© 25 Colin Melbourne
Witnessing to Unrepentant Sinners
Q: How do we decide when a person is reprobate, and do we still witness to them?
A: Simple, attend to both the written word, and the rhema’d word of God to your heart. They always agree.
A sinner is a reprobate, according to the written word, when they persist in wilfully rejecting the Lordship of Christ: The rule of the Living God in their heart.
An example would be a nominal “believer” who rejects Christ’s Lordship, so knowingly follows the desires of the flesh nature, and encourages other sinners to do the same.
Nowadays this is common amongst make-believers, even apostate leaders in pretend “Christian” fellowships, such as; Church of Christ, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic etc.
God Rejects Reprobates
The Prophet Jeremiah rebuked suchlike sharply; Holy Bible, Jeremiah 6:26-30 KJV;
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
Reprobates Are Worthy of Death
The Holy Ghost condemns reprobates under the New Covenant in The Precious Blood of Christ, because the evidence of God’s Creation is all around us, which therefore self-condemns all idolaters, and sexual perverts such as; homosexuals, sodomites, lesbians, etc. Holy Bible, Romans 1:20-32 KJV;
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
That’s plain enough for any sincere follower of Christ, isn’t it?
Is it acceptable to kill reprobates? Of course not, genuine Christians never kill people: As followers of Christ, we’d rather be killed than harm anyone.
Incidentally, you’d be arrested for reading Romans chapter one out-loud on the High Street in Canada and America, then imprisoned and fined for what man’s law calls “hate-speech”.
You see how far the present world has fallen from God’s Grace?
Holy Bible, Titus 1:15-16 KJV;
Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
As I understand it from such scripture, a reprobate has to have an element of wilful rejection of God’s Word, it’s more serious than plain ignorance of what God has said to mankind, though even Creation informs everyone of His Glory.
So the LORD is wonderfully gracious to the ignorant sinner.
You remember what you were like don’t you? I certainly do!
How gently He approached and awakened us to the snares of sin entangling our hearts, mind, and life.
Halleluia for the Love of Christ!
And notice in the scriptures above, it’s the Holy Ghost who decides when a sinner is reprobate, not our human reasoning.
So we tread lightly, and prayerfully, in case we judge wrongly, and cause the sinner to flee from the LORD yet more.
Witnessing to Reprobate Sinners
So of course we share the Gospel with reprobates, because when the Perfect Love of Christ is manifested to them, He becomes irresistible, and the Holy Ghost convicts them of their sin.
He does the work, not us.
Click to read Doomtown
© Chick Publns. Used by kind permission
Yikes a Dyke!
So the next time you’re confronted with a shaven-headed, tattooed, dyke-in-a-man’s-suit, remind yourself of how repulsive you were when love approached, and cut through the shackles of sin that held you in Satan’s arms.
It’s impossible for the flesh-man, but Christ in you longs to set them free.
And He can: Only believe!
© 25 Colin Melbourne
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Click to read Sin City © Chick Publns. Used by kind permission