Should A Christian Judge?

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with 

what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: 

and with what measure ye mete, it shall be 

measured to you again. And why beholdest thou 

the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but 

considerest not the beam that is thine own eye? 

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? 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.

Matthew 7:1-5

     The principle of judging faith and this on internal principles is diametrically opposed to judging it on the basis of external actions. Christians are not to judge a person' faith, those internal principles that determine their faith, as those principles or faith cannot be known except by the opposing factor: their exercise of their internal principles. Furthermore, those words of Jesus are about brothers in Christ, those claiming to be Christian. It is easy to see the actions of non-Christians and determine them as to whether or not they conform to God's commandments. God's commandments are clear and plain. Yet, when it comes to those within the Church it is not always possible to know the internal condition of their heart. Are we to judge? Yes! To judge then is to use the metric that Jesus laid down for His bride to use in judging: the external exercise of a person, both in action and in words, words that are not in line with Scripture. Paul gives us this: "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, of any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person" (1Corinthians 5:11-13). So we are to judge, those who within our congregations or those claiming to be Christian. We are reminded by this that internal principles are important as they determine the dimensions of our faith. We are reminded to be vigilant as to the condition of our hearts. Many Churches today have little or nothing as to the cleanness of those attending allowing for all sorts of sin to be present in the Church as if just allowing them to be present is to "love" them and all that is being done is to allow sin to find its way into the Church. We are told not to allow this and to cleanse the Church. There are several ways to aid a person to come to the knowledge that their internal principles of the heart are not according to Scripture. This must be done, but for outright sin, unrepentant sin, that person must be removed from the Church. Church discipline is part of what the Church must do to ensure the purity of the Church. 

     Cultural Christians, those liberal Christians, have a near total disregard for internal principles of the heart and teach that Christians are to "love" everyone, and allow sin, homosexuality, use of illegal drugs, drunkenness, fornication and adultery to exist to show "love." It may start small, and it usually does, but sin has a way to grow, to infect, just as a bad apple in the barrel of good apples will infect all the apples in the barrel if the bad apple is not removed. In the case of Christianity, the bad apple is false teaching leading to false understanding and practices. 

     Faith, Authentic Christian Faith is what we are to live our live by as instructed by Paul: "(for we walk by faith, not by sight:) (2Corinthians 5:7a). Authentic Christians suffer in this world as do not Christians, or cultural Christians. When a person is an Authentic Christian living by faith those things, as horrible as they may be, do not deter us away from the truth, we know that we are to believe. How can this be done? Authentic Christians live by faith through all this world can throw at you by us allowing our faith, our relationship with Jesus Christ, to be the habitual dynamic force by which we live out our days on this earth. The motivation factor is our relationship with Jesus, that motivation factor that underscores our faith, not experiences or experiential worship, no a quiet and subdued life that creates within us a new kind of vision for our life. What is this vision? It is to be the witness for Jesus Christ as we have been commanded to do, to take the good news to all, to those at our work, our play, our vacations, in everything we do or say. We speak the good news, not miracles, not anecdotal stories, not anything outside of the good news: Jesus Christ died for our sins and gives to those who believe eternal life. 

      Resurrection Sunday is coming (April 16th) a day for us to remember what it means to be an Authentic Christian, to have Authentic Christian Faith. 

And it shall with him, and he shall

     read therein all the days of his

life: that he may learn to fear the

   LORD his God, to keep all the words

of this law and these statutes, to do them:

                          Deuteronomy 17:19

Prepare now for Resurrection Day

Richard L. Crumb