Showing Love versus Condoning Sin

Does showing the love of Christ to others mean we should show condone their sin? As always we must go to the scriptures to seek answers to our questions. I found the following references to be very helpful in this. In Ephesians 5:11 we read, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, …….”; “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Would not acceptance (or any kind of support whatsoever) of this kind of behavior make it easier for those who practice such things to continue living in a way that will keep them out of God’s kingdom?

We know we are not to shun or treat those who live contrary to scripture’s teaching in any other way than to show them the kindness of Christ. We are to be compassionate and caring toward all, with no exceptions remembering that we, “who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present (us) holy and blameless and above reproach before him..” (Colossians 1:21-22).

We must understand however, that we can only have assurance of inheritance in God’s kingdom ourselves.. “ ..if indeed (we) continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that (we have) heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven..” (Colossians 1:23).

Being assured of our salvation does not give us license to sin, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). If we use our freedom to sin we are not showing love, but rather gratifying the desires of the flesh, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God,” ( Galatians 5:16-22).

If we are engaged in any of the above activities, we need to heed the warnings of Ezekiel and, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.” In Ezekiel 33:11 we are told that God does not delight in the death of the wicked, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” In Acts 2:38, Peter wrote, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

As those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, it will be our desire to see others come to repentance and experience the forgiveness of sins as well. Out of love “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5), we will desire to see others turn from their former way of living and turn to Christ that they may experience new life in Him, whether they be “sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, those who are greedy, drunkards, revilers (or) swindlers.. etc.” Even though God shows great tolerance toward our sin, "And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved" (Ezra 9:13,  He does not accept our sinful behavior, nor condone it in any way. To show no support or acceptance toward sinful behavior, while at the same time showing love to the one exhibiting such behavior is to show a true Biblical love. This is the kind of love that God shows to us, and we are told to “..be imitators of God as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1).