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Judging
- 1. Judging All NKJV unlessotherwise specified Oxford Dictionary Definitions Judge Noun – (1) a public officer appointed to decide cases in a court of law; (2) a person who decides the results in a competition, (3) a person able or qualified to give an opinion Verb – (1) to form an opinion about; (2) give a verdict on in a law court; (3) decide the results of (a competition) Condemn Verb – (1) express complete disapproval of; (2) sentence to a punishment, especially death; (3) force someone to endure something unpleasant; (4) officially declare to be unfit for use; (5) prove the guilt of John 8 v3-11 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say? They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman who was still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Are we without sin? No? Then we also should not cast stones at sinners. The only person present with the right to condemn her chose not to. Jesus ushered in the dispensation of grace. The others, who had no right to condemn her, were accusing her. They had no right for they were guilty of the same or even greater sins. When we come to a realization that we ourselves have committed the same or even worse sin in our lives, should we not rather look at others in this same light of grace that Jesus has given us? Does this mean Jesus compromises with sin? No!!! He told the woman to now leave her life of sin! Grace is not a license to sin, it is forgiveness of past sin. Once we realize that we have been forgiven of such great offense, we are to turn from sin (repent), and walk in the light as Jesus is in the light. This grace is free to those who believe in Jesus Christ. Our life’s mission is to introduce people to Jesus Christ, not to condemn them. Unless someone told us about Jesus, we would not know about him. If we (as unbelievers in the past) had been condemned by believers, would they have told us about Him? Luke 6v37 37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. We need to be make allowances for others, since we are in need of the same allowances ourselves. If we respond to others in love, then this love will not cause us to be judgmental towards them. If we are merciful towards others, they will be merciful towards us. And God will be merciful towards us. Matthew 7 v1-5 1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. We must not speak evil of anyone. We must not despise him/her. Do not judge a single act as that of being his/her character. How quick are we to form a negative opinion about someone? How many times have we spoken negatively about someone, or criticized someone else? Can we honestly say we have all the information available to judge that person? Can we step onto the throne of God and pass judgment. Rather counsel the person and help him, but do not judge him. We must rather judge ourselves and our own acts, but not assume authority over anyone else.
- 2. For withthe measure that we use against others, God will mete out the same or greater measure against us. If we recall our life before meeting Christ, what would others think about us? But we (who believe) are now saved. We are no longer like our old selves. Therefore God did something amazing in us, in that he has renewed us (we are born again). Why can God not do it in these people who are currently sinning? Of course he can do it. If we respond to these people in love, and grace, we show them a piece of the heart of God. However if we judge them, we will fall under the same strict judgment from God as we judge others. We are to love the sinner, but not the sin. Our own sins should seem greater to us that the sins of our brothers. We should not be hypocrites. However, the above says that while we should not judge others, we should help correct them. There still remains a splinter in our brothers’ eye. It is our heart towards this brother that God reads. See Galations 6v1 below: Galations 6v1 1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Love restores a person Love is gentle Consider ourselves before we do it, that we have the right heart, or we may be tempted to judge this person. Matthew 9v12 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Who are the righteous above? They are the ones who are self-righteous. They have decided their own innocence in all matters. Jesus came for the sinners. They are the ones who humbly acknowledge their state and depend wholeheartedly on Jesus for salvation. He came to call them to repentance (repentance – to turn around and walk in the opposite direction – opposite to the life of sin in which they were living). John 3v17-21 17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” Who are those who are condemned / judged? They are the ones who don’t believe in Jesus Christ (the only one who can save them). The ones who are condemned, are the ones who ‘love darkness’ (love their sin), and who hide their sins so that they won’t be exposed. They think that their sins have not been noticed, and they don’t fear the Lord. See Romans 2v16 By coming to the Lord, people will have to repent. Some people don’t want to repent, because these people love their sin more than Jesus (See Romans 1v18). It is these who are condemned already. It thus goes to show, that Jesus came to the world to save the world from their sins (not to condemn them). However a rejection of Jesus Christ means that they have come under condemnation because Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can save them. Are we then in a position to judge or condemn them? If Jesus was sent by God into the world, not to condemn the world but rather save them, should we then condemn the world? NO! We should rather point the way to Jesus, who is the only one who can save them. Jesus will judge all people at his judgment seat, once each person has had his or her life on earth, and has made the choices which will seal his or her fate.
- 3. Romans 14 v10-13change translation 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for (look down on) your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. Why do we want to judge a person when there is an appointed time for this before the throne of God? Rather do all that you can to encourage and stimulate our brothers into finishing the race strongly. Romans 2 v1-5 (NIV) You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance. But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. We know from the above that God judges in truth. We however do not have all the information to be able to pass a truthful judgment. By judging, we are actually condemning ourselves!!! God is patiently waiting for his children to mature. Why then does a judgmental Christian condemn come along and condemn a person. God says that He has an issue with this!!! We are a work in progress – anyone criticizing us is actually criticizing God’s masterpiece!!!!! The Holy Spirit will convict a person of sin. Let’s not do the job of the Holy Spirit. We should rather do our part and share the gospel of grace. The Holy Spirit does the rest in that person. God is busy showing us, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, things which are not right in our lives. He wants us to repent and turn from these things. If however another Christian comes along and judges or condemns us, then this Christian is actually heaping condemnation upon himself/herself. God has however provided a circumstantial condition for judgment – this is explained below 1 Corinthians 5 v9-13 (NLT) 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or who are greedy or are swindlers or idol worshipers. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your job to judge those inside the church who are sinning in these ways. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.” We can deduce from the above the Paul wrote to them before, and that they had obviously responded to him (v9-10). I deduce from the above that they must have responded with a message something like “Yes, we will not associate with the sinners out there in the world”. Paul corrects them in verse 10 by saying that they should not associate with those who practice these things within their own ranks, i.e. those who claim to be Christians. What Paul is saying is that those who claim to be Christians and then conduct themselves in the way of this world – these ones should be avoided. They continue in a world of sin, yet they should know better. How can you help convert this person if they believe they are already converted, yet living in a life of sinful indulgence? The method of dealing with them can be seen in Titus 3v10-11 and also 1 Corinthians 5v1-5. Romans 14v22(b) Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 1 Corinthians 15v33 (NIV) Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” By this we can deduce that association with “outsiders” is inevitable. We must not practice the evil which they practice. We are however to be an example to them. And witness to them. Judge Ourselves 1 Corinthians 11 v31-32 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.