It only takes one person to make a difference or a change, both positive or negative. This also applies to the Church; the Body of Christ, that represents the Kingdom of God on earth. A person can add value to the church and be constructive or a person can cause a lot of trouble and be destructive. Achan was such a person, who caused a lot of trouble to God’s people, when he became disobedient to the words of God and sinned. His sin not only affected his life but the whole congregation. The whole congregation of Israel came under a curse and separated from God. Now, we don’t live in the Old Covenant anymore. But what happens to a church if a church member perseveres in sin and refuses to repent and remove the sin? What does the Bible say about sin in the church and what the church must do, when someone perseveres in sin?
Through the rebellious behavior of one person the whole congregation became accursed
In a previous post ‘The Valley of Achor‘, the victory of the people of Israel and the fall of Jericho were discussed. The people of Israel overcame and conquered Jericho, because Joshua and the people of Israel, were obedient to the words of God. They followed God’s instructions and because of that, His words were fulfilled.
When the city Jericho was taken, the people were instructed to:
- keep themselves from the accursed thing, otherwise, the camp of Israel would become accursed
- take all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, consecrate it unto the Lord, and bring it into the treasury of the Lord
You might think that these commandments were easy to keep, but for one man these commandments were not so easy to keep.
One man became disobedient to these commandments and sinned. This man’s name was Achan. Achan was not led by the words of God, but he was led by the lust of his flesh. Achan took what belonged to the Lord.
By his deed, Achan not only became disobedient to Joshua, but he became disobedient to God.
Achan didn’t show any respect towards God, nor feared God, and acknowledged God as the Almighty God. Achan didn’t love God, because Achan didn’t keep His commandments.
Achan also didn’t love his neighbor as himself. Because Achan knew what the consequences for the congregation would be if he would take off the accursed.
But Achan loved himself and was led by the lust of his flesh. The two commandments, which represent the whole law of God: love God above all and love your neighbor as yourself, were not present in his life.
Achan gave in to the lust of his flesh and became disobedient to God. Through Achan’s disobedience to God, the whole congregation became accursed and became separated from God (Joshua 7:11).
Achan showed no remorse
Achan didn’t show any kind of remorse and didn’t repent of his act. He didn’t show remorse when he hid the stuff in the ground of his tent. Nor when the thousands of brothers were killed, during the attempt to conquer the city of Ai. Achan didn’t even show remorse when the accursed had to be removed among the people and Joshua called out the people of Israel. Achan just went along pretending he didn’t do anything wrong. When Achan stood among the people, Achan didn’t say anything.
Achan’s heart was hardened and therefore Achan didn’t show any kind of remorse and didn’t repent for his actions.
Maybe if Achan had shown remorse and repented of his deed, things would have ended differently for Achan and his family. But that’s something we will never know.
Anyway, the people stood before Joshua, and eventually, Achan was appointed as the one, who had brought a curse upon the congregation and had caused a separation between God and His people.
The congregation needed to be sanctified
Achan was the one, who became disobedient to the words of God, whereby evil entered. By one man’s deed, the whole congregation became affected by evil. Just like Adam, who sinned, and through his sin death entered the human race and the seed of man became corrupt. As a result, man would be born in a sinful flesh and live under the dominion of death.
The holy people of God became defiled by evil and separated from God.
Therefore the congregation needed to be sanctified and made holy, so that God could have fellowship with His people again.
How did they sanctify the congregation? By removing the evil from their midst
Achan, his family, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his oxen, asses, sheep, his tent, and all his belongings were brought to the Valley of Achor, where they were killed.
Achan didn’t fear God
Achan saw and experienced the love and greatness of God. He saw that every word of God came to pass. Achan should have feared God, because of what He had done. But Achan didn’t fear God. Therefore, he disobeyed God’s commandment and stole from the accursed. By his deed of disobedience, approximately 3000 people were killed.
Achan thought that God wouldn’t see what he had done. But God sees everything, He is omnipotent.
The sinner perseveres in sin
Many people live like Achan, as impenitent sinners. They rebel against the words of God and do things that oppose the will of God and persevere in sin. What could be the causes of this behavior?
- Wrong teachings (false doctrines) that will lead the believers astray
- They don’t renew their mind with the Word of God. They don’t study the Bible and therefore they have a lack of knowledge of God’s Word and don’t know God’s will
- They are not willing to lay down their own life and put off the works of the flesh
- Their love for the world and all there is within is greater than their love for Jesus and the Father.
God can’t have fellowship with sin
Just like God couldn’t have fellowship with sin (evil), as we see in the lives of Adam, Cain, Achan, Simson, Saul, David, Salomo, etc. God still can’t have fellowship with sin.
Even in Jesus’ life, we see, that when Jesus took all the sins of the world upon Him, God left Jesus. God couldn’t have fellowship with sin.
This is still the case. God can’t have fellowship with sin.
Jesus and the blood of Jesus reconcile man to God and give access to His Kingdom. By His precious blood, you have been washed from your evil sinful nature; which is full of sin and iniquity.
Jesus came to draw sinners to repentance and to set the captives free. Jesus came to this earth and gave His life, to deal with the sin problem of the human race, once and for all.
Jesus was not crucified and Jesus didn’t die, so that people could keep living in sin.
The blood of Jesus was a sacrifice, it was a remission of sin and not a permit to keep sinning.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein (Romans 6:1-2)
What then shall we say? Shall we habitually sustain an attitude of dependence upon, yieldedness to, and cordiality with the sinful nature in order that grace may abound? May such a thing never occur. How is it possible for us, such persons as we are, who have been separated once for all from the sinful nature, any longer to live in its grip (Romans 6:1-2 KW)
God wants holiness instead of sin in the church
Many wrong doctrines have entered the church, whereby the cross and the blood of Jesus, dying to self, putting off the works of the flesh, and sanctification have been replaced, by motivational ‘feel good’ sermons. A false grace and love are used to tolerate and condone sin in the church. (Read also: Has the church become a den of thieves?).
Many preachers are afraid to preach Jesus Christ, the cross, the blood, the resurrection, sanctification, holiness, the adversary, etc. Because that means, that they also have to do, what they preach and many times they don’t want to.
There are also preachers, who are afraid to preach hard words to the people of the congregation. Because they are afraid that people become offended and angry and leave the church or persecute them.
Unfortunately, the truth is that many people can’t stand ‘true doctrines’ anymore. They don’t want to be confronted with their behaviour and their carnal walk. Therefore, the leaders of the church tolerate and accept sin in the church instead of confronting and correcting the members of the church. They adjust God’s Word to the lusts and desires of people and let the people abide in sin.
Sin in the church causes separation from God
Due to the fact, that people abide in sin and live just like the world, and therefore tolerate and accept sin in the church, many churches and congregations are separated from God. Jesus says, that whosoever keeps sinning is a slave of sin (John 8:34).
When you are a slave of sin then you are a sinner. We all know, that the father of sinners, is the devil and that a sinner will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
A slave of sin, cannot reign over sin, because sin reigns over him/her
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abides not in the house for ever: but the Son abides ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (John 8:34-36)
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (Romans 6:6)
What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness (Romans 6:15-16)
The devil has built his throne in many churches. His sons listen to him, obey him and preach his words and walk in rebellion (disobedience) to the Word of God. Since the devil is their father, they belong to the world and live like the world.
As saints in Jesus Christ, we must have an earnest desire to walk in holiness and righteousness. We should be obedient and stay obedient to Christ, not because we have to, but because we want to. There must be a desire in our hearts to serve Him wholeheartedly and to live according to His will.
What did God say about sin in the church?
In the Old Testament, God clearly shows, that He can’t have fellowship with people, who keep walking in disobedience to Him (in sin), and are not willing to repent.
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him (Leviticus 19:17)
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear (Deuteronomy 21:18-23)
Please note, that the punishment was part of the Old Covenant and doesn’t apply to the New Testament which is sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ. But the principle of the cause and effect of evil, of sin in the church in the spiritual realm, is still the same.
What did Jesus say about sin in the church?
Moreover if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto you as an heathen man and a publican (Matthew 18:15-17)
Take heed to yourselves:If your brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him (Luke 17:3)
What does the Holy Spirit say about sin in the church?
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not you judge them that are within? But them that are without God judges. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person (1 Corinthians 5:1-13)
What do you have to do when a person is living in sin?
When you see a brother or sister being disobedient to the will of God (the will of Jesus) and is living in sin, then you are obligated to go to the person alone and confront the person. with his/her sin. Because the person is not only sinning against him/herself but also against you and the whole church (congregation).
You don’t gossip behind the person’s back!. No, instead you confront the person.
If the person listens to you, then you have gained the person, for the Kingdom of God and from destruction. But if the person doesn’t want to listen and keep living in sin, then you take a brother or sister with you and confront the person again.
If the person still isn’t willing to listen, then you inform the church leaders and make this case known to them.
If the person stays rebellious and is not willing to repent and remove the sin from his/her life, then you shall treat the person as a heathen and as a publican. This means, that you put him or her out of the church. Or as Paul said, You deliver such a one unto satan.
You don’t tolerate and accept the sin in the church, but remove the sin from the church. Therefore, you remove the person, who perseveres in sin, from the church, so that the person, will not be a partaker of the body of Christ anymore.
When you remove the person from the church, you will save the church from being affected by evil. (Read also: ‘What does it mean to deliver a person to satan?‘)
How do you deal with sin in the church?
You don’t accept sin in the church, but you remove the sin. When a person becomes born again, then the process of sanctification will begin. Every born again believer has to go through the sanctification process. There is no one excluded. No one can live, the way they lived before they became born again and live like the old creation (sinner) like the world.
The process of sanctification won’t happen, in general, overnight. It is a process. But how fast you will grow up into a mature son of God, depends on one thing, and that is, your love for God.
How much do you love God? Do you love Him above all (including yourself and the world)?
Because if you love God above all, then you don’t want to do anything, that displeases Him and causes separation.
We know absolutely that everyone who has been born of God and as a result is a regenerated individual does not keep on habitually sinning (1 John 5:18)
You need to renew your old way of thinking, which is full of lies of the world (lies of the devil), with the truth of the Word of God. So that you start to think, speak, behave, act, and walk as the new creation (a son of God).
Without renewing the mind, it is impossible to live according to God’s will.
Sanctification by the Word of God
A born-again son (this applies to both males and females) shall become conscious and shall be confronted, with certain behaviour, or with certain things in his life, which seemed ok, before he became born again, but after reading the Word of God, finds out that it’s not normal and ok. After the confrontation with the Truth, the born again believer can do two things:
- he listens to the Word and obeys the Word, and repents and puts the sin away
- he covers his ears, and does his own will, and remains living in sin. Because the love for his flesh is bigger than the love He has for Jesus and for God
The church is appointed by Jesus Christ as a spiritual institution; a spiritual government of the Kingdom of God on earth, to teach, equip, correct, and discipline the sons of God. So that, they will mature and walk as sons of God on this earth.
The church should walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh. The church shouldn’t be led by her senses, thoughts, feelings, emotions, findings, opinions, etc. But the church should be led by the Holy Spirit and the Word.
When a question or a situation arises, it is not about what the people think and say about it, but what God thinks and says about it.
God is very clear in His Word. But the main problem is, that only a few people are willing to listen to Him and obey His words.
There are only a few people, who are willing to submit themselves to God. Because submission to God means, that they must crucify their flesh with all its lusts and desires and remove certain things from their lives. And many people are not willing to do that.
They are prepared to go to church, listen to sermons, sing, and maybe do some charity work, but they don’t want to be confronted with their daily life and their behaviour. They don’t want any interference from other people telling them what to do.
The leaders of the church of Jesus Christ should live as mature sons of God, who are led by the Holy Spirit and the Word. They have the responsibility for all those precious souls of the church.
The members of the church should have an attitude of willingness and be open to correction. They should love one another because the Word says to love your neighbour as yourself. That means, that when you see a brother or sister living in sin, you have to confront him/her. Because sin means bondage to the devil, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:22)
Do you love your neighbour, if you want him to die? Because that is what you do, if you approve and accept his/her sins, and let him/her walk in sin, without confronting him/her.
Free from sin by the blood of Jesus
Yes, you have been made free from sin, by the blood of Jesus and not by your works. But that doesn’t mean, that you can use the blood of Jesus to keep walking after the flesh in sin.
If a church member is not willing to submit to the authority of Jesus Christ but wants to live after his/her own will, then this person is rebellious and has the nature of the devil and not of the Holy Spirit.
Because the Holy Spirit is one with God, and Jesus, and isn’t rebellious.
If someone doesn’t want to submit, the person undermines the authority of God. The person doesn’t acknowledge God for Who He is. The person not only rejects the Word, that God gave to man, but the person rejects God Himself.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump
The Word says, that a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. Therefore if a believer, a member of the body of Jesus Christ, perseveres in sin in the church and stays in the church, then the sin of the person will affect the whole church.
The church will be a partaker of his sin and the spirit of rebellion shall also affect the lives of the other members of the church. Because the members of the church are one body.
Paul gave the example of the little leaven, to indicate the effect of sin in the church in the spiritual realm. Unfortunately, for many Christians, the Kingdom of God and the spiritual realm are still hidden.
What does the Bible say about sin in the church?
Accepting sin in the church will eventually cause the destruction of the church. That’s why God, that’s why Jesus, and that’s why the Holy Spirit says (through Paul and other believers, who are the church) that if a person is rebellious and is not willing to listen and submit to the Word of God, to remove the person out of the church, and deliver him to the world. So that, the evil will be removed from the church; the body and the church will be healed (restored) and saved.
The church is not a charity institution, nor a social or entertainment institution to motivate and entertain the people, so that they have a good time in church.
The church is the spiritual government of Jesus Christ, which represents the authority and power of the Kingdom of God (the government of the Kingdom) on earth.
Everyone, who confesses Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Lord of their lives, shall not be rebellious but shall submit to Jesus (the Word) and do what Jesus tells them to do.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
