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Luke 17 If and When

by Rev. Will. Harrison Jr.  
10/08/2006 / Bible Studies

Luke 17:
3. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

Here again we see that for the time being the Lord Jesus allows a member of the Brethren to not only trespass in some way without an instant consequence from Him personally, yet not without a rebuke for the act [and in this case and maybe others], from the person who was wronged. We see it also says If he trespass against you. That doesnt necessarily mean that it doesnt apply when he commits the trespass as has been suggested in 1 John 2:1 and other places in 1 John where it says If instead of when. I believe that the Spirit inspired the Apostle to use the term If because of the Lords awareness of our inclinations and His clear intent that we have the right attitude and response to sin in our lives, and because of this it would be wiser to say If instead of when we sin. [ see also 1 John esp. the first three chapters] But that doesnt necessarily mean that it doesnt apply to both cases.

The trespass and the rebuke are both behaviors/responses that are not likely to be seen after the New Heavens and the New Earth and may not even be seen in Heaven as it is now, but again for the time being God suffereth [original terminology Romanized aphiemi Pronounced af-ee'-ay-mee ] us in these areas. And because we all still will be in some sort of training until at least the end of the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth there will be a lot of this allowing going on. We all have literally hundreds of new habits and experiences to go through.

Then Jesus says, If he repents, forgive him. Again we do not know if this also applies if it were said when he repents. I personally believe it does. Either way the point being given here from Jesus is the sequence and process that should take place and generally how to deal with them, especially the individuals involved far more than issues of timing. The sequence and what the nature of them is far more important than the speed. Many people unconsciously [maybe] insist only on an instant response of repentance yet a longer wait for the rebuke. This is how we can so easily complicate things.

I also feel here that there should be an interest in a student of the Bible and its principles to examine the particular views and values of the Lord and his definitions of such things as true repentance, rebuke, forgive, if and when, etc. We all too often automatically lean on our own understanding in most matters and likewise our own definitions and applications of these things. We must also never forget that the Bible says clearly that God, three-in-one does not think like we do, nor react and respond as we do, nor define and apply like we do, etc. and so on. And because of these highly critical facts we must not ignore the need to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

Rev. Will. Harrison Jr. Minister since late seventies, living with disabilities, married with children, should not have been saved. Former white & blue collar businessman. President and Founder LifeBuilders Ministry www.lifebuilders.mysite.com

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