Godless Judgment: (By: Max Lucado- In the Grip of Grace) Part 2
Romans 2:1
1You, 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. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
Who is this person? It could be anyone who filters God's grace through his own opinion. Anyone who dilutes God's mercy with his own prejudice. He is the prodigal son's elder brother who wouldn't attend the party. (Luke 15:11-32) He is the ten-hour worker, upset because the one-hour worker got he same wage. (Matthew 20:1-16) He is the fault finding brother obsessed with his brother's sin and oblivious to his own.
If you think you can judge others, Paul has a stern reminder for you. It's not your job to hold the gavel.
The key word here is judges. It is one thing to have an opinion. It's quite another to pass verdict. It is one thing to have a conviction but yet another to convict the person. It is one thing to be repulsed by Dahmer(and I am). It is another entirely to claim that I am superior (I'm not) or that he is beyond the grace of God.
It is our job to hate sin. God has called us to despise evil but never to despise the evildoer.
Standing next to Dahmer and Hitler's of the world, we boast, "look God, compared to them, I'm not too bad. But that is the problem. God doesn't compare us to them. They aren't the standard of God. And compared to him, Paul will argue, "there is no one who does anything good" (Romans 3:12) In fact, that is one of the two reasons why God is the One who judges.
God said, "you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect". (Matt 5:48) None of us can meet God's standard. As a result, none of us deserves to don the robe and stand behind the bench and judge others. Why? We aren't good enough. As long as we look at the sins of others, then we don't have to be honest about our own.
Not only are we unworthy but unqualified. We "never" know enough about the person to judge him. We don't know enough about his past. Only One who has followed yesterday's steps can be their judge. Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. Dare we judge a book while chapter's are yet unwritten? Should we pass a verdict on a painting while the artist still holds the brush? How can we dismiss a soul until God's work is complete?
"God began a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. (Phil 1:6)
My prayer is that we realize our own need for God's saving Grace, Love and Mercy and also realize it for our neighbors... Our brothers and sister's in Christ.
Max and Tammy
1You, 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. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
Who is this person? It could be anyone who filters God's grace through his own opinion. Anyone who dilutes God's mercy with his own prejudice. He is the prodigal son's elder brother who wouldn't attend the party. (Luke 15:11-32) He is the ten-hour worker, upset because the one-hour worker got he same wage. (Matthew 20:1-16) He is the fault finding brother obsessed with his brother's sin and oblivious to his own.
If you think you can judge others, Paul has a stern reminder for you. It's not your job to hold the gavel.
The key word here is judges. It is one thing to have an opinion. It's quite another to pass verdict. It is one thing to have a conviction but yet another to convict the person. It is one thing to be repulsed by Dahmer(and I am). It is another entirely to claim that I am superior (I'm not) or that he is beyond the grace of God.
It is our job to hate sin. God has called us to despise evil but never to despise the evildoer.
Standing next to Dahmer and Hitler's of the world, we boast, "look God, compared to them, I'm not too bad. But that is the problem. God doesn't compare us to them. They aren't the standard of God. And compared to him, Paul will argue, "there is no one who does anything good" (Romans 3:12) In fact, that is one of the two reasons why God is the One who judges.
God said, "you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect". (Matt 5:48) None of us can meet God's standard. As a result, none of us deserves to don the robe and stand behind the bench and judge others. Why? We aren't good enough. As long as we look at the sins of others, then we don't have to be honest about our own.
Not only are we unworthy but unqualified. We "never" know enough about the person to judge him. We don't know enough about his past. Only One who has followed yesterday's steps can be their judge. Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. Dare we judge a book while chapter's are yet unwritten? Should we pass a verdict on a painting while the artist still holds the brush? How can we dismiss a soul until God's work is complete?
"God began a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. (Phil 1:6)
My prayer is that we realize our own need for God's saving Grace, Love and Mercy and also realize it for our neighbors... Our brothers and sister's in Christ.
Max and Tammy
posted by BreadBakers at 1:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home