YES, WE ARE TO JUDGE
– Mary A. La Clair
“Who are you to judge?” ”Tolerance, Tolerance, Tolerance!”. These are worn out buzz words which many non Christians use. Sadly we too often take our direction from them – letting non Christians tell Christians how to act.
Should this be?
I think we rationalize that, ‘We mustn’t let them say we are un-Christian, therefore we must adhere to what non-Christians think Christianity is… However, when we try to please them, we are really running the risk of being controlled by non-Christians. It is easy to see where this could lead, and indeed where it already has led us.
Accusations of ‘thou shalt not judge’ most often come up when a proper distinction between right and wrong is being made by Godly people. These accusations usually come from those who want to continue in their sin without challenge. Someone told me, ‘It is possible to non-offend people right to hell.’ They are right.
What allows it to continue? Acquiescence. How can we correct this?
Let’s look at how the Master handled these situations Himself and perhaps we can effectively respond to some of this liberal rhetoric and no longer be pulled in by its deceit.
The words Jesus used are these:
“Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.’” Matt 22:29 KJV
When someone tries to trick us we can reply the same way. “You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God”.
Yet, never did Jesus ever tell anyone to go ahead and keep on sinning.
He forgave and said, “Go and sin no more.”
The trouble comes in identifying sin.
It is safe to say that approval is sought in an effort to override a sinful conscience. However, God given guilt can never be over-ridden by man’s approval. Ask any divorcee or any homosexual and even consider post abortion trauma to see if human approval relieves the pain. In all honesty, the answer has to be, “No, approval of man does not erase the pain of divorce, homosexuality or abortion.”
This is why we are told to warn both the wicked and the righteous away from sin, see Ezekiel chapter 3 and chapter 33 which further states that if we don’t do this, when the Lord tells us to that we will be held responsible. Chapter 33 mentions our countrymen as individuals, while chapter three mentions a Nation as a whole (which at that time was Israel).
We are also told to warn persons within the church of obvious sin, and after several warnings to put them out of the church.
In this we are specifically told to judge the brethren. Those who would tell us not to judge are indeed in err because they do not know the Scriptures.
Liberal opponents jump the gun and prematurely charge ‘judgment’ when a mere warning is made. In this instance, by their own measure they are guilty themselves of what they charge to others. When they accuse others of judging, they themselves are making a judgment call that we are judging when we may be merely giving a warning, as God would have us do. So they become guilty of the very thing of which they are accusing others.
We should not let the ungodly effectively silence the Godly through the use of false accusations and intimidation. We must remember that the devil tried to get Jesus to abandon His mission through the misapplication of the Scriptures. Old slewfoot is still up to his old tricks. He wants us to abandon our mission to warn.
I have learned to reply, “I’m not judging you, but consider yourself warned that someday you will face the eternal Judge who is able to issue a life sentence. Warning is not judgment.”
Judgment more often requires action; not mere opinion.
Warning therefore is not judging.
A concordance of the NIV Bible shows 25 references to the word ‘warn’; eleven being in the New Testament.
If judging always and only meant ‘merely to think’ or ‘to form an opinion’, and if we never ‘judged’ in that way we would help to create anarchy and lawlessness. This, too, is what the devil seeks for mankind and he may appear close to succeeding, if we let him.
Jesus tells us not to hide our light under a bushel. We are to be salt and light. Without light there is darkness, without salt, there is decay, without truth, there is deception.
To make an absolute of “Judge not lest you be judged” necessitates ignoring Jesus when he says we are to judge: 1 Cor 6:2-5: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? …… Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?” NKJV
We need to practice our judgment regarding sin in the church. This is warning the righteous. We are to be salt and light to the world and warn of an eternal judgment. This is warning the wicked.
So, do not be intimidated by others, judge for yourselves…. are we judging when we warn?
P>S> I have just found a book which I would like to recommend: It is titled BE INTOLERANT – BECAUSE SOME THINGS ARE JUST STUPID written in 2003 I find it even more pertinent in 2015:
Even more pertinent in 2015. Ryan Dobson writes as if he were sitting in an easy chair in your living room making good conversation. he explains: “Moral relativism doesn’t follow its own rules, the rules it judges everyone else by We’re tolerant of all — except you, and you and you There is no standard for right and wrong – except when you violate what we say is right” .. He then explains how he confronts, and wins, people with this mindset. It is full of common sense . After reading my copy, I ordered several other copies for people in my circles who wonder how they can have civil dialogue with opposite thinkers. [[ASIN:1590521528 Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid]]We are encouraged to ‘exhort’, Ryan encourages those with that gifting of exhortation. I highly recommend this book. It is easily read.
http://www.amazon.com/Be-Intolerant-Because-Things-Stupid/dp/1590521528%3FSubscriptionId%3D0D2DHPR4QZK90GRWYP02%26tag%3Dporfessionalp7-0%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1590521528
To order: click on above link…
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John 7:24 “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
Luke 12:57 “Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?” KJV
In addition, God does tell us to judge those within the church. 1 Cor 5:9-13 tells us
immorality in the church must be judged.
“What business is it of yours to judge the heathen, God will do that. It is our
business to judge those inside the church.” We are to put the immoral person outside.
If we accept sin in the church we send the message that God accepts sin in heaven, which is obviously not true.
I wanted to write this from the viewpoint that a judgment carries with it a punishment, and that unless that punishment was inflicted, we were not guilty of judging. In view of this, I sought of the Lord what He meant when He said, ‘Judge not lest ye be judged’, and that same day the Lord reminded me of a lady I know whom I used to think arrogant and proud by the straight way she walked and how she held her head high; until I knew her better and found out she had been in an accident and that she had a metal rod next to
her spine and a steel plate in her jaw.
Jesus’ words: “Judge not lest you be judged” finally became clear. We need to be careful before we judge someone’s spirit by mere outward appearance.
Jesus still continues to instruct that we must judge between right and wrong, especially in the church; and that we must warn both the righteous and our countrymen against wrong actions, that we must praise and encourage good works, and that we must keep ourselves clean by judging our own motives and actions first. -end
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