Love and Discipline

Many claim that love means accepting and affirming all kinds of sin, yet they're the first to become judgmental if anyone disagrees. What does the Bible say?

Love does not mean enabling sin; sin must be exposed, confronted, and resisted. Otherwise, we show no love or respect for God or innocent victims. 'Do not judge' (Mat. 7:1) is balanced by 'Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly' (John 7:24). 'Love keeps no record of wrongs' (1 Cor. 13:5) is balanced by 'We all must appear before Christ in court so that each person can be paid back for the things that were done while in the body, whether they were good or bad.' (2 Cor. 5:10). Here's a list of scriptures on the topic:

1. John 7:24— judge rightly, not by appearances
2. Rom. 1:24-27,32— same-sex relations are shameful
3. Rom. 16:17-18— mark and avoid false teachers
4. 1 Cor. 5:1-13— church proud of sexual sin but must expel habitual sinner
5. 1 Cor. 6:9-11— living in sin is what the unsaved do
6. 1 Cor. 6:18-20— sexual sin worse than others
7. Gal. 1:6-9— a curse on those teaching a false gospel
8. 2 Peter 2:1-3,18-20— teaching lustful desires, depravity
9. Eph. 5:3— among you must be no hint of sexual depravity
10. Eph. 5:6-13— expose works of darkness, do not partner with them
11. 2 Thes. 3:6— avoid fellow believer who is idle
12. 2 Thes. 3:14-15— expel those defying the teachings, but lovingly
13. 1 Tim. 1:3-4— rebuke those teaching heresy or obsessing over myths
14. 1 Tim. 1:19-20— name and expel subverters of the faith
15. 1 Tim. 4:1— departing from faith, teachings of demons
16. 1 Tim. 5:20— openly rebuke elders (leaders) living in sin
17. 1 Tim. 6:20-21— avoid false knowledge
18. 2 Tim. 3:16— scripture useful for teaching and rebuke
19. 2 Tim. 4:2-4— reprove, rebuke those with itching ears
20. Titus 1:9-16— sharply rebuke false teachers, dividers, esp. judaizers
21. Titus 3:10— after 2 warnings, have nothing to do with divisive people
22. 1 John 4:1-3— test the spirits
23. 2 John 1:7-11— do not associate with false teachers
24. Jude 1:4— perverting grace of God into sensuality and deny Jesus
25. Rev. 21:8— fate of cowards, murderers, perverts, etc.

Beware of those who only cherry-pick from one extreme or the other, or who hypocritically attack others for rebuking in accordance with scripture. Love cares first for the victims, while rebuking the perpetrators. Love defends the honor of Jesus' name, rather than remaining silent while it's blasphemed. Love does not excuse the sins of people we like, especially if they're influencers (leaders, authors, etc.). We must not be enablers of sin in the name of one-sided tolerance.