Thoughts on Judging

I am bound and determined to know Jesus. I am in a place of relentless pursuit to know this man who is creator, savior and king. Part of knowing Jesus is knowing what His word says. During some prayer time the Holy Spirit took me through thoughts on Jesus and Judgement. An interesting combination but vital.


I was reading about Jesus in Revelation. In Revelation 1:12-16, John describes Jesus like this: He is a Man who is clothed in a long white robe with a golden sash around his chest. His hair is white as wool/snow and His eyes are life flames of fire. His feet are like refined bronze and His voice sounds like the roar of a mighty rushing waterfall. His face is shining as bright as the sun, a sword comes out of His mouth and He is holding 7 stars in His hands.

Ok, I don't know about you but I could be glued to that passage alone for years! So much, so rich, so do not understand ;-)

Before I was reading in Revelation I was thinking about Jesus' response in two different situations - the "sinful women" in Luke 7:36-49 and the "woman caught in adultery" in John 8:1-11. I read and re-read these three passages and the Holy Spirit made it very clear -

It's the same Jesus! The man Jesus who interacted with these women is the same Jesus of Revelation. Don't think He's different, remember He is the same always. The glory Jesus has on the outside of His body in Revelation was on the inside of Him when He walked the earth. He's the SAME.

That truth really got to me. He's the same. This is where I began to think about justification of sin and judging others. As a Christian in today's society these things are touchy. We have come to a time where taking scriptures as absolute truth brings criticism and labels. As I read and prayed about these scriptures and their truth, this is what I felt the Lord was speaking to me:

So many people (Christians and non-believers) use these verses to justify their sins and the sins of others. How dare we use scriptures to justify our depravity! Yes, Jesus alone holds the power to judge (as He is the ONLY Righteous Judge) us for our sins but I think we forget or don't fully understand the fact that we WILL be judged!

2 Timothy 3:16 say that God's word is for teaching, rebuking and training in righteousness. Correcting in gentleness and righteousness without pride (judging) is godly. I would much rather live my life on earth being corrected, rebuked and trained by the Word of God and people who are lovers of Christ then at the end of my life stand before the Righteous Judge who is King and be surprisingly judged for my life - which at that point there is no time to turn from my wicked ways and be saved!

2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if we are in Christ then we pass from death to life. We are made new! And by the blood of the lamb we become new and become the righteousness of God. God cancels our debt, He forgives us, He washes us clean, He inputs the righteousness of Christ (the King) into me. No more need for the stones of man to condemn because the righteousness of Christ literally makes us a new person! Our dead self dies and a new life is birthed - a life that was purchased with the currency of perfect, powerful blood.

Christ followers must speak the truth - what the Word of God SAYS not what we think it means. In that passage Jesus was talking to the religious leaders of the day who had their heads and minds trapped in religion. And when we see people with a religious spirit then we lean towards judgement. But when we are one with Jesus, when we know Him, His heart and what He thinks about people we can extend truth.

I believe Jesus' words at the end of John 8:11 have been used to justify sin and have given the church a "bad rap". Beloved, please hear, really hear what Jesus is saying! "Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.'

Here's what happened between Jesus and this precious woman. The woman 'sinned' and was brought to Jesus. He calls out the people and religious leaders for not recognizing their own sin and hypocrisy. When Jesus gets His point across and His words pierce hearts everyone leaves and do not condemn/judge/kill her. At that point Jesus and the woman are there alone, but He was the ONLY one who was without sin and could rightly stand there. He looks into her eyes, He shows her compassion and in doing what He did she saw Him as LORD (the one you call on to be saved). He shows her compassion, saves her life and subsequently her soul and corrects her by instructing her to "sin no more". He canceled her guilt (did not condemn) but He did not leave her in her sin!!!

Correcting in truth, in love and with righteous grace is not judging. I struggle with judging others. I suffer from being felt judged by others. My desire is that Jesus will show me how to speak truth in love. It is not my job to convict anyone. It is not my responsibility to place judgement or guilt on anyone. All that God has called me to do is live my life in righteousness, speak His word (the word that brings life) and do not allow myself to be polluted by the world.

God has called me to help train up a generation in righteousness. I'm on a journey to figure out what that means and how to do it. So, journey on I will.
~Nicole