Judging and Forgiving

MEMORY SELECTION: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” —Luke 6:37

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: John 8:3-7; Luke 6:37-42

WHEN the Lord called us he did not do so because of our works, our righteousness, or our stature, but because we loved him and offered our hearts to him. We recognized that we were sinners and were in no sense acceptable, except that the Lord was willing to justify us by the application of the blood of Christ. And if we are realistic, we are aware that our flesh is never capable of performing perfectly. This, of course, is true also of our brethren.

In view of this common deficiency and realizing the only source of our reckoned righteousness, surely none of us has any reason to judge another.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 14:4 states: “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”

The apostle states that in the world we would not judge another man’s servant, for we do not know what his master requires of him. It is the master who has the right to judge the performance of his servant. In like manner we are individually responsible to the Heavenly Father. He has called us and accepted us as his servants. It is, then, only God who has the right to judge our performance. In fact, if God so desires, he can strengthen any of us and cause us to stand in spite of any of the shortcomings of the flesh.

In Luke 6:36, the verse preceding our memory selection, our Lord states, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” The dictionary defines mercy as compassion or forbearance shown to an offender. We are constant recipients of the Father’s mercy and forbearance, and the thought is that we should be so grateful that we will be more than willing to extend the same consideration to our brethren.

In II Corinthians 5:16,17 the Apostle Paul describes the attitude of mind that should be in all who are endeavoring to walk in the footsteps of Jesus: “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

In this text the apostle reminds us that when we gave our hearts to the Lord and made a consecration, we agreed that the things of the flesh were figuratively dead and that henceforth our minds were to be turned exclusively toward spiritual things. This transaction was pictured in our baptism. When we were lowered into the water it symbolized our determination to be dead to the things of the flesh, and as we were raised up out of the water it pictured our being raised to newness of life; that is, our minds are to be directed to the things of the spirit.

We should recognize this same transformation in our brethren, and therefore we should endeavor to see in them the things that the Lord sees in them: their zeal in the service of the truth, their faithfulness, their love for the Heavenly Father, and their love for the brethren. If we look for these things, we will overlook the shortcomings and weaknesses of the flesh, which are already accounted as dead.

While we are not to judge the individual because of his weaknesses, we must as consecrated Christians pass judgment on some things. For example, if one or more brethren start an activity that we believe to be detrimental to the spiritual interests of the brethren or to the general interests of the Harvest Work, we have a responsibility to pass judgment and take a stand against such an activity. The apostle in Acts 20:30,31 states: “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears.”

We have the example of the Apostle Paul, who saw a condition developing among the brethren, and he made a judgment and took a strong stand.

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