CAUTION: WATCH HOW YOU HANDLE GOD'S PEOPLE
What does this mean? Well as I grew in my walk with Christ I learned exactly what this means. You will find reading in 6th chapter of 1 Corinthians, verses 19-20, that Paul has quite a bit to say to us about HOW we should handle each other. Yes, this even means husbands and wives that are saved, along with brothers and sisters in Christ. If you are arrogant, judgement minded, accusing, greedy, short-tempered, lying, jealous, deceitful, harsh, etc. toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, you need to heed this warning!
Sinning Against Christ
To sin against the people of God is to sin against Jesus Himself. Why? For a few reasons. First, because all sin is ultimately against God. After all, if you steal a man’s car, although you are taking something that does belong to him, you are not ultimately breaking that man’s law; you are breaking God’s law. Sins specifically against the people of God are ultimately against Jesus because God’s people are God’s possession. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. (You are not your own, for you were bought at a price!)
Jesus died for you, you are God’s property. Jesus gave His life to purchase you, therefore you are His. To sin against the people of God, then, is to sin against God Himself because the people of God are His goods.
For people to selfishly and arrogantly wound, hurt, betray, accuse or even attack one of God's children, it would be as if they did so to God. To sin against the people of God, is to sin against Jesus Himself, because Jesus is one with His people (see John 15:5-7; 1 John 3:24; 4:13-16).
This is why Jesus is referred to as the head of the church and we as His body (Ephesians 5:22-33). This reality is most clearly evident in Acts 9:1-6. Jesus is, after all, one with His people. To persecute them is to persecute Him.
Let me put it this way; how you treat the people of God is how you treat God Himself. I don’t have to ask you whether you love Jesus or not, I just need to see how you handle His people. I don’t need to ask you whether you are passionate for God, I just need to observe how passionately you serve and love His people. He is one with those He came to save.
Every brother and sister in Christ need to watch how they handle each other for it will ultimately affect their spiritual well-being. If you sin against a brother or sister in Christ you need to repent before God and make it right. If your brother or sister in Christ knows you have hurt them, you should make it right in their eyes and in the eyes of God. This could even mean husband and wife, example would be if the husband falsely accuses his wife of something, even when his wife has done no wrong and has not sinned at all but is being accused falsely by her husband, then that is saying that the husband is not handling his wife properly as she is Christ's property and he is essentially accusing Christ falsely! Instead of the husband praying and asking God to give him discernment, he is taking it upon himself to pass judgement and ultimately this is as if he is judging Christ! God will not tolerate this nor sit by and watch this continue to happen without conviction and/or chastisement.
The Worth of God’s People
All of us need to understand when you are harming a brother or sister in Christ, you are messing with God’s valuable possessions. If God were to place a price tag on each of His children, he would not have different prices on the value of His people.
The price tag would read, “Invaluable: Bought with the blood of Jesus”. In the same way, you do not carelessly handle the people of God, regardless of where they are at theologically. Why? Because they are invaluable. It is sad and embarrassing that we are more careful with our money,cars, material possessions and houses, than we are with God’s blood-bought children!
Your brothers and sisters in Christ were bought with the blood of Jesus. He spilled His blood to purchase people for God from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation (Revelation 5:9-10).
In this scripture Paul contrasts the spilled blood of Christ with the most valuable things on this earth. God hasn’t redeemed us with cheap precious coins. No, He redeemed us, purchased us, with the infinitely valuable blood of Jesus.
The value of the blood of Jesus-
those for whom Christ died Jesus, being equal with the Father, became a man and died a gruesome, painful, and shameful death on a cross. He bore the infinite wrath of God. All of the righteous anger and holy indignation of God the Father was pointed at the sinless Jesus who hung on the cross for you and I. Jesus took the full penalty of our sin. Do you get it?
Jesus gave His life under the full strength of God’s wrath for all! Jesus died for your brothers and sisters too—He gave His all. This is embarrassing isn’t it? We cling to and hold on to our accusations, gossiping, bickering, and jealousy at the expense of the spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters in Christ when Jesus endured the shame and pain of the cross and infinite wrath of God as an innocent sufferer for their salvation.
This is a powerful topic that many never really think about and it is a valuable topic to God, for we need to remember the value of the blood of Jesus and Handle all of God's People with Caution.
Be Blessed!
