Title: 13
Author: Joe G
Last saved by: Auth User
Company: GDC

Clanking Chains		06-10-15-B.CC02-667 /

Principles of Aristocracy: #15: Don’t Prosecute Fellow Believers, 1 Cor 6:1-8; #16: Treat Adversaries with Grace; #17: Conquer Evil with Good; Rom12:19-21

Romans 12:19 -	Fellow believer, do not take revenge but yield to the punishment from the justice of God, for it stands written, “Justice belongs to Me, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Principle of Aristocracy #15: Never seek revenge, never retaliate, never prosecute a fellow believer.  Always defer to the justice of God when you are tempted to be vengeful or retaliate.
(1)	He who circumvents the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Heaven assumes his system of punishment is superior to God’s.
(2)	Retaliation indicates a belief that he is a more dependable expert at righting wrongs than God.
(3)	But Scripture clearly indicates that punishment belongs to God (See: Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalm 94:1; Hebrews 10:30).
(4)	God has no peer in the field of justice as it relates to His children, consequently, He needs no assistance from us in order to carry out perfect discipline.
(5)	This means that when a believer is treated unjustly by a fellow believer he must leave the prosecution of the incident in the hands of God who administers perfect justice.
(6)	To take a matter into one’s own hands takes it out of the hand’s of God and interferes with divine justice and violates the honor code.
(7)	Revenge and retaliation violates the honor code principle of aristocracy #15.  Justice should be left under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Heaven while dealing with the circumstance by means of biblical problem-solving devices.
(8)	A specific of this honor code principle is addressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 where he admonishes members of the church for taking their disputes before heathen courts:
1 Corinthians 6:1 -	Does any one of you, having a case against another believer, have the nerve to prosecute him before an unbeliever judge and not before the saints?
v. 2 -		Or do you not know [ oÙk Ðr£w, ouk horaō: they had already been taught this principle ] that the saints will judge the cosmic system?  If the cosmic system is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
v. 3 -		Do you not know [ oÙk Ðr£w, ouk horaō: they had already been taught this principle ] that we shall judge angels [ at the Great White Throne Judgment believers participate with Christ in judging fallen angels; see Scofield’s footnote at Jude 6 ]?  How much more are we qualified to judge things pertaining to this life?
v. 4 -		So if you have complaints regarding things pertaining to this life, why do you appoint judges who are the least qualified in the church? 
NOTE:  The two parties in the dispute selected a mediator within the church but who has no doctrine and makes matters worse.  Members of the church were separated into three factions: some followed the teachings of Paul, some Apollos, and others Peter; all thought they were wise but none had the biblical wisdom to adjudicate the dispute.  As a result the decision was made to take the case to a heathen court.
1 Corinthians 6:5 -	I say this to you for your shame.  Is it true there is not one wise man among you who is able to judge between two fellow believers [ In the absence of a pastor, members of the church had drifted into factions, those in each believing they were wise in knowledge but none had the wisdom to apply doctrine ]?  
v. 6 -		But instead one believer is prosecuting another believer and that before unbelievers [ causing clear and present damage to the Gospel message in Corinth ]!
 v. 7 -		What is a fact, then, is that you have already lost because you have been prosecuting one another [ in the world’s courts ].  Why not rather be wronged?  Why do you not rather be defrauded?
v. 8 -		No!  You do wrong and defraud your fellow believer. 
The one who prosecutes a fellow believer in the world’s courts does a wrong thing in a wrong way.  What might be gained monetarily is reduced to insignificance by the damage it does to the image of Christianity in the eyes of the devil’s world while enhancing the pocketbooks of lawyers and impoverishing a child of God.  Not only this, the one who prosecutes defrauds the guilty person of receiving discipline from the justice of God by moving the venue away from the Supreme Court of Heaven over to the flawed wisdom of human law.  Two wrongs do not make a right, therefore to repeat:
Principle of Aristocracy #15: Never seek revenge, never retaliate, never prosecute a fellow believer.  Always defer to the justice of God when you are tempted to be vengeful or retaliate.
Romans 12:20 -	Nevertheless, if the one hostile to you is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by doing this you pile up burning coals of fire on his head.
Principle of Aristocracy #16: When you respond to an adversary in grace you raise your enemy up to your standards.  When you strike back you have decided to lower yourself to the level of your adversary.
(1)	Forbearance, mercy, and indulgence toward your antagonist allow the Supreme Court of Heaven complete freedom to prosecute your case in the best interests of the perfect plan of God.
(2)	Forbearance is defined as “Tolerance and restraint in the face of provocation.  The act of a creditor who refrains from enforcing a debt when it falls due” [AHD/EL].
(3)	Mercy is defined as the “Kind and compassionate treatment of an offender.  Suggests reprieve from a fate of considerable severity [AHD/EL].
(4)	Indulgence is defined as “Lenient treatment.  Something granted as a favor” [AHD/EL].
(5)	From these definitions we can demonstrate Principle of Aristocracy #16 by means of a formula:
	Forbearance + Mercy = Indulgence, or:
	Tolerance + Compassion = Lenient treatment
	Romans 12:21 -	Stop being conquered by evil but conquer evil by means of the good.
Principle of Aristocracy #17: Stop being defeated by evil but rather be victorious through the application of Bible doctrine: vincit omnia veritas, doctrine conquers all.
25.	These “principles of aristocracy” provide the believer with standards whose requirements not only exceed those of human aristocracy but also come into conflict with many of them.
26.	The execution of these standards provides the believer with problem-solving devices that define the sophisticated spiritual life.

© 2006 by Joe Griffin Media Ministries.  All rights reserved.	www.joegriffin.org