{"id":577,"date":"2016-06-26T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-26T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/?p=577"},"modified":"2016-07-02T14:24:34","modified_gmt":"2016-07-02T19:24:34","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-judgment-justice-and-the-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/2016\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-judgment-justice-and-the-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about judgment, justice, and the Christian?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cAn unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.\u201d Proverbs\u00a029:27<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Our text explains that the key players in this drama are at opposite poles, both deplore the thinking of the other. So it has always been. Good and virtue versus evil and vice\u2014there is no middle ground, though often sought by the well-intentioned and simple-minded, for the sake of a peace that never comes. The righteous man stands out in bold relief against the paler and muddled darkness of encroaching cultural decay.<\/p>\n

We hear outcries for something called \u201cjustice\u201d just about every day. Genuine justice is a noble and good ambition. God cares about justice. Psalm\u00a082:1ff reads, \u201cGod stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Selah\u2026They do not know, nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are unstable\u2026 Arise, O God, judge the earth\u2026\u201d But all too often, when the ungodly are asked to define justice their answer appears to be anything but fair and just. More often than not the justice of the mob turns out to be a miscarriage of equanimity.<\/p>\n

Into this fray every believer is commanded to venture. Do not fall prey to the erroneous idea that Christians are not to judge. If that were true then our Lord would not have commanded each of us, \u201cDo not judge according to appearance, but judge with [the] righteous judgment\u201d (John\u00a07:24).<\/p>\n

I assume the word \u201cjudge\u201d would be more palatable to our 21st century ears if translated as \u201cdiscern.\u201d It is the Greek word krino<\/em>, meaning \u201cseparate, select, chose; hence to determine, and so to judge, pronounce judgment.\u201d The very idea goes against the cultural grain that evangelical Christians have been developing these last 30+ years. Christians want to be known for being loving but we have failed in being known for loving good, and knowing what \u201cgood\u201d is takes discerning judgment.<\/p>\n

The funny thing is that we make judgments every day. Besides the mundane choices we make without thinking, there are daily judgments we make about safety, work, savings, health, and what-have-you. Forming judgments and acting upon them is part of being human. Forming spiritual judgments and acting upon them is part of being spiritual. Micah\u00a06:8 proclaims, \u201cHe has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?\u201d In other words, believers must form judgments based on heavenly values rather than earthbound values, if we are to be obedient to our God.<\/p>\n

This judgment forming, judgment living, and judgment broadcasting based on godly values is precisely what puts us at odds with the world, and the worldling will not like it any more than his spiritual father, Satan, likes it. Paul explains spiritual blindness in 1\u00a0Corinthians\u00a02:12ff, \u201cBut the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned\u201d (scrutinize, examine, question, to hold a preliminary judicial examination implying more to follow).<\/p>\n

To illustrate how out of step this kind of deliberate inquiry, and formation of conclusions worthy of life and lip, is in this day consider this: when was the last time you heard someone use the phrase \u201cin my judgment\u201d or \u201cto be best of my judgment\u201d in a conversation? Those phrases were often on the lips of my father and others of his generation. Now, people seem to be afraid to utter anything remotely sounding of certainty and thoughtful conclusion. No wonder believers have lost their salt-like qualities (Matthew\u00a05:13).<\/p>\n

\u201cJudging righteous judgment\u201d is to biblically discern what God says about a matter, then loving His truth, living His truth, and being able to defend His truth clearly. Our Lord is our example in this holy task, \u201cI can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me\u201d (John\u00a05:30). Paul states in Romans\u00a02:2, \u201cBut we know that the judgment of God is according to truth\u2026\u201d The trouble with \u201cadjusting\u201d truth in order to find common ground is three-fold: adjusting God\u2019s truth is an attempt to adjust God, accommodating a little evil only serves to give evil leverage for creating greater chaos, adding a little evil to truth poisons the whole. <\/p>\n

Evil is never satisfied with accommodation, it wants only submission. Jesus says, \u201cHe who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much\u201d (Luke\u00a016:10). If you want a glimpse of the way justice will be meted out in the Millennium read Isaiah\u00a011:1-5; it is a healing balm for any saint who has been trodden under by wicked \u201cjustice\u201d seekers.<\/p>\n

God commands Israel in Deuteronomy\u00a016:18ff, \u201c\u2026You shall follow what is altogether just\u2026\u201d and that command reverberates down through the corridors of time for every saint. The command requires being thoroughly acquainted with God\u2019s prescriptions for justice (Psalm\u00a098:9, Leviticus\u00a019:15), being practiced in spiritual wisdom (Hebrews\u00a05:14), and pursuing clear thinking (Proverbs\u00a031:4f). Your faithfulness in judging righteous judgment will not only make you known by the enemies who discover you (Ephesians\u00a06:10ff) but also make you fast friends among the righteous (1\u00a0John\u00a01:7). Trust and obey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAn unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.\u201d Proverbs\u00a029:27 Our text explains that the key players in this drama are at opposite poles, both deplore the thinking of the other. So it has always been. Good and virtue versus evil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}