Don't Condemn!

 

𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 8:1 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒉, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.

One thing that continually bugs me is the attack on Christian forums where one person tells everyone else they are going to Hell. And they seem to do it with glee. Sometimes with that awful mocking laughing face emoji. It is shameful and disheartening.

A doctrinal disagreement breaks out online and out come the holier-than-thou-ers. You just cringe because you know they are going to be there. They tell you every reason why you are going to Hell and every reason why they are going to Heaven. They completely forget about the Highest Common Denominator: Jesus. They didn't die on the Cross for you; He did! Chances are the holier-than-thou-ers wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were thirsty.

How is such an attitude and comport edifying? We're supposed to build each other up, not tear each other down! And if non-Christians are observing such behaviour, what is it about that kind of conduct that will make them want to be like us? It makes us look like hypocrites! Bear that in mind before ever acting on it.

Sadly, I have actually known people like that, not just encountered them online. No one is Saved but them and they are all too eager and happy to tell you so. That is a haughty and prideful spirit and it has absolutely no place in a Christian.

I'm not a Bible scholar. I believe I have wasted my life in that regard. I should have done so, so, so much more with the breath and sight and voice and everything else God gave me but I didn't.

But God.

I am still Saved by my faith in Christ Jesus as the complete and eternal atonement for my countless sins. And you are too through your belief in Him.

𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 10:9 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅.

That's it. That's all. But don't stop there! Don't be lazy and ungrateful and do nothing with that Salvation. Allow God to change you from the inside out, but the moment you put your faith in our Lord Jesus and Him alone, you are Saved. Will you still sin? Of course you will. You live in a sinful body with sinful desires and your mission as a Christian is to try to overcome that. One glorious day that sin nature will be cast out of you forever, but for now you are stuck with it. Pray for strength to wage your internal battle.

1 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒚 6:12 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔.

You won't get there in this life because you are trapped in a sinful body. If you submit yourself to God's will, you will be able to look back as you mature and realize you are not the same person as you were. You will be a better you. God doesn't make people who aren't His better. He makes His Own better. That's you if you're still reading this.

If you encounter one of those who will try vigourously try to make you doubt your Salvation, just smile at them and tell them, "The Jesus I serve is bigger than that; Way bigger!" That'll either make them furious, and if it does, let them stew in their own juices, or it might actually make them think. Maybe they will reconsider their misplaced pride instead of honest humility.

Unless there is something ridiculously out of whack, I don't engage in online doctrinal debates. Today I did because I saw someone make the comment that we are now in the second half of the Tribulation. There is so much missing for that to be true and because no one corrected him or her (it was an internet handle it was posted under, not an actual name), I felt I had to. I corrected the ridiculousness of their statement, but I didn't tell them they weren't Saved and they were going to Hell because they got something wrong, even if it was way out there. Admonishment is okay. Condemnation is not. Only God knows their heart.

If someone outright declares they were never a Believer and they never will be a Believer, you can be pretty certain that person isn't Saved. I didn't say, 'rest assured', because if you have an evangelist's heart, nothing robs you of rest like knowing someone is going to Hell. You are never happy about that. But if they tell you they don't believe in God, then you know for sure they aren't going to be in Heaven as they stand.

𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 12:34 𝑶 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒆, 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍, 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔? 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒉.

Yes, if they boldly and proudly say they don't believe in God and you are stupid for doing so, you can make a very educated assumption they aren't one of His. Or, if they do abhorrent things like burning Bibles, or if they practice witchcraft, or a religion that is utterly counter to the Gospel of Christ and it denies His Saving power and authority over Hell and the grave. Anything that denies Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life is a definite, unmistakable indicator. In that you can be sadly certain.

But, if they profess to be followers of Christ, don't tell them they're not!

If you run into a person who confesses Jesus but has some wonky theology, it's best to keep your opinion about their eternal standing with Him to yourself, because you very well might be wrong. You don't know the doctrine they have heard or been taught and they just may be on a voyage of discovery to find out it is wrong all by themselves without even your help. Once again, correction is fine, done in a Godly way, but condemnation is assuredly not the proper response and conduct of a Christian.

𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 8:10 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒔? 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆?

11 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝑵𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑵𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆: 𝒈𝒐, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆.

12 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅: 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.

What happened there? That woman was guilty. She was caught right in the very act of adultery and they were going to stone her to death as per the Old Law. So was the man she was with, but somehow they found it convenient to accuse just her. It takes two to tango, so I believe he was one of them. There is no Biblical context to back that up, but he was suspiciously missing from the impromptu trial, and they were obviously eager to condemn, so something was afoot there.

Anyway, that woman was standing before the ULTIMATE Judge, guilty as charged, and He found it fitting to let her go, so who are any of us to condemn a Brother or Sister in Christ? If anyone could have condemned her it was Him: Eternal Judge Jesus! But He didn't. That was another 'but God' moment. He didn't need anyone's testimony or any other kind of proof; He was the Son of I Am That I Am; He sees and saw all things! He knew she was guilty and He forgave her and sent her on from Death to Life. That should be one of our first lessons in conversion; we were acquitted of our sins, so why can't we acquit others of theirs?

I want you to stop and think of where the spirit of condemnation of others comes from:

𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 12:10 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕: 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.

It is Satan that condemns. One of his names is 'the accuser of the brethren'. The brethren; Christians. The Devil accuses Christians. Don't forget that.

Now, with that established, pay even greater attention to this:

1 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 2 𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑰 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒏, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔: 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔: 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.

"𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆". A legal Protector; Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, pleading our case before Almighty God. We have the best Counsel in the entire known and unknown realm presenting the Perfect defense for us: His shed Blood, by which our sins are washed clean!

You can't undo that. Even as powerful as the Devil is he can't undo it so how can you? Don't be a devil's advocate. Accept the seal on your Brother or Sister's forehead with gladness for them!

1 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 2:24 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆, 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔: 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅.

By His wounds you are Saved, and by His wounds anyone else believing in Him is Saved. There is no place in that verse for our own pride of accomplishment - only our failure - for Him to Redeem. Don't ever get a fat head. It is not befitting of a Christian. And definitely don't condemn anyone else who professes Jesus.

𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌 3:25 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅.

Don't try to topple the Church! Let the Light and Love of God shine out of you. Don't smother it with the darkness of condemnation.

Correct if you must, but never condemn, ever. Only God Himself can do that, and it's 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜! God Almighty and only God Almighty has the power to condemn people, and He absolutely, positively doesn't want to use it, so why should we ever desire to?

𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 5:24 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏; 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.