Monday, July 03, 2006

The Bible and Judging Others... Beware!

The Bible and Judging Others… Beware.


I have been battling a cold for about 2 weeks, which is funny as it seems every time I have someone start telling me I am a heretic or worse, (in love of course) I seem to come down with some sort of cold or flu right as it starts… it seems to set me into a very grumpy mood as I try to respond and not react to some of the nonsense that is thrown at me. The funny thing is many of these so called defenders of truth may actually be able to communicate with me and I might see something different if they approached me in a different way…

And that is also true in how we must approach those who are lost. How and why do we think anyone will listen to the “Good News” with all the added garbage… the doctrines that defend judgmentalism? Even Jesus did not come to judge, but to save us! (John 12:46-50)

Yet, some seem to be higher than Jesus and deem themselves worthy of being a judge over other men… which is anathema to the teachings of the bible… and of Christ Jesus! (Rom 14:4)

In there is a way that is biblical in how we judge the world and that is to walk in love… as we do this without fault and love God, then the world and the Satanic powers have no where to stand but in judgment as we deem God worthy of our love. So it is in Love we judge, not by some standard of righteousness we create. It is only as we stand in the righteousness of Christ, Who is worthy that we with Him please the Father.

In that when Christ returns then HE WILL JUDGE ALL by His righteousness and that being THE STANDARD. For some to stand on their own on that day is a sad thing indeed. Even worse is to stand in judgment now, as if you are Christ Himself… some sort of pseudo Christ, that deems his own righteousness as the standard… beware if you stand there as this is holding one’s own righteousness as equal with Jesus’…

This is true and if one does not see it they are blind…
Luke 6: 35.  But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37. "Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. NIV

Yet, some come to this blog as a so called brother and attack and condemn me in a way that even Christ Himself never did to a sinner, let alone one He called his own. In doing this you condemn yourself… not me… or anyone else.

You see you are usurping the authority of Christ as you stand as an accuser of the brethren, and with that you are standing not with Christ but with Satan for that is his nature and what he has done from the beginning… and that is his title… the accuser of the brethren. If you question this, then read in Rev 12: 9.  The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.  
10.  Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
11.  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. NIV

So, do you still want to stand in judgment? Then go ahead, and that is your fate. Do you still want to justify yourself by thinking your standard is greater… you will fall with your father the accuser!

So again, beware if you judge another… you reap what you sow, and that will be judgment upon yourself.

I heard a saying recently, it went like this.

If you throw a rock at a pack of dogs, the one who yelps is the one you hit… think about that before you respond and try to justify your judgmentalism and condemnation.

Under His Blood… a beloved of Christ,
iggy



7 comments:

Unknown said...

Ben,

I guess you are not man enough to face the truth?

So I will repeat what I ahve said to since you have collected them so well...

"...you are usurping the authority of Christ ..."
"...you condemn yourself..."
"...you will fall with your father the accuser!"
" I wonder if they have come to Christ at all."
...they have forsaken Christ."
"You have not even begun to understand what I have written..."
"You simply can not get past your misunderstanding..."
"...you only come across immature..."
"You are...calling God a liar..."
"...these as not having been truly converted..."
"...when I find someone with lesser faith..."
"I will not suffer a fool and his folly any longer."

All true if you go and read what I was responding to...

This seems to only confirm it further to me... and to all my readers.

So, once again,

Lord,
I lift Ben to you that he may come to maturity in the faith and not dempend on man made doctrine to save him... That he comes to You!

I know in Your grace you will save anyone who turns to you...

Show Ben the richness of Your salvation... shine Your glory on him...

In Jesus Name,
Amen.

Paul said...

Jesus said we shouldn't judge by appearances, but with righteous judgement.

We don't have the power to condemn one another to hell. We are not other people's judge. Even Jesus, said that Moses would judge the Pharisees and Sadducees, not Him.

However, though we are to speak the truth in love, we are not to tolerate false doctrine. Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs full of dead man's bones because they were hypocrites! Paul took the entire book of Galatians to refute false doctrine and wished the perpetrators would emasculate themselves. He also said, "Let them be accursed!"

So, if you are misrepresenting the gospel or errant in doctrine, be ready to be criticized. Obviously, not being judged doesn't mean the mamby-pamby thing you think it means.

"By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned."

Matt. 12:37

Unknown said...

Paul,
You are quite correct as the Pharasees where under the Law... so judged by it. That is why when they lowered the standard of the Law when they taught others Jesus said they were making people twice as fit for hell as they were themselves.

In that it was about self righteouness... And from that position I am stating do not set oneself in the position of judge over another... as far as salvation as that is God's territory.

The thing is we do have the power to forgive and love... as we have be forgiven and loved.

Often people confuse discernment and judgment... as one who is often judged and condemned... I see that as quite contary to the teaching of Christ... and in that wonder, "by their fruit" so to say.

Again, I am not perfect... no one but Jesus can make that claim, yet by the power of Christ in me if I can rise above judging, and continue to love that is the victory.

thanks for your comments... now the real question is... who is the judge and knows all doctrine? Who is the one who can say, I hold all truth so follow me?

Not one single man can say that... only Jesus can.

So, how then do you consider one to judge whether a doctrine is "man made" or "truly sound" or just a tradition, or of true value and able to bring us into Christ's righteouness more?

Jesus was thought to have taught false doctrine by the Pharasees... yet, He was the One through all creation came to be.

In that to set so much on one's particular bent of doctrine, it is best to be humble on none essentials rather that condemen and judge over them. It is better to error in manby pamby love, than to be guilty of casting the first stone... at least to me.

I would rather be guilty of giving a begger money knowing he will spend it on booze than to be guilty of letting him starve and find out later he was Jesus...

blessings,
iggy

Unknown said...

Wow Ben,

This is the clearest you have ever been... maybe there is hope...

Ben: While he curses anyone that disagrees with the Emerging stuff, he gets angry, whiny, and threatening when he is called into account.

I do not ever remembering "cursing anyone that disagrees with the emerging stuff as you put it... in fact that is the purpose of this blog, to converse in a civil manner over disagreements.... perceived or misperceived...

I do not hate doctrine... as I LOVE SOUND DOCTRINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have never differentiated between any doctrine... be it man made or sound... even now you still harp on this... and it is dishonest in how you represent me.

Your beef is with emergent and you came from the start with a huge chip on your shoulder... blasting me and not once really engaging in dialog unless it is with someone between us like Dan and now Paul... is that because you are afraid? I still think i am getting to you that i might not be as wrong as you think... that maybe I am not evil and of the devil...

maybe you really are a closet emergent as i was... For I stand accountable to God and His message He has lain on my heart... and not to you... For your arrogance has negated your voice to me...


This is you last post... again, go and start your own.. I think this is the 2nd or third i have inspired so maybe God is moving stronger in me than I realize.

So in that you have blessed me more than you realize!!! So, go and curse me more and I and those who I have shared with about you will continue to pray that you Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of the revelation of the Mystery of Christ.



go in peace!
iggy

Unknown said...

Paul,

Contary to Ben, I saw no beef with me at all... I read no motive in your comments other than maybe to clarify a point... that either you or i may not quite agree... but no beef... and that is the difference between you and Ben...

Blessings,
iggy

arb® said...

it's fantastic how openly hostile and argumentative y'all can be. it shows a kind of honesty. many folks are too worried about being politically correct and courteous to say what they really feel; or maybe just scared to acknowledge that they feel something so ugly. the personal attacks, the name calling--it's great.

i'd jump in and take sides, but i don't know any of you. plus, given my own theology, i would guess we don't stand on the same side of many issues.

peace and prayers for loving resolution.

Unknown said...

Ab,

I am not sure as to what you mean by "it's fantastic how openly hostile and argumentative y'all can be.", as I don't really care to do that at all. I hope to have and engage in conversation... not have hostility and hatred. Though I will not lie down and let an abusive person just continue to be abusive. I believe that Jesus stood up against the Pharisees of his day... and I will do that now, though it is with a great amount of prayer that I fight with over just words. I pray that they come to God’s grace and have a more intimate relationship with Christ Jesus

In that my motive is not of hatred as I have said many times I was a Pharisee once myself... yet I was broken by God's Grace.

I do not mean that in a prideful way at all. In fact it is that I had to lose a lot of friends and an ordination i was working toward in the Assembly of God... my doctrine changed from being able to lose salvation to the realization that I was saved by Grace and that same Grace will sustain me... God is much better at maintaining my salvation than I would ever be.

With that I will not let people like those who have set out to accuse and spread lies and hate have a voice on my blog… they have been inspired to do their own and with that decided it better to “expose Carlos as a fraud” than lift up Jesus… If you take the time you will see I have spent much more time lifting Jesus up… than just debating those who have no idea what a conversation is, let alone a debate.

Really I am saddened by all of this and hope to get on track and preach Jesus and Him crucified and raise to Life for our salvation.

Blessings,
iggy