BALANCE
Thursday, January 30, 2014
2Corinthians [NLT] 5:11-21 Because we understand our
fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows
we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to
you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer
those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere
heart. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in
our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us.
Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all
died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new
life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ,
who died and was raised for them.
So we have
stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of
Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This
means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life
is gone; a new life has begun!
And all of this
is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has
given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against
them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are
Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ
when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be
the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through
Christ.
One of the most
difficult areas of following Lord Jesus Christ is fulfilling our responsibility
to judge all things, beginning with self, and then others when situations call
for the need . . . and not do so in prideful judgmentalism. To facilitate
understanding of this balance problem ours, I again share an excellent
summarizing essay from www.GotQuestions.org
. EBB4
Question: "What does the
Bible mean that we are not to judge others?"
Answer: This is an issue that has confused many people. On one hand, we are commanded by the Lord Jesus, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1). On the other hand, the Bible also exhorts us to beware of evildoers and false prophets and to avoid those who practice all kinds of evil. How are we to discern who these people are if we do not make some kind of judgment about them?
Christians are often accused of "judging" whenever they speak out against a sinful activity. However, that is not the meaning of the Scripture verses that state, "Do not judge." There is a righteous kind of judgment we are supposed to exercise—with careful discernment (John 7:24). When Jesus told us not to judge (Matthew 7:1), He was telling us not to judge hypocritically. Matthew 7:2-5 declares, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." What Jesus was condemning here was hypocritical, self-righteous judgments of others.
In Matthew 7:2-5, Jesus warns against judging someone else for his sin when you yourself are sinning even worse. That is the kind of judging Jesus commanded us not to do. If a believer sees another believer sinning, it is his Christian duty to lovingly and respectfully confront the person with his sin (Matthew 18:15-17). This is not judging, but rather pointing out the truth in hope—and with the ultimate goal—of bringing repentance in the other person (James 5:20) and restoration to the fellowship. We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We are to proclaim what God's Word says about sin. 2 Timothy 4:2 instructs us, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction." We are to "judge" sin, but always with the goal of presenting the solution for sin and its consequences—the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
Answer: This is an issue that has confused many people. On one hand, we are commanded by the Lord Jesus, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1). On the other hand, the Bible also exhorts us to beware of evildoers and false prophets and to avoid those who practice all kinds of evil. How are we to discern who these people are if we do not make some kind of judgment about them?
Christians are often accused of "judging" whenever they speak out against a sinful activity. However, that is not the meaning of the Scripture verses that state, "Do not judge." There is a righteous kind of judgment we are supposed to exercise—with careful discernment (John 7:24). When Jesus told us not to judge (Matthew 7:1), He was telling us not to judge hypocritically. Matthew 7:2-5 declares, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." What Jesus was condemning here was hypocritical, self-righteous judgments of others.
In Matthew 7:2-5, Jesus warns against judging someone else for his sin when you yourself are sinning even worse. That is the kind of judging Jesus commanded us not to do. If a believer sees another believer sinning, it is his Christian duty to lovingly and respectfully confront the person with his sin (Matthew 18:15-17). This is not judging, but rather pointing out the truth in hope—and with the ultimate goal—of bringing repentance in the other person (James 5:20) and restoration to the fellowship. We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We are to proclaim what God's Word says about sin. 2 Timothy 4:2 instructs us, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction." We are to "judge" sin, but always with the goal of presenting the solution for sin and its consequences—the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
©
Copyright 2002-2014 Got Questions Ministries. (Used with permission.)
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