’t do anything about it but let them have their way, God didn’t let them have their way and intervened, despite the fact that they were the sons of Eli and were born as priests and were raised and appointed in the priesthood (1 Samuel 2,3,4).
God saw a bunch of prideful rebels, who didn’t fear God and made the service of the Lord a mockery and a disgrace, and refused to submit to God and obey the Law of Moses and keep God’s commandments, and slept with women.
The priests despised God and defiled the sacrifice of the Lord and mocked God. And since the priests were mediators and representatives for God and His will (Kanyang batas), their sins affected the people’s view of God, whereby the people despised God.
Eli didn’t intervene, but God intervened and dealt with the prideful and rebellious behavior of the priests and the disobedience to God of Eli and his sons (Basahin din: Ang espiritu ni Eli).
God will not let anyone stop Him. God is God, He is almighty, banal, and righteous and He has no respect of persons and doesn’t judge with respect of persons.
God shall never approve of the sinful behavior of His people. Sin shall never remain unpunished, not even among His sons, who keep living in sin.
God loves people, but He can’t have communion with sin, which He showed when Jesus was crucified and carried the sins of the world. Even Jesus had no privileged position and was no exception to the rule (Basahin din: Maaari kang mabuhay sa kasalanan at maligtas? at Ang katotohanan tungkol sa pagtanggi)
Jesus has no respect of persons
Hesus, ang Anak ng Diyos, has no respect of persons, but Jesus acts and judges the works of man according to the Word. Jesus treated everyone equally. There was no difference in the way Jesus treated the poor and the rich, the insignificant and the significant, those who held a lower position in society and those who held a higher position in society. Everyone was equal to Jesus.
Jesus didn’t act from His emotions, nor His feelings, but Jesus acted in obedience to His Father and the words He spoke.
Jesus didn’t let the children of Israel continue in their sins, but He preached the Kingdom of God and called the people of the house of Israël to repentance and the removal of sin.
Jesus didn’t fellowship with sinners, but with repented sinners, who were born of the seed of Israel, but gave heed to the call of repentance.
Sila ay mga makasalanan, because they didn’t keep the Law of Moses, but when they heard the message of the Kingdom and the call to repentance, they believed the words of Jesus and that Jesus was sent by God and was the Messiah and gave heed to His call and repented of their wicked works and yielded to Jesus and did what Jesus commanded them to do and were baptized in water and followed Him (Basahin din: Si Jesus ba ay Kaibigan ng mga publikano?)
Unlike many of the prideful learned Pharisees, Sadducees and (high)priests, who were influential and were esteemed by the people, but refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and that Jesus was sent by God and therefore they refused to repent and be binyagan.
They considered Jesus as the son of Beelzebub and a sinner, who didn’t belong to God but was an enemy of God and His house.
But Jesus wasn’t influenced and moved by them nor intimidated by what they said and did and didn’t compromise and do His best to be liked and accepted by them.
Jesus didn’t look at their outward appearance and their position in God’s house and their influential position in society, but Jesus looked at their hearts, by the Holy Spirit and spoke to them from the will and knowledge of God and condemned their wicked works, just like Jesus condemned the wicked works of sinners.
Jesus doesn’t act with respect of persons
While He yet talked to the people, masdan, His mother and His brethren stood without, desiring to speak with Him. Then one said unto Him, Masdan, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with Thee. But He answered and said unto him that told him, Sino ang Aking ina? at sino ang Aking mga kapatid? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, at sinabi, Behold My mother and My brethren! Sapagkat ang sinumang gagawa ng kalooban ng Aking Ama na nasa langit, ganoon din ang Aking kapatid, at ate, at ina (Mateo 12:46-50)
Jesus treated everyone equally. He made no distinction between people and was not afraid of the consequences thereof. Even the mother and brothers of Jesus were no exception to the rule.
Jesus made it very clear through His words that a natural position was not authoritative and didn’t make a difference in His treatment of someone, nor the place the person had in His life.
The will of God and obedience to His will were (at hanggang ngayon) authoritative.
The Holy Spirit has no respect of persons
The Holy Spirit has also no respect of persons. He acts according to the Word, wherein the will of God is revealed.
Mula sa sandaling ito, that Peter was born again and he received the Holy Spirit, Who made His abode in Him, Peter couldn’t stay silent but Peter preached in boldness the gospel of Jesus Christ and called the people of the house of Israel to repentance.
Peter, who was led by the Holy Spirit, was just like His Father and just like His Lord and Master confrontational and spoke hard and even accusative words, to the children of Israel, who had come from all over the world to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of firstlings.
When they heard the hard confrontational preaching of Peter, who spoke from the Spirit, many of them repented and 3000 souls were saved and baptized in water (despite the fact that they were circumcised).
When Ananias stood before Peter and later on his wife Sapphira, and they lied to the Holy Spirit and assumed they could deceive Him, the Holy Spirit didn’t act with respect of persons because they were members of the Church. Instead of getting away with their lies and deceit and enjoying their money, God took them and they died.
There are many more examples, wherein the Holy Spirit, Who lives in fullness in the new man, didn’t act with respect of persons, but acted from the will of the Father in obedience to the Word and dealt with evil.
Yung, who had become the new man and were continuously led by the Holy Spirit, didn’t have respect of persons, and therefore they spoke the truth boldly and preached the uncompromised gospel of Jesus Christ and the call to repentance and because that many true sons of God were born, who walked in obedience to Jesus Christ and the Father.
Christians, who have respect of persons
A born-again Christian has laid down his or her own life and has died in Christ and has been raised from the dead in Christ and has become a new creation. Sa pamamagitan ng bautismo sa Banal na Espiritu, ang Espiritu Santo, Who has no respect of persons, dwells in the new man.
The new man shall love God and walk in love, which means walking in obedience to God and Jesus Christ and keeping His commandments.
The new man shall not speak and act from his own understanding, kaalaman, karunungan, and skills and shall not be led by his will, damdamin, at emosyon, but shall trust upon God’s understanding and His knowledge, karunungan, and power and shall be led by His Word and the Holy Spirit and shall speak the truth of God to everyone, no matter who the hearer is. Because the new man has no respect of persons.
A Christian shall never compromise with darkness and twists the words of God and approve the works of the flesh, na kasalanan, and call evil good and say to the unrighteous that he or she is righteous, because of the relationship with the person, status or fame of a person, but shall always speak the truth and call the person to repentance. Sa kasamaang palad, this doesn’t always happen.
Halimbawa, when other people live together unmarried, they judge this act and consider it evil. But when their child decides to live together unmarried, they accept it and they don’t consider this a rebellious act against God and as something evil, and suddenly it’s no sin anymore.
This also applies to sexual uncleanness, like having sexual relationships outside the bond of marriage, homosexuality, pakikiapid, pangangalunya, atbp.
As long as others commit these sins, it is condemned, since it’s not according to the will of God. But if this happens in a family and emotions and feelings are involved, then the words of God are suddenly forgotten and don’t play a role and are rejected and the sin is approved and accepted.
Instead of acting the same way as with those other people and they obey Jesus Christ and the will of the Father and stand on the Word despite the consequences and condemn the evil works of the flesh and decide to not fellowship with those, who persevere in sin and are not willing to repent, they bow to the will of evil spirits and submit to them and support the sin of their (grand) anak, father, mother, niece, nephew etc. (Basahin din: Can you be complicit to the sin of fellow believers?)
And so the devil has found his way into many families and local churches through emotional family ties of believers, mga diakono, sa ibang lugar, and pastors, which are put above the Word of God
Pastors, who have respect of persons
At, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him (Mga Taga-Efeso 6:9)
To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress (Kawikaan 28:21)
There are also pastors, who seem spiritual but in reality are carnal and act from their flesh, whereby they don’t treat everyone equally, but act with respect of persons.
They don’t speak, tama, or admonish the believers the same way, and they don’t judge sin the same way for everyone, but they act from their feelings, damdamin, and the relationship they have with the person.
As a result, they judge the sin of one person, but they allow the sin of another person and close their eyes to the person’s lifestyle, despite the fact that they know the will of God and the judgment of God.
The privileged position of members, who give a lot of money to the church
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Iibigin mo ang iyong kapwa gaya ng iyong sarili, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors (James 2:1-9)
How often does it happen that people, who give a lot of money to the church are noticed and are given a special place in the church and are treated differently than the rest of the congregation?
They say to them what they want to hear and please them and do everything they can to keep them satisfied. And when the generous givers disobey the words of God and do things, which diametrically oppose the will of God, and their lifestyle is not in alignment with the Word, they let them have their way and pretend they don’t see it and don’t confront and admonish them, out of fear, that they become offended and leave the church and stop giving.
And so they compromise with the works of darkness and bow for the sins of the rich people.
Instead of staying faithful to God and believing in God and His Word and trusting in God, knowing that God is a Provider and that He will provide, they bow to the will and the sins of people, whom they consider their providers.
The privileged position of children and relatives of pastors, sa ibang lugar, and deacons
Maraming beses, the children or relatives of pastors, sa ibang lugar, and deacons are also treated differently than the other believers in the church and have a privileged position.
The believers ought to obey certain rules and their sins are more easily judged than the sins of their children (or relatives). While other believers have to fear the consequences of their sins in the church, the children (or relatives) are secured of their place in the church, no matter how they live and the sins they commit.
An elder, who is not a relative and commits fornication, pangangalunya, and/or gets a divorce will be punished and removed from the office, while an elder, who is a relative and commit fornication, pangangalunya, and/or get a divorce will be punished behind closed door (or not at all), but may remain in the office or take a leave of absence for some months and then return in the office again.
A deacon, who is not a relative, and steals from the church is punished and removed from the office, while a deacon, who is a relative and steals from the church may remain in the office or take a leave of absence and after some time return in the office.
The closer the family ties and the bloodlines, the more is overlooked and the more compromises are made.
In general living together unmarried, having sexual relationships outside marriage, pakikiapid, pangangalunya, diborsyo, homosexuality, pagpapalaglag, stealing, atbp. is not tolerated and accepted in the church, but when a son or daughter of the pastor commits them it’s a whole other story and many times pastors find a way to adjust and change the words of God and compromise and accept the sin and lifestyle of their child to keep the peace between the parent and the child
A father’s dream for his son or daughter
He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it (Mateo 10:37-38)
Many fathers, who have a family business, have a dream that one day their son or daughter become their apprentice. Even many pastors have this dream and hope that their children walk in their footsteps and become their apprentices.
Sometimes they desire and want this so much, that the Word and the will of God are no longer leading, but their will and their dream are leading.
They don’t ask God and listen to His voice, whether it is also His will, but they decide.
They don’t look at the life and walk of the child and whether the child is born again and died to the flesh and lives a holy life after the Spirit in submission to the Word and bears the fruit of the Spirit.
They don’t look at whether the child walks in obedience to the will of God and is capable of leading the sheep and feeding the believers with the words of God and raising them in the will of God and disciplining, correcting, and admonishing them, so that they become mature sons of God in the image of Jesus Christ. But they only look at the human aspects and the will and the dream of the pastor.
Because of this many sons are appointed by the will of the flesh, who should not have been appointed and preach behind the pulpit, and defile the church, just like the sons of Eli defiled the temple and the service of the Lord and harmed the people of God and caused the people of God to walk in sin, only because the parent had a respect of persons.
The devil knows that in many lives the flesh reigns instead of the Spirit and the people are led by their will, damdamin, at emosyon. Instead of submitting to the Word and submitting their will to the will of God, the Word has to submit to them and their will.
Having respect of persons is a sin
According to the Bible, respect of persons is a sin. God is no Respecter of persons and does not act with respect of persons
God wants only one thing and that’s obedience. God wants His sons to obey Him and live in obedience to His Word and speak the truth and justice of God, no matter who the hearer is and no matter the consequences.
There may not be respect of persons in the church, no one has a privileged position.
Have the faith without respect of persons
Then Peter opened his mouth, at sinabi, Of a truth I perceive that God is no Respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him (Mga Gawa 10:34-35)
If you are born again in Christ and the Holy Spirit dwells in you and you have become a son of God, pagkatapos ay gagawin mo, just like your Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in you, be no respecter of persons and you shall not act with respect of persons.
You shall obey the Word and speak the truth of God and not compromise, no matter what.
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