The Sin of Standing Back and Watching When Help Is Needed

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment
Retired NYPD detective beaten unconscious by Manhattan homeless man

“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. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.…Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

(Galatians 6:1-2, 7–10, ESV)

Yesterday I watched a news story of a retired NYPD cop who was beaten by a homeless man. You can see the security video clip here. The violence on our streets on a daily basis has a way of numbing us to these things because similar things happen so often now. But what caught my attention in this story is also something that frequently occurs in almost every altercation today–the bystanders who do nothing to step in to help, but stay at a safe distance to protect themselves.

My intention isn’t to debate the dangers of acting in such situations. I know that we need to take into consideration all sorts of additional issues, such as legal threats, murderous hatered, the possibility of a weapon, our own strength and ability, the mental state of the aggressor, etc.

But this attitude of self-perseveration serves as an excellent illustration–a mirror. I want us as Christians to think about how we behave in regard to stepping in and offering help to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ when there is a chance that we might get berated, burned, verbally beaten, or worse. In Galatians 6:1-2 the Word of God calls us to bear one another’s burdens, and particularly this requires us to deal with those who are caught in any transgression. But who likes confrontation? As a matter of fact, so many Christians have a distaste for it, that biblical church discipline is a rare thing to find practiced in most evangelical churches today.

But as Paul later wrote in verse 7, God is not mocked, and when we fail to sow seeds of righteousness and lovingly deal with one another’s sins and burdens, we will find that our churches will reaping a harvest of destruction, abuse, open sin, rebellion, back-biting, gossip, and more. In other words, it will lack genuine, Christlike love.

In fact, we aren’t very different from the bystanders who watch as someone is attacked on the streets and we are reluctant to step in. We might call 911 (which in the church would be a call to the pastor), but then we want to slink away and go on about our business. After all, we reason, it’s not our problem. We have enough to handle. Isn’t that why we pay the pastor?

My brothers and sisters, please do not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. This is a Christian responsibility, not simply a pastoral duty. And many deep-seated habitual sins are not simply dealt with by a quick prayer and a Bible verse. They take time, patience, love, and continued attention.

A church full of loving disciples who are looking out for one another, caring for one another, sharpening each other, and walking through temptation and sinful heart issues with each other will not only find that this lifestyle is hard work, but they will also find that if they don’t give up too quickly, that their church will soon begin to thrive as they reap a harvest of souls that are being conformed to the image of their Savior.

Enslaved to the Law

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“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

(Galatians 5:1, ESV)

There are some forms of salvation that say that God will only accept you if you perform some rite or ritual. Others make claims for the need to seek the favor of God through first becoming a “good person” and “cleaning up your act.” And then there are some misguided Christians who equate morality with Christianity, and preach a message of self-improvement and works righteousness in order to stay right with God–not in relationship with him, but in regards to your salvation’s security.

But the Bible warns against the dangers of this teaching because it is not the true gospel. There is nothing that man can do to prepare his heart for acceptance by God, and there is nothing that he can do after his salvation to keep him in the love of God (Rom. 8:35-39). Salvation is received and it is maintained as an unmerited gift of the grace of God. Full stop.

Anyone who is ever saved from the judgment of God is saved by the blood of Christ, whose death was on their behalf. The unregenerate sinner who simply places their faith alone in Christ’s death on their behalf will be saved. The only thing the sinner brings to the equation is their sin. Everything else they have ever done is stained by their unrighteousness and the effect of sin. Paul says this plainly in Galatians 2:16: “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16, ESV)

The pernicious lie that often wants to creep into the mind and heart of the Christian is that although we might have been saved by faith alone, we must somehow continue in righteous deeds in order to “keep” our salvation. In other words, saved by faith, but kept by good deeds. Again, Paul sheds light on the truth and thus unshackles us from this lie. He even pokes fun at the Galatians for this illogical idea when he wrote in Galatians 3: “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2–3, ESV)

The danger is that we would somehow think that the Law is a means to gain favor with God, thereby securing our salvation. Think about that statement: securing your salvation. Didn’t Jesus already do that? How much Bible reading, evangelism, church attendance, praying, giving, or righteous living do you think you need to do in order to secure your own salvation? The idea is madness! Jesus saved us. Not Jesus began to save us, but we need to finish the job. Jesus saved you, Christian. And he has secured your salvation by his righteousness…for eternity.

Don’t put back on the shackles of legalism and the demands of the law. You couldn’t be good enough before you met Christ, and you still can’t be good enough. Jesus is a sufficient Savior and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. You can take that truth all the way to heaven.

On Christ the Solid Rock We Stand

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“And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ””

(Isaiah 7:9, ESV)

As the prophet Isaiah stood before the king of Judah, the circumstances were extremely dire. War was imminent and the kings of Syria and Israel were ready to snuff out Ahaz and his people. At the news, the king and his people “shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Isaiah 7:2).

The man of God had come to bring a word from the Lord to King Ahaz: “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands…” (Isaiah 7:4). Just as the terror Ahaz and the people felt was real, so too was the reality of the threats from these kings. The message wasn’t that Ahaz was overreacting, because he wasn’t. The message was one of faith.

The prophet Isaiah brought a word to this king that these two kings, mighty by human standards, were nothing more to God than smoldering logs in a campfire; in other words, harmless to do any damage. Both of these kings would be dead in two years. But Ahaz didn’t know this. All the evidence that he could see pointed to defeat and death. As far as the king could see with his limited understanding, destruction was the inevitable outcome. But God…

In response, the prophet spoke words of hope to the King of Judah. The threats would not stand and would never come to pass. The heads of these nations would be cut off and the people would be shattered. God himself would eliminate the danger and would rescue his people.

The question was, would the king capitalize on these words? Would King Ahaz find a firm footing on the Word of God so that he could have the peace he and his people wanted and needed? “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

The Israelites would face many years in captivity, and they would wonder if there would ever be that peace that God promised. Many could not see it. They could not understand the coming of Immanuel and the eternal peace that he would offer through his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection. The could not see that the final King David, of the tribe of Judah, will come and restore everything once again and establish eternal peace. But some did see it through eyes of faith, and looked forward to the coming of the Promised One. And in these promises they found hope and peace.

Today, I hear and see many Christians clamoring for hope when hope is right in front of them. They are scared–scared of a virus, scared of riots, scared of political winds changing to more radicalism, scared of losing everything. “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.“

Do you want peace? “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:3–4, ESV) Put your trust in Jesus Christ–the wind and wave stiller, the sickness healer, the serpant crusher, the death destroyer, the sin forgiver, the gift giver, the life restorer, the only-wise King eternal.

Only Jesus Christ will stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

Preach a Simple Gospel

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“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.”

(Galatians 3:1, ESV)

When Paul had originally proclaimed the gospel in Galatia, the people received it with great joy. But Paul soon learned that their acceptance of the gospel of Christ was overthrown by their warm embrace of a false gospel brought in by those who sought to pervert its purity. The conversion from truth to error and from a saving gospel to a damning gospel was so quick that the Apostle likens it to an act of sorcery that had “bewitched” those who had rejected the truth in favor of a lie.

Paul had preached to them a simple gospel–as he said, “Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” By this, Paul means that he painted a picture of the gospel with clarity and plainness. Like a billboard that sits alongside a main thoroughfare must be clear and to the point, so too Paul’s gospel was portrayed to them. How could they mess it up so badly?

This reminds me of the need to preach a simple gospel to the lost. As we grow in the faith we will learn more doctrine and deeper theological truths. These are good and necessary in our Christian walk. But these things can also become a hinderance to sharing the simplicity of the gospel. The Galatians couldn’t claim that the message was muddy, nor could they say they didn’t understand it. They had, and this was what bothered Paul so much. He strove to make the gospel as clear as possible, and yet they rejected it and replaced it with a false and damning message of works-based salvation.

The great Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon saw this danger of overcomplicating our message as well. He wrote:

A good many years ago, when I was about fifteen or sixteen years of age, I wanted a Savior, and I heard the gospel preached by a poor man who said in the name of Jesus, “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth” (Isa 45:22). It was very plain English, and I understood it and obeyed it and found rest. I owe all my happiness since then to the same plain doctrine. Now suppose that I were to say, “I have read a great many books, and there are a great many people willing to hear me. I really could not preach such a commonplace gospel as I did at the first. I must put it in a sophisticated way, so that none but the élite can understand me.” I would be—what would I be? I would be a fool, writ large. I would be worse than that: I would be a traitor to my God. For if I was saved by a simple gospel, then I am bound to preach that same simple gospel till I die, so that others too may be saved by it. When I cease to preach salvation by faith in Jesus, put me into a lunatic asylum, for you may be sure that my mind is gone.

 Charles Spurgeon, Galatians, ed. Elliot Ritzema, Spurgeon Commentary Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

I pray that we never go beyond proclaiming a simple gospel. Not simplistic, but simple. There will be time and occasion to bring a babe in Christ to understand the deeper things of the faith, but as we point the unbeliever to the cross, may we do so with gospel simplicity and clarity.

The Challenge of Speaking Truth to Power

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“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?””

(Galatians 2:11–14, ESV)
Hugh Latimer preaching to King Henry VI

Walking faithfully in the Christian life is filled with challenges and plenty of opportunities to grow and mature. Of course, maturity includes learning from our mistakes as well as our successes. 

The Apostle Peter had made his share of mistakes during his time with the Lord Jesus. Even in his older years, having matured spiritually and having seen many victories, he was still prone to wander at times, as Galatians 2 tells us. We all can learn from Peter’s mistakes and see the need for humility in our own lives.

Likewise as Paul in Galatians 2 encountered, there are times when we must deal with those who are in sin and error. We may be the more mature (at least in this area) or the one who was not deceived by this particular error and weren’t caught up in the false teaching. It can be an intimidating thing to confront someone about their faults and sins, especially when they are influential or in a position of authority. We can sometimes imagine the outcome of our confrontation—maybe a backlash of anger, or a shouting match, or a challenge to our questioning their maturity or faithfulness to the Lord and Scriptures. Maybe we imagine a broken relationship and friendship, or the family leaving our church, or turning others against us. Compound this with other past experiences when some of these things did happen, and it makes it especially hard to do the right thing. It often seems easier to just let it pass without a comment. I have had this temptation happen many times myself.

There are some things that we should allow to pass. Love does covers a multitude of sins (1Pet 4:8). But there are also many things that we cannot allow to pass by without speaking up. As Paul demonstrated in his letter to the churches of Galatia, we cannot remain silent about any deviation from the core doctrine of justification by faith alone. So, while we recognize the need for humility and grace, we also must confess the need for courage to confront and speak boldly for the sake of the truth.

The dangers are two-fold: in the name of faithfulness, be angry and caustic with no love for people while upholding truth, or allow the desire to be liked by men and avoid confrontation to drive us to silence so that we can avoid conflict. Both are sin. May God help us all to grow in this area where we can speak body with love for the sake of Christ, knowing that we would desire that when someone senses error in our own understanding of doctrine, that we too would want to have them come to us in a similar Christ-like manner.