Judgement and Condemnation - Contradiction or Difference in meaning

Judgement and Condemnation

Contradiction or Difference in meaning

Stes de Necker

The apparent contradiction - Thou shalt not judge/Thou must judge

1.  Thou shalt not judge

In Matthew 7: 1-2 the apostle says: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. ² For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

There are several references in the Bible that tells us that we are not to judge others. For example, we read in Luke. 6:37, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven”

In Romans 2: 1, Paul says, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”

Because of these written prohibitions many believers feel very seriously about the fact that we do not have the authority to judge and therefore we cannot tell someone else that he/she is wrong.

But what does this mean in practice? What can or should we as Christians or what should or shouldn’t we do? As many references as there are in the Bible that says we shall not judge as much reference there are telling us to judge when we see someone doing wrong.

2.  You must judge

In Ezekiel we read several times where it seems that God actually commanded to judge:

Ezekiel 20: 4 “Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers”

Ezekiel 22: 2 “Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.”

Ezekiel 23: 45 “And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.”

Leviticus 19:15 says: “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.”

Also In the New Testament there are examples in which it appears that God expects us to judge sin,

John. 7: 

24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

In Matt. 18: 15 the apostle writes: Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.  

In verses 16 and 17 he writes: "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

¹⁷ And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

 But if he does not listen, take one or two more with you, so that everything that is said, by the word of two or three witnesses could confirm. (17) And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church."  

In Ezekiel. 3: 18 God says: "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” 

And then in verse 21:" “If you warn him not to sin and he does not sin, he shall live because he took warning, and you your own life. "

According to the Old and New Testament it appears very clear that we carry a big responsibility to correct others when we see them doing wrong.

If we do not, “..... but his blood will I require at thine hand.”!

In current judicial parlance, there is a big difference between sitting in judgement and and to pronounce judgement.

When sitting in judgement a judge will listen to all the arguments that are presented to him and when he has weighed all the evidence and circumstances surrounding a crime, he will pass judgement. Ie. if the accused is found guilty, the judge will pass sentence.  

Now where does this obvious contradiction leave us as Christians?

How we reconcile God's commands to judge in the Old Testament with the prohibition thereof what we find in Matthew and Luke?

First of all, the difference lies in the way we read and interpret the Bible. When we read the prohibitions of the apostles and God's instructions in this regard carefully, we will discover that God does not give us the right to condemn the person, but the sinful practice he/she has committed!

We know that God hates sin and that we can only find forgiveness in Jesus Christ. But because God hates sin, He also expects us to hate sin.

This does not mean that we must hate the person behind the sin! We've always carry the duty to love our neighbour.

What God expects of us is to condemn the sin, not the person.

Secondly, the difference lies in our interpretation of the Bible from our current worldview.

Humanism.

What does "humanism" mean? I said it before that we are sometimes victims of post-modernism. Everyone is entitled to his / her own truth, because, as ‘humanism’ would have it, there is no thing as an absolute truth. This position is the result of humanistic thinking.

"No one has the right to tell someone else what to do or what his/her life should look like "!

Humanism is an unbiblical, human-oriented ideology, that has already diluted our clear Christian theology and the teachings of the Bible to adapt  to the modern civilization’s way of thinking.

Not only does it undermine the authority of Scripture, but Biblical constants, which have prevailed over centuries, are simply removed or replaced with dogmatic theories that satisfy the requirements of modern society.

Humans have simply become more important than the Bible!

Human Rights 

In South Africa most people have simply acquire too many basic ‘human rights’ too soon and too easy.

What no one has told the masses is that for every ‘human right’, there exists a reciprocal responsibility. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement, but then you must act within the requirements of the law. Everyone has the right to own property, but then you must acquire it in the normal legal way. Everyone has the freedom of speech, but that does not mean you can walk arond slandering someone else. 

  

Prostitution and abortion are already not regarded as crimes in South Africa, while we know that the Bible expressly forbids these sins. 

In this post-modern "enlightened" humanistic society, man's so-called "freedom" has become more important than God’s Word. At the slightest indication that man's "freedom" may be in jeopardy these indications are met with fierce attacks from the so-called human rights activists. 

Under the guise of human rights and democracy, any sin can be justified!

Labelling

Another major cause for misinterpreting the Gospel as far as condemnation is concern,  is the tendency of humans to ‘label’ everything and everyone around us.   

Read the story in John Chapter 9 that deals with the man who was blind since birth.  

From verse 1: “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

² And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

³ Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Jesus' disciples have already accepted that the man's blindness was as a result of his sin. All they wanted to know is: whose sin it was; his or his parents'.

They already labelled the blind man as a "sinner". The fact that this man was a beggar who needed help, obviously did not meant much to them at that moment. 

We are as guilty as the disciples in this regard today. When we see someone begging in the street, it is because he is too lazy to work; If we see someone who owns more than you, it's because he / she inherited or stole himself rich; If your skin is white, you're a racist; If your skin is black, you’re corrupt; If you vote for the Freedom Party you are conservative, and if you vote for the Communist Party, you’re a radical. For every possible condition we have a nameplate.

Jesus saw the blind individual. For Jesus, this man was not a victim of sin, he was a miracle waiting to happen.

Matt. 7 from verse one:

“1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”

And in Rom. 2: 1-3, Paul says:

“1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

2  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?”

The Bible is neither old nor new. It is timeless 

In 2 Tim. 3: 16 says:  ^“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Either we accept the Bible as a whole, or we accept nothing that is written therein!

CONCLUSION

The Bible is clear. As Christians it is our duty to judge and condemn sin, but under no circumstances should we ever judge or condemn the person behind the sin.  

Leave the judgement to God. But if you must judge, judge a person’s actions and never the person. And even then, we must always remember, there are two reservations; Firstly, there should never be prejudice in our opinion, and secondly, we must make very sure that our own lives are clean and correct before we judge someone else’s.

With the measure we use, it shall be measured to us.