Judging

Some folks like quoting the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 7:1. He said "Judge not, that you be not judged". Jesus said that. So it is a holy command that must be obeyed. But in the same sermon, He also said that false teachers can be known by their fruits (i.e. deeds; Matthew 7:15-20). And that is a description of the act of judging - knowing that a person is fake, based on their actions. Is this a contradiction? No.

The Christian life requires one to distinguish between good and evil, for the purpose of rejecting what is evil in favor of what is right and good in the sight of God. You can not follow Jesus without discriminating against evil. You can not follow Jesus without cultivating the spiritual discernment to recognize and reject sin and falsehood when you encounter it. 

In order to obey Jesus, one must learn to determine who is a good example of Christlike holiness, and whose example should not be followed or encouraged. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and said, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). 

So you see the logic. If one is following Jesus, then that one, in turn, becomes a tangible example for others who want to follow Jesus. But this automatically involves recognizing who is not following Christ, and therefore whose example should not be followed or encouraged. 

The cultivation of this discernment is accomplished largely by reading and studying God's holy word, the Bible, and talking to God in prayer. Further cultivation is achieved by practicing what you have learned from God's teachings, as well as conferring with fellow believers who also prayerfully read and study the Scriptures.

So how is this not contrary to the statement "Judge not, that you be not judged."? When Jesus said those words, He was talking about a certain attitude that one should not have while following Him. One should not have an attitude of superiority over others in the Church, or even outside the Church for that matter. 

One must be able to distinguish the good examples from the bad examples. But one must also be humbled by the realization that we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. It is only by the grace of Jesus Christ that any of us are saved (Romans 3:23-24, Ephesians 2:8-10).

And so we have to realize that our power to judge is limited to deciding whose example is good to follow and encourage, and whose example is not good to follow or encourage. But only God Himself can really make the final, absolute judgement of what is going on in any person's heart and life.

We also have to be on guard against the tendency to be a fault finder. Some people sin by always intentionally seeking out flaws and short-comings in their neighbors, and never recognizing the work that God is accomplishing in them. And this fault finding tendency may distract the inordinate judge from surrendering his or her own self to God to be purified by Him. 

Or the fault finder might be just as hard, if not harder, on his or her self, and thus inordinately torment his or her self with excessive guilt and shame. Christ came to free you from shame and guilt, not to intensify it in you. If you are tormenting yourself with shame and guilt, you need to surrender that shame over to Christ. Let Him take it away from you. Let that guilt be nailed to the cross. You are not a prisoner to it anymore.

Forgiveness vs. Reconciliation

As Jesus was dying on the cross, He prayed:

 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). 

He was praying for everyone involved in His trial and crucifixion. And so it only makes sense that He was praying for all sinners.

The question for some then arises: Why do we need trust in Jesus for salvation, since we are already forgiven? Why even think about our relationship with God, since He has already forgiven all sin?

This is actually not a very good question, because it shows the depravity of the one who asks it. But we all are sinners, and there is a very good answer in the Bible:

 "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2nd Corinthians 5:20; emphasis added).

Jesus paid the penalty for all sin. God has forgiven you, me, everyone. But it takes two parties to reconcile a relationship.

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying:

 "All day long I stretch out my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths, and their own crooked schemes" (Isaiah 65:2; New Living Translation).

So we see that His arms are open, but we still have to turn and be reconciled to Him. We must repent - turn away from sin. It was sin that severed our relationship with God in the first place. And it is God's forgiveness that makes it possible to turn away from sin and be reconciled to Him. As the Scripture says:

"In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil" (Proverbs 16:6, also see Psalm 130:3-4, and Romans 2:1-4). 

Why did sin sever our relationship with God? Because God is holy, righteous, immaculate. God and sin are diametrically opposed, so it is impossible to be living a life of sin and simultaneously be right with God. And God will never stop being holy. So we must stop being sinners. As He has said to His people:

 "Be holy, for I am holy" (1st Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:45, 19:2, 20:7).

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).

The Christian life is a process of sanctification (becoming holy). We begin by admitting that we are sinners in need of being reconciled to God; trusting that Jesus died for our sin, and rose again. We make a personal decision to let God begin the process of making us holy, just as He is holy. As the Scriptures say:

"If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him" (1st John 2:29). 

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in [us] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:16, also see 2:13 and Isaiah 26:12).

We do not practice righteousness by our own power. Nor can we. Our sinful, fallen nature makes it impossible to become holy by our own effort. As the Son of God said:

 "...for without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). 

By faith we must trust in Him so that His righteousness becomes our righteousness. Just as He wore our sin, having no sin of His own; we wear His righteousness, having none of our own. And by His working in us who trust in Him, we will become like Him. Our fallen nature will be restored to perfect, Christ-like holiness. As the Scripture says:

"...we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1st John 3:2-3).