How to restore the sinner?..

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That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, brethren. As I said, we are going to be reading from chapter 5 of Galatians, verse 13. We're going to be going into chapter 6, verse 5.

And as I said, I want us to consider this duty that the local church has to restore the brother or sister who has fallen in sin or who has been caught in any transgression, as the ESV will say in verse 1. So let us read together. the words of the Lord. Let us do it not as a repetitious activity, but trusting that the Lord will speak to us even as we read the words that we have before us. This is the word of the Lord.

Galatians chapter five verse 13. 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. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. 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're not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, feats of angers, 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.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in the spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself as you too be tempted. bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work.

And then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor, for each will have to bear his own load. Amen. This is the reading of God's Word. Now, my dear brother and sister, perhaps one of the most common and recurrent questions that we receive as Christians not only in the context of the local church, but even when you have interactions with people outside of the church who somehow are interested in Christianity, is how do I know if I'm a genuine believer? I don't know if that has happened to you, but certainly to me, many people have asked me that question, how do I know if I'm a genuine Christian?

How do I know if I'm a genuine child of God? How do I know if these things that I say with my mouth as a Christian correspond to a spiritual reality? How do I know if genuinely and truly the Spirit of God has come down to visit me and has made me a new creation? How do I know that the things that I do are not of the flesh, but they are real? How do I know that I am a real Christian?

And that is a very powerful question, not only because of the emotions that are into that question and the fact that you're dealing not with an abstract idea, but that you're dealing with a person that perhaps is concerned about that. And every time that a person asks that question, I'm actually very blessed. I'm blessed because independently of the condition of that person, whether that is a true brother or sister that is lacking with assurance of salvation, or that person is someone that is not in Christ, And that person is actually considering these matters of the Spirit. What I know is that independently of whatever the case is, the Spirit of God is working in that person, and at least they are concerned about their spiritual condition. It is the Spirit of God that will give assurance to the brother and sister.

And we also hope that will be the Spirit of God that leads the person that is not in Christ to come to the Lord Jesus. When that question is asked, there are so many good things because now the person at least know that from the scriptures we can see and testify that there's going to be people who proclaiming with their mouth to be Christians. There's going to come one day in which they have a confrontation with the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are not truly in Him. And He will say, depart from me, you workers of inequity. Whatever is the case, this is a brother or sister who lacks assurance of salvation, or this is a person that is not in Christ, my answer is always the same.

I cannot give you certainty of your spiritual condition. The only one who can give you that certainty is God himself through his spirit and the word of God. And my only duty is not to assess your life and to see who you are and tell you you are or you're not a Christian. But my only duty is to bring you to the word of God and to see what the word of God says about what a genuine Christian is. And you will have to have a confrontation with the truth of God.

And having preached through the first letter of John, usually I will take them to the first letter of John, chapter three, where there is a very clear verse there in chapter three, verse 10. It says very clearly there that this is the evidence of those who are the children of God. and those who are the children of the devil. The apostle assumes that in the world there are only two types of people, brethren, those who are the children of God and those who are the children of the devil. And the only thing that differentiates the children of God from the children of the devil, of course, by the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that those who have been genuinely saved, the children of God, will have two characteristics, righteousness and loving the brothers and sisters.

that those qualifiers of a true child of God is righteousness, the apostle says. He who has been born of God is righteous because he is righteous. Not that he's perfect, the apostle has explained in chapter one, that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, but rather that because that person has been born again, this person walks or lives in a manner of righteousness. And the best example of that righteousness that now is an evidence that this person is a child of God for the apostle from verse 11 until the end of the book is loving the brethren. You want to see a true child of God?

Then we have to see into the heart of that person and see if that person loves the brothers and sisters. Because if someone says that they love God whom they have not seen, and they do not love the brothers and sisters whom they have next to them, they are liars, the apostle would say in chapter 4 verse 19. Loving the brothers and sisters becomes the evidence of the art that a person has been genuinely begotten of God. And what is most powerful about that statement, after finishing 1 John, my dear brother and sister, is not only the fact and the many examples, practical examples, that John gives us in 1 John of what it is to love the brothers and sisters, but what that statement actually assumes. The Apostle John assumes that true Christians are going to be in the context of the local church.

When he says that a true Christian is the one who loves the brother and sister, he assumes, he takes it for granted, that the Christian, the genuine Christian, is going to be in an environment that is called the local church, so he has the possibility to love the brothers and sisters. loving the brethren, that is the evidence that they are a child of God. And what is powerful about that statement is that the person who has been begotten from above will be inserted into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in the context of the brothers and sisters that the evidences and the gifts of the spirit will be manifested so that when we see that person loving the brothers and sisters, we can say with certainty that the Spirit of God has worked in the life of that person. You cannot disconnect a genuine child of God from the context of the local church.

How am I going to love the brethren if there's no brethren around me? How am I going to love the brethren, which is an evidence of being a genuine Christian, if there's no people around me? How am I going to love someone if I'm isolated or disconnected from those who are the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? And I don't know for you, but certainly for me, brethren, this shows the importance of what it is to be in the context of the local church. You cannot be a biblical Christian if you are not in the context of the local church.

If loving the brethren is such an important evidence of the spiritual condition of a person, then how are you going to separate a person from the local body? You cannot walk in the Spirit, as the Apostle Paul says here in this chapter, if a person is disconnected from the local church. And when I'm saying belonging to the local church, I'm not referring only to be present on a Sunday, but to be part of the living community of the church. That's why many times I'm so opposed to these big churches with thousands and thousands of people where people do not know each other and they cannot manifest genuinely the love of God one for the other. Loving the brethren I qualified of spiritual condition and that in the context of the local church And that's why I wanted us to consider during these few weeks the importance of the life of the church Last week from romans chapter 12.

I spoke to you and I said that if you want to live for God, you live for the church. You cannot say that you have the life of God when you're not living from the brothers or sisters. You cannot say that you live for God when the life of God is not moving you to serve with your gifts, the brothers and sisters, to love those for whom Jesus Christ died. And today, I want us to focus here in these five verses that we have in chapter six about a very important duty that the local church has, that is going to go very into the depths of our hearts and our souls as Christians and as a church. This duty to restore the brother and sister who has fallen in sin.

We have there in chapter six, verse one, it says, brethren, if anyone is caught in any transgression, local church is such an important environment because it is in the local church that we can see the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sin, as Mikey was praying, that we have been forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see that example in the context of the local church. And when we see throughout the New Testament, we see that the a lord through the scriptures calls us to deal with the sin that is present in the context of the local church and of course the main way that we deal with sin in the context of the local church is through forgiveness we forgive our brother and sister but here in these verses that we have before us we have a very important aspect of dealing with that sin and that is the aspect of restoration That we, the church, have a duty. And that duty, or that responsibility, is that when there is a brother or sister who sins, or has fallen in sin, that is caught in a transgression, then we have the duty as brothers and sisters to restore that brother and sister. And perhaps you may think from the translation that I have in the ESV that when he says that he's caught in any transgression, that gives the impression that they are sinning, and they are hiding, and then you go and, ah, a coche. But rather, what we have there in verse 1 is something that a person has been undertaken or taken by sin.

That is, that a person has fallen in the practice of a particular sin. That a brother or sister in the context of the church, because of a particular reason or matter, now this brother or sister is in the practice of a particular sin. Then we are told that brothers and sisters were to restore the brother or sister. I want us to do three things from this text, and I hope that by doing these three things, we will learn how to restore the brother or sister that is in sin. Three things that I want us to do.

First of all, I want us to take this text and the text that we have just read, and I want to give you some very good, I hope, observations about the life of the local church. Observations about the life of the local church that will help us understand how a local church operates and how the church is supposed to restore the one who sins. Observations about the life of the church. Second, the second thing that I want us to do is that I want us to examine that duty that we have. What is that duty that we have as brothers and sisters to restore the brother or sister who has fallen in sin or in innate transgression?

What is that duty that we have? And then thirdly, I hope that we have sufficient time to do this, then I want us to consider what are the requirements of the heart. What are the requirements for us to restore the brother and sister who has sinned, but to do it in a biblical way? What are those requirements? Let me just start with a few observations here from the text.

Of course, I have already spoken about the importance of the local church and that a Christian should not be separated from the local church. And I'm tempted just only to speak about that, my dear brother and sister. We cannot be Christians apart from the community of the brothers and sisters. And I want you to clearly note from verse 16 that the expectation of the Lord of the calling for the church from the Lord is that the church will walk by the spirit. We're told there in verse 16 and I say walk by the spirit, the expectation of God to every local church, not only cornerstone or any other local church that of the Lord Jesus Christ is that the church will walk by the spirit.

And we are told that walking by the spirit is that we are not to gratify the desires of the flesh. And then we are told in verse 22 that walking by the spirit is not only not to gratify the flesh, but to bear Fruit this is the fruit of the spirit when a person or when a church is walking in the spirit That means that that church that those brothers and sisters together They are not gratifying the natural desires of the flesh and they are bearing fruit the fruit of the spirit that is joy and love and peace and gentleness, and kindness, and so on, and so on. This is the calling of the church. But the apostle knows that before glory, the flesh is still present. And certainly, the church is not perfect.

And certainly, Christians are not perfect. And because Christians are not perfect, we can observe very clearly here in the passage that we have before us that sin is a reality in the context of the local church. Yes, our calling is to walk by the Spirit. Yes, we should strive to bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. But the reality, my dear brother and sister, is that sin is present among us.

And this is something that we have to acknowledge not only with our minds, but we do need to know with our hearts. Sin is present in each one of us. And because we have come together as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, sin is going to be a reality in the context of the local church. So it will be not rational, I forgot, it will be rational. It will not be rational to expect that a church will be perfect.

If my expectation is that my local church, whatever church will be perfect, that there will be no sin there, then I don't have a biblical expectation and understanding of what sin is in the context of the local church. And more than that, it would be irrational of me to expect never to be seen against. There's going to be one time, perhaps it has already happened, or it will happen in the past, that because sin is present in the context of the church, that someone is going to sin against you, or that you are going to sin against someone else. If we do not have that clear in our mind, then we are going to be just so thin-skinned that when something happens against us, the offense is going to be so deep and so strong that the option that we're going to take is to walk away. But we are to be clear about what is written in the scriptures and that is the sin is a reality in the context of the church.

So then that means that because sin is a reality in the context of the church, the church is called to deal with sin. Not to passively ignore it. Not just to think that sin is not happening and just simply just to ignore it as if something is not happening. But sin being a reality of the Church, we see here in these verses that the Church is called to deal with that sin. That's why many churches prefer not to speak about seeing my dear brother and sister.

That's why many people prefer not to address the things of the heart. Because when you address the things of the heart, then the things that are within us start to appear and expose. And then we realize that what is inside of us is not that nice as we thought that it was. And then you have to deal with that. But let me tell you, and I hope that this commitment that we have is a commitment as a church, that I decide and we all should decide that we need to face things as the scripture says, independently of what the consequences are.

Because the Lord has given us the promise that he has given us the spirit and that he has given us his word. And as long as we obey what he says in his word, he's the one that will take all the glory and he's the one that will build up the church. So the church is called to deal with sin, not to passively ignore it. And I want you to also see here that the authority to deal with sin is given only and exclusively to the local church. You see, God has instituted the government to deal with justice in the country, in the nation.

So the government is a servant of God to deal with the crimes. So the government is supposed to deal with unrighteousness and encourage righteousness in the context of crime. But when it comes to spiritual matters, that authority has been given uniquely to the local church. And I say local church. That is that when sins and things happen among us, the authority that God has given is to this local church to deal with the sins that happen here because this is this local body.

That means that if I have a brother or sister who lives in the other state or in the other country or somewhere else that belongs to a different church, it will not be right of me to put me in the position of defender or judge. Because God has given that local church the authority to deal with the sins of the people who belong to that local church. And if I believe that that local church is a genuine local church, so then the only thing that I do is to trust that the Spirit of God that is in that local church will lead these brothers and sisters in the right process according to the Scriptures to deal with the sin that took place in the context of the local church. So I'm not going to take my mind into adventures and think and judge or defend someone that I don't have the right to do. So we will also expect that when there is sin in the context of the local church, the authority is given to the local church to deal with that sin.

But as I said, we have a great thing here, and that is that we know from this passage of the scripture, my dear brother and sister, that one way in which the local church is supposed to deal with that sin is with restoration. You know how in Matthew chapter 18 it says that if someone sins against you, then you are to confront that person. If that person repents, then you have gained that person. But if that person does not repent, then you can bring a couple of witnesses. And if that person does not repent, then you bring it to the church.

And if that person does not repent, then you remove that person from the context of the church, Matthew chapter 18. That is that you deal with the scene that takes place in the context of the church. But here in this passage that we have before us, the apostle is speaking about a duty that we have. that duty brethren is to restore my brother and sister who has seen so what is that duty what what is to restore my dear my brother or sister what what is the meaning of that that word that the apostle uses there in verse one it says brethren if anyone is caught in any transgression you who are spiritual should restore him of course or her that word that is used there is very interesting you know to restore something in a general sense it is just that process of taking something that is broken right something that is destroyed and then you try to bring it back to its original functionality right you're restoring something something is broken something something is damaged or something, and then restoring is that process of repairing or fixing or making that something complete and to bring it to its original functionality. The way that this word is used throughout the Bible is very interesting.

For instance, you remember the example of the walls of Jerusalem. Remember that the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed? And then Nehemiah came to restore the walls of Jerusalem. That is the idea of this word. That is that there's something that is broken, that undergoing through a process is restored to its original functionality.

But then when we go into the New Testament, you remember that the Lord Jesus Christ comes to call the apostles, and the apostles were fishermen. And the Bible tells us that the Lord finds the fishermen mending the fishing nets. Why? Because they fishing nets were broken, if you want, and then they were going through this process to restore these fishing nets to its original functionality. And the very powerful thing about this concept is that this concept assumes that that something which is destroyed or broken cannot repair itself.

And because it cannot repair itself, it needs an external force that will come to repair it or to fix it. That is what the puzzle is saying here. That when a brother or sister has been taken over by a particular sin, That brother is like the fallen walls of Jerusalem that could not rebuild themselves. Nehemiah was needed to come and to rebuild those walls. Or when a brother or sister has fallen in sin, it's like those broken fishing nets of the apostles that they could not fix themselves.

And they didn't summon one from the outside, an external force that will come. to mend them, to fix them, to repair them. And the powerful thing, my dear brother and sister, is that one will expect that that mission will be clearly given to the Spirit of God, which is true. It is the Spirit of God. But here it is given to the local church.

So Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem is the brother, the spiritual brother that reveals, repairs the brother or sister who has sinned. Or the apostles that meant the fishing nets that are broken is equivalent to the brother and sister in the context of the local church that is called to repaired to fix, to amend, to make complete that brother and sister. And my dear brother and sister, what is powerful about that reality is this, that the individual conformity to Jesus Christ of each one of the members of the church depends upon their brothers and sisters. The walls of Jerusalem could not rebuild themselves. The broken fishing nets of the apostles could not fix themselves.

The sinning brother of Galatians chapter 6 cannot fix themselves. They need the external force, namely the local church, the brothers and sisters to come and fix them and repair them. That means that my individual walk with the Lord, my individual conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ, depends upon my brothers and sisters who at some point might be those who repair me, might be those who restore me, might be those who come to mend this net that now is not catching any fish, or might be the ones who come and build this wall that is no longer protecting me from my enemies. vulnerabilities, spiritual vulnerability to those who are around me. But more than that, my dear brother and sister, that shows me that my role in the life of my brother and sister is also important.

Because there might be a point in time in which my brother and sister is fallen and he's not going to be able to repair him or herself. He's not going to be able to reveal him or herself. And that task has been given to me as a brother or sister to come as Nehemiah or the apostles to rebuild my brother and sister. And I don't know about you, but this is glorious. The people who are coming from different backgrounds, from different countries, that they did not grow up together, that they have different preferences, that they eat different food, that they look different, they have different accents.

The people that come from different places, just by virtue of Jesus Christ, just by virtue of the Spirit of God dwelling inside of you, now have such a deep connection to each other. that your spiritual growth depends upon each other, brethren? That is really, really powerful. How can a Christian exist disconnected or outside of the context of the local church? The answer to that is it is impossible.

That's why the Apostle says here in verse 2, bear one another's burdens. The Apostle does not say here, help them carry together their burdens. Like, you know, their burden is just too heavy, so then you go together and then you carry the burden there together. No, carry each other's burdens. You carry my burden, I carry your burden.

That is because this process of restoring acknowledges the vulnerability of the person who has fallen in sin and the role of the brothers and sisters to come and restore and to build them. But I don't know if this is the question that perhaps you have in your head. What is the goal of this restoration, right? Walls of Jerusalem that were fallen to be restored to their functionality. They needed to be built.

And then once they are built, they protect the city from the enemies. Or the fishing nets that were broken. Once they are broken and repaired, they are restored to its original functionality, which is catching fish. What is the restoration? What is the goal of restoration?

in the context of the local church. Some people might say, well, you know, we want to restore this brother and sister to righteousness because they were sinning. and we want to restore them to righteousness. They had fallen in sexual immorality, so now we want to restore them to righteousness. That is, that they repent of that sin of sexual immorality and that now that they leave those ways behind, and now they walk in righteousness.

Or some people might say, because of the sin that this brother and sister has committed, they have been removed from the context of the church. And the purpose of restoration is just to bring them back into the fellowship of the saints. Let me submit to you that the idea that the Apostle has in mind is much greater, that only restoring a person to righteousness, namely that they repent of their sin and they do no longer practice that sin, or that just simply just to bring them into the fellowship of the saints. The purpose of restoration according to the Apostle is what he says there in verse 2, to fulfill the law of Christ. It says in verse 3, "...

bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." And there is only one word that summarizes the law of Christ. Do you know what that word is? Love. The law of Christ is love.

And in the argument of the apostle in chapter 5 and 6, love is such a powerful thing that that which we are supposed to restore a brother and sister to, or the goal of restoration, is actually functional love in the context of the body. Do I want them to stop sinning and to turn their ways? Of course. That is the first step. Do I want them just simply to come and to be in the context of the church?

Of course, I want to have fellowship with them. But ultimately, the goal of restoration is that that brother and sister that was broken, those walls that were down and that fishing net that was broken, this brother and sister that was in that condition will be restored to the life of the congregation with practical or functional love. If you pay attention to chapter 5 or 6, there is a very powerful statement there by the Apostle Paul when he says, for in Christ Jesus, chapter 5 or 6, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only, and then he says, faith working through love. The only thing that matters in the Christian life is not the things that I do according to the law, but the only thing that matters in the Christian life is that I have genuine faith. And if I have genuine faith, that genuine faith, the genuineness of that genuine faith or that faith is not only from my mouth, but the genuineness of that faith is that that faith works.

and moves. James says that faith without works is dead. Genuine faith is the faith that works and moves and obeys. But the substance of the works of that faith is love. So that means that if a genuine person is having genuine faith, then the manifestation of the genuineness of the faith of that person is going to be seen in love.

And of course, love in the context of the local church. If you go to verse 13 or to verse 12, verse 13, the apostle says that. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to the flesh. But, he says, through love serve one another.

All the members of the congregation, those who have genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, are supposed to have a faith that works. And the way that that faith works is a faith that works through love. And the way that that love is manifested in the context of the local church, it is by serving one another. the servants of one to another. Then that means that every one of the members of the local church, every single person, it does not matter where they come from or how long they have been Christians, everyone in the context of the church has a function to the body.

And what is that function to the body? To serve one another in love because of the faith that Christ has given them. So when I'm going to restore a brother and sister, I'm not only restoring them for them to turn away from their sins, which I do want them to turn away from their sins, and I'm only restoring them for them just to come and sit on a Sunday to be among us. But restoration, biblical restoration, is to reestablish and to heal the bonding, powerful relationship of love one to another that brings that brother and sister to once again operate the gift that the Lord has given that brother and sister, and that is to serve one another in love. That person has been forgiven.

That person has been restored. The gospel of Jesus Christ has covered the sin that that person has committed. And by the mercy of the Spirit of God, now this person is restored, not only into fellowship, but to exercise the gift of faith that is supposed to work through love. What a glorious thing that is. And that is certainly only a thing that the Spirit of God can do through the church for the life of a person.

But what are the requirements, my dear brother and sister? What are the requirements that we need to have as brothers and sisters to restore that brother and sister? Or better, how do I restore a brother and sister? What is the process to restore that brother and sister? What needs to take place better?

What needs to take place in order for me to restore that brother and sister? In one simple word, I will just simply say light and gospel. Pay attention to what he says in verse one. He says, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. A grace has been given to this sinner.

And you know which that grace is? That grace is that the sin of that person has been revealed. That is a grace that comes from above. This brother and sister that perhaps was in that hidden sin that was doing these things secretly, a grace from above has come. That brother and sister does not like it, does not enjoy it.

He prefers to have those things hidden. But a grace has come from above. And that grace is that that sin has been exposed. That sin has been revealed, light. The Lord has shown his light into the life of this brother and sister that is sinning.

And many times that is a very dangerous prayer to pray for our church. Lord, reveal the sin that is among us. Not with the intention to point fingers, but with the purpose that when a person, the sin is exposed, The Gospel, brethren, offers the solution. Our Savior is not like a, you know, like Pharaoh, like a king that only wants to point you to say, you're guilty, you're guilty, you're guilty. Our Savior is merciful.

If He points out our sin, if our sin is exposed, He's not with the purpose of destroying you and let you down. The purpose of the exposure of sin that a person is caught in transgression is that there will be the light of the Gospel coming upon that person. So 1 John chapter 1 says, That if we confess our sins, He is just and faithful, faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Brother and sister, is there any secret sin that is going on in your heart? Your eyes, your hands, your feet, is there something going on that you're okay because no one else knows?

May the Lord grant us the grace to reveal that and to bring it to light, not with the purpose of destroying you or me, but rather with the purpose to brings us to the feet of Jesus Christ, who is the only one that can deal with sin. The reason why the church can restore a brother and sister is because he's the church of Jesus Christ, not because he's a such a perfect community with such a, you know, Variety of peoples have American, American, all of these places and New Zealand. No, no. It is because Jesus Christ is the Lord of the church and he gives to the church what is needed to deal with that light and gospel. If there is a brother that is falling and is caught in transgression, Praise be the Lord for the light that exposes the sin.

And brethren, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does the last verse of chapter four of the book of Ephesians says? That just as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus, we are to forgive one another. You are witness to the sins that God has forgiven you. Why wouldn't you forgive another person if God has already forgiven you in Christ Jesus?

So now let's do it. What are the requirements? What are the requirements for brothers and sisters to restore a sinning brother? What are the requirements? What do we need to have?

What is required of us to restore a brother or sister? that has been walking in darkness, that has been caught in a transgression, that is undertaken by sin. What do we need as a church? First, if you pay that careful attention there, we need to be these spiritual people, walk by the Spirit. Do you see there verse 1?

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. And the apostle is not saying that in the church there's just, you know, this group of people there. These are the spiritual people, and these are the only people that can restore the rest of the church because these are the only group of people that are spiritual now, brethren. The apostle is assuming that we are walking in the Spirit as a congregation. All Christians within the context of the local church are not only called to walk by the Spirit, but they are also empowered to walk by the Spirit.

Why? Because the Spirit of God is given to each one of them. And what the apostle is referring to is just simply a fruit of the Spirit. Verse 22 of chapter 5, it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Verse 33 gentleness, gentleness is the fruit of the spirit that the apostle has mentioned in Chapter five. The now is required for those people who are walking by the spirit to restore the brother and sister who has fallen insane.

And this teaches us something. Maybe your brother and sister that that which is required for me to restore my brother and sister is not found in me. What I need to restore my brother and sister that now is broken and I want to restore to this functionality of love that operates and serves in the context of the church is not found in me. It is found in the Spirit of God. So I cannot come in the flesh to pretend to be the solver of the problems of my brother and sister.

I cannot come as a hypocrite walking in the darkness to presume that I'm the helper of the one that is caught in a transgression. I cannot pretend to be the one who has the solution for the spiritual problems of others if I myself am a hypocrite. It is necessary that the Spirit of God will be in us and among us, that we will be walking by the Spirit. So the success, if you want, of the life of the local church, it is not in the big building that we have and in the quality of the music and in the walls and the type of people that we have. But brethren, spiritual success, if you want to put it that way, is that we're walking in the Spirit by God's grace and looking to Christ Jesus.

Because whether there's five or 100, then the Lord Jesus Christ will work among us. And He will give us that which is necessary for us to restore one another, the spirit of gentleness, that is the Spirit of Christ, the meekness of Christ. Not to come to judge and to feel superior to the other person, but rather just to come as the one who comes to save sinners, as the one who comes to rescue the one that is broken with a spirit of meekness, with a spirit of gentleness. Second thing that we need is reverence. Pay attention to the second half of verse one.

Keep watching yourselves, lest you too be tempted. My dear brother and sister, if there's anything that is found in us is sin. And that sin that is in us is capable of taking us to a place, some of that we know, some of that we do not know. So when we are dealing with someone else's sin, we are to do it with reverence and with fear, not pretending to be superior and pretending to be better than anyone else, but knowing that apart from the grace of the Lord in our lives, we will be in the same position of our brother or sister or perhaps worse. The only difference between a brother or sister who is in sin and myself, if I am not, it is the grace of God.

Brethren, the only difference between a brother or sister who is taken over by sin and you, if you are not taken over by that sin, is not your ability. It is the grace of the Lord. And knowing that grace of the Lord should give us reverence, not to be tempted by the power of sin. Remember, sin is deceitful and sin hardens. And sin can take a person to a place in which they justify themselves.

They justify themselves with the sin that they secretly committed. They can become judges of the same sin that they have committed in the private place. And I don't know if that makes sense. I said that in Spanish in my head. The person becomes a hypocrite, judging others for the sin that they commit in the secret place in their hearts.

Reverence. Sin is a serious matter. Brethren, sin is a serious matter, so hence we should be reverent as we deal with someone else's sin. Third, humility. Pay attention there to verse three.

For if anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. Humility. That which we need to deal with the sin of our brother and sister is humility. And what is humility? Humility is to think rightly about yourself.

Humility is to think rightly about yourself. And the way that we think rightly about ourselves is knowing that if there is any good in us, that is coming from above, from the Father of life, with whom there is no variation, no shadow of turning. It is good for us and it's healthy, spiritually speaking, my dear brother and sister, to see ourselves so separated from the holiness of God, so that when we see something good in us, we will say it is by the grace of the Lord. Because if in us we see ourselves as having something that has started in and of ourselves, Brethren, this is going to take us to prideful behavior and to consider ourselves to be in this lofty city in which I'm better than someone else and I'm going to end up helping my brothers and sisters from my patronizing or from my condescending or from my lofty city. Come to me.

You need the answer to your questions. Come to me. I have the perfect life. You can follow my example, certainly. I have the solutions.

I certainly have not fallen in those mistakes that you have fallen. So please come to me. I have the answer to your problems. I have the experience. I have the knowledge.

I have the righteousness. I am good. Of course, come to me and with a face of humility, brother. We are to be careful of ourselves. And when a brother or sister that has fallen in sin, just remember that we could be in a worse, in a more difficult place.

And finally, verse four, it says, but let each one test his own work. And then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. I was confused there with that verse 5, in which the Apostle says, for each will have to bear his own load. And I was like, what are you saying, Apostle?

You're telling me, verse 2, bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. And then you're telling, in verse 5, for each will have to bear his own load. And then I think I understood from verse four when he says, but let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. That is just simply this. Each one of us will have to give an answer for our own thing.

There's going to be a point in which we're going to have to give an answer for what is inside of us. So the work that the Lord is doing in each one of you should not be the reason for you to compare yourself with the work of your brothers and sisters, or the work that the Lord is doing in your brothers and sisters. And then just to boast in seeing your brothers and sisters that are not as spiritual as you are, or perhaps that are not as mature as you are, and boasting yourself in the difference, in the gap that you see and observe in your brothers and sisters. Focus on yourself, because there will be one day in which you have to give an account before the Lord, and the books will be open, and the reality of what you say to have will be actually tested. We are not to compare with our brothers and sisters, but rather we are to be instruments in the hands of God to restore the one that is broken and the one that is needy.

We are to be servants of one another in pointing that person to Jesus Christ. And as we do so, my dear brother and sister, we need to acknowledge our vulnerability and limitations in our dependence to each other. There is no point and there is no gain in hiding myself in the cave of my righteousness, not wanting anyone to know the secrets of my heart and just pretending I'm okay when I'm not. The Lord will deal with those secrets at some point and eventually that will come to light. It is best for us to know.

That if we have been saved by grace through faith, we have been inserted into a body. And that body is the local church. And it is painful, and it is difficult, and many times it's awkward, and many times it's difficult to help one another. But this is the calling of the Christian brethren. That we will help one another, restore one another, serve one another.

And we cannot do that with psychological tricks or with just psychological patterns. We need to do that according to the scriptures and according to the power of the Holy Spirit living among us. The church has been called to grow in conformity to Jesus Christ. One thing to remember, your individual conformity to Jesus Christ depends upon your brothers and sisters. And the conformity to Jesus Christ of your brothers and sisters depends upon you.

And the only thing that we can do as people of God is to place our eyes on Christ Jesus, because eventually, The reality is that he came to this world to restore these walls that were completely broken. And he's the one that went through the whole process of making something that was completely not functional and making something functional. He's the one that came when it was not. It was not expected that he will come and he will rescue a people that were broken and destroyed and he made something of them. And the way that he made something of them is by giving himself for those people and his spirit among those people.

In the end, this is the heart of the gospel. Restoring a brother and sister is the heart of the forgiveness that we find in Jesus Christ. We were dead in our trespasses. We were away from the Lord and the Lord Jesus Christ rescued us, restored us unto eternal life. How are we not going to do that for our brothers and sisters?

How are we going to pretend that we are in such a place and distance myself from others that I'm not going to be an instrument of the grace of God in the hands of Jesus Christ to build up my brother and sister? May the Lord give us the grace that is needed not only to read these words but also to hear them to put it into practice, not to be only hearers of the word, but also to be doers of the word. Amen, brethren? Amen. Let us pray.