Romans: 8:30, “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
The subject of judging and condemning one another remains foremost in my conversations with God, and thus the continued topic of this blog. At this point is it is understood that the judgment and condemnation is often motivated by jealousy, lust, or even an expression of personal struggles or conviction… the proverbial log in the eye making a splinter in someone else’s a much bigger problem than it really is.
And yet, even with this revelation, even with the bulk of Christian leadership knowing Christ commands us not to judge or condemn, still daily there are continuing examples of it. Always a person judging a group for which he/she has no association. The flockless self appointed shepherd judging the sheep of another persists all the while serving the father of lies creating confusion and causing little ones to stumble into bondage.
Worse is it is often done in the name of an apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, or evangelist. This in no way suggests those roles do not exists in a God ordained position of tending sheep, but it forsakes the very nature of salvation that led to the calling.
Were you saved by a man? Did you intellect convince you to follow Christ? Did a sermon change your life? According to the scripture the answer is a resounding, no. God predestines. God calls. God justifies. God does it all. On occasion the Evangelists is used to open the eyes of the lost to the calling God is broadcasting. And here in lies the real purpose of all the ministries. To allow people to see through love, not judgment or condemnation.
I am not a puritan. I do not believe in the absence of free will. But I do believe God is much better at convicting than man’s words, systems, and doctrines. It is time to trust God to handle salvation and sin. It is time to tend the sheep God gives us. And if we have no sheep, then it is time for us to live Christ… to stop worrying about every else’s relationship to God and start worrying about our own.
Here are the words of T Austin-Sparks. “There is a ground that is settled and fixed, unshakeable in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. That ground is the expression of the love of God in Christ Jesus for me; not my love for Him, not anything that I have done or can do, not anything that is in me or that I can produce, but it is all what He is, what He has done, what He has given, and what He has established in His own Person at the right hand of God. That is divine love, and that has been made to rest upon you and upon me “whom he foreknew…”. He has done it all in relation to us, the thing is finished, and there is not a power in God’s universe that can alter it, that can change it, that can shake it. It is something which God has done. It is a manifestation of His own love in Christ, which nothing in the creation can touch, and it is bound up with God’s elect.”
Finally think of Christ' relationship to His disciples. It was always the religious from outside the circle (kingdom) that were casting judgments and condemnations. The accusations were valid, and yet Jesus never joined in their condemnation, nor did He forsake the fellowship with them. There is no condemnation in Christ because Christ covered all the sin with His blood… yours, mine, and theirs – past, present, and future. We are not God’s recruiters here to get people to join a club. Christ sits high on the throne and is well in control of that. We are here to be a light, a living example of the love of Christ... not to do, but to be. Not worried about tomorrow for us or them, but living wholly in obedience to Christ right now.
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