Jesus said in John 7:24 to 'Judge righteous judgement". Can that be done in the realm of morality? How has failing your own moral standard affected you? Take your time on this one, its loaded...
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement." I think the Greek word for judge in this passage is KRINO, to form an opinion. I think Jesus is telling us to have His mind and discernment when forming opinions. God sees us as products of His Finished Work. God doesn't form opinions of us based on our sin. He can't. Can we judge righteous judgement in the realm of morality? Not if that morality isn't a bi-product of spirituality. Morality is rooted in the law. Our Lord our righteousness set us free from the law. How has failing my own moral standard affected me? As an unbeliever, failing my moral standard felt as a disappointment to myself and often to others. I never thought of what it would feel like to sin against God.
The Word of God in Isa. 11:3,4 says: ... and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth... There is no greater absolute than the nature of God - and here is the proper measurement: The righteousness of God. Morality is only as high as a man can reach, but never be sustained. The Righteousness of God came down to man and is ever sustaining our standing before Him. When I see you and myself with this Finished Work viewpoint, then whatever comes to the seeing eye and hearing ear does not have the final vertict. Oh, Lord, help us to live this way!
To judge is to decide, to make up your mind, separating. It is to think categorically. The first part of Jn 7:24 says we are not to judge according to appearance. Morality tells us to be good and do good, a lot of energy can be expended there in the keeping up of appearances. But the Lord looks not on the outward man but on the heart (1Sam16:7). The heart of the natural man is deceitful and desperately wicked, there is no good thing in it. Righteousness is of God, there is no righteous judgement apart from His mind. When I came to know the totality my own depravity because I could not keep moral standards, then my heart was prepared to receive that which I could not earn. The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
The believer has been given a new heart from the Lord (Ez36:26). Putting off the former conversation with the old man, having been renewed in the spirit of his mind he puts on the new man - which in the image of Christ was created in righteousness (Eph 4:21-24). There is a new and living way of thinking categorically, a new frame of reference. Not according to works we have done (Titus3:5) but according to the finished work of Jesus Christ. All of our sins have been placed on Him, and the Father has completely accepted Christ's once and for all sacrifice.
What did Jesus say to the woman caught in adultery? According to the moral law she was to be stoned. But one by one the accusers left when they thought upon their own inability to keep the moral standards. Jesus then said to the woman, Where are your accusers? She said, No man Lord. Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. God knows exactly how to deliver the believer. He delivered just (righteous) Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked (2Pe2:7). By moral standards Lot and we fall short but every believer has been bought with a price. This is why we can judge no man after the flesh. You are not your own, so who are we to judge another mans' servant? David would not touch Saul, the Lord's anointed. When sight brings in judgement after the flesh cast it down.
We thus judge, that if one man died for all then all were dead. We who believe no longer live unto our selves but unto Christ. Therefore we know no man after the flesh. (2 Cor 5:14-17). None. Nada. Not even our selves. We are new creatures, brand new. A new past, a new present and a new future. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith (Rm1:17). There is therefore a righteous judgement. It is the finished work of Jesus Christ.
I like this. The example of the woman caught in adultery is a good example of the way morality thinks about justice. But nobody can reach the top with morality. I also like the sentence: "When sight brings in judgment after the flesh cast it down." With spirituality the morality can be ruled. With having discernment and understandment in Christ, we can cast the high things and the judgment that comes from the flesh and is rooted in the dark side of morality.
Can a righteous judgment be made in the realm of morality. I would say no. Not even when it's inside spiprituality because it is not our morality that makes the judgment. A Righteous judgment can be done by the Spirit in us and even though spirituality contains also morality it is not our morality that can discern and judge righteously. Righteous judgment need to have the viewpoint of God.
Failing my own moral standards always brought me to disappointment and I started to "beat" myself because I never filled the measures. Now I'm learning the huge difference of living by morality or living by spirituality in Finished Work. Last class really started to bring light to the view how to live and in what to live.
That's wonderful, Anu! Moments like these that I praise the Lord for His faithfulness to impart to you (and others) the reality of Christ and what He has accomplished for us!
I totally agree with you Anu. I felt confused when I failed my moral standards and condemned myself too. When we don't know the difference between morality and spirituality, Satan uses that gap which is supposed to be filled by doctrine and discourages us.
If morality is based on conscience, then I suppose sometimes you could make a righteous judgement, even though you probably wouldn't be able to define it beyond, "That's wrong" or just simply from a feeling that it isn't right. One of Pastor Stevens points in the paper was that morality cannot save the soul, and even unbelievers can be moral because of God's Law that is written on all mens hearts. So actually, I guess that it isn't possible to make a righteous judgement in the realm of morality, because men do not have God's righteousness in them unless they willingly receive it. Because even though someone might by chance make the same judgment God would, eventually comparison would kick in, and so the possibility to make a right judgment would not exist.
Jesus also said to not judge by appearances, which men cannot do outside of the light that God gives them, because "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7) Because morality is possible outside of salvation, which is were God gives insight beyond appearances, men cannot judge righteously in morality.
Is the point of morality similar to the point of the Law? The Law points to the fact that we can't do it ourselves. Is the point of morality to point us to spirituality?
Failing in my own moral standards often leads me to depression, and to self-judgment. This keeps me from moving forward in my walk with God. This, in simple terms, is not something good, because by looking at myself I can't see Christ.
I do not believe that it is possible to make a righteous judgement through the framework of morality. Morality relates to striving in our own strength. It is contingent upon whether or not we can carry something out. There is no room for forgiveness, grace, mercy or love. The world is filled with morality, with very little spirituality. People who are considered moral make many choices that seem noble by appearance, but they are hollow when God looks upon their hearts. Morality has become a relative thing, whereas God's righteousness is constant. Last class made me think of Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Absolute truth is being watered down by the world system, and only the Holy Spirit can bring about convictions to express it- this is why morality cannot produce righteous discernment; morality involves human strength, but spirituality involves the leading of the Spirit.
Failing my own moral standards can definitely be difficult. I can easily give in to the natural desire to feel guilt even after confession because I continue to identify myself after my failures. But I am learning how true it is that a righteous man fails and gets back up, rather than not failing at all. To not fail at all is impossible, but to be transformed by grace into the image of Christ is even better.
It is not possible to judge righteous judgement on the basis of morality because there is not a single one of us that would not be a hypocrite for doing so. Even if we may never have failed in the particular area of our moral code that we are judging someone else on, we have most certainly failed in many other areas which then renders any other judgement based on that code hypocrisy. If we can't live up to our entire moral code why should we expect someone else to live up to even a part of it?
As for failing my moral standard, it has affected me in that I find it much more difficult to condemn others because I know that given the right set of circumstances I am capable of exactly the same thing. Over the years I've also come to realize that a person's heart is so much more important than their morality. Even if you manage to convince a person to change their activity, it will all be just an act. But if you change their heart, then their morality will change on it's own accord as God brings in conviction, all without any judgement on your part, just the love of God poured out through you.
Great point Zack. Since moraiity is linked up with the civil law and outward standards, and spirituality is in the heart, we can see that morality is a means and not an end. It can keep a man or a society from self destruction, but can never sustain it. Spirituality changes the heart of the individual thus changing a family, thus changing a community that inpacts a nation.
The amplified version of the bible John 7:24 Be honest in your judgment and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously. For me to pass judgment on anyone is a dangerous thing. The standard in which to judge can easily be turned back on me. We have to remember the cause of Christ in dealing with people, if we judge them we will not accept them, however if we love them and over look their level of morality, we have a better chance of introducing them to Jesus Christ. I believe judgement from a human perspective will drive people away from Christ rather than drawing them. It really doesn’t’ matter if a person is moral or immoral. If they don’t have Jesus they are still doomed. If we remove all of the road blocks of passing judgement on people, we will have a better chance of drawing people to Jesus Christ. I must look to Jesus for my standard or frame of reference. I see morality as a way of allowing our society to live in comfort while they are still headed in the wrong direction. I really understand the dark side of morality now, it is a way of allowing our society to believe as along as we are good, everything is okay. Good in not going to get anyone into heaven. Only by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior will get us into heaven. Our morals have nothing to do with our salvation.
How has failing your own moral standard affected you? I failed to love everybody, if they were not decent and caring I failed to try to love them. My failing moral standards are now washed and made whole by the blood of Jesus Christ. The moral standards of the ten commandments did not drive people to love one another or care for anyone outside of their family. The love and salvation of God changed that process and gave us two commandments and that is how I try to approach life and how I try to handle our moral society.
psalm 37 says fret not thyself i think if we look at things morally we become very troubled in our souls but God is saying dont be worried about the fact that the evil man is prospering, he is just walking into a beutiful trap the devil has set up, and he doesnt know it, he's the unfortunate one. a spiritual judgement would be that i have Christ, and therefor i am the blessed one who should be shareing my riches with the poor guy who doesnt see he's following the piece of meat that will lead him to death.
moral standards? God says that you will be saved by returning and resting, by quietness and confidence, morality is a system, not a restingplace. We have very busy lives and if we dont rest in spirituality we will become weary and peter out. i find that when i think too much about morality i get tired, and sick of myself. God is so much more than our morality could ever accomplish.
In morality, people may do really amazing things, such as helping others, being kind with their words, or just doing their part in this life. But I think we have to ask ourselves, what is the motive behind their actions? Is is to exalt themselves like the Pharisees did? Maybe to reach the top by "brown nosing" their way through the work place? I know many people are just on a works program. After they've helped someone, they could say, "alright, I've done my good deed for the day." But was that Christ's approach to life?
Jesus Christ lived a spiritual life here on earth, always being led by his Father. Even as a child he said, "I am about my Father's business." He did not live "an eye for an eye..." kind of life. When someone criticized him, he turned the other cheek, even while on the cross. How can we make a righteous judgment (discernment) based on morality?- We can't. We are rooted in spirituality.
I believe morals are great but I don't base my life around them. The Holy Spirit leads me in my decisions! I know I have definitely made standards in my life that are based on morality. I believe God allows me to fail in them so that I can finally realize that he has something so much greater for me... GRACE. If I make moral standards for myself, I'm setting myself up for failure b/c I have left no room for the finished work. But if I'm led by the Spirit, and if I still fail, I fall into the arms of grace and rebound so I can walk on with God once more, fulfilling his purpose, not mine.
A person can not "judge righteous judgement" and be living in morality because morality is often taught to us by our parents, teachers, and others around us. If you're an unbeliever and live in a family of unbelievers you will be taught the morality of the world which is based on the law and also based on man's interpretation of the law. That's the key part. If man's interpretation of the law changes then so does his definition of morality. Righteous judgment is how God judges a situation or person through His divine viewpoint and because God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow then righteous judgment can't be based on a system that changes with time. It's that eternal perspective that allows believers to see what Christ has done outside time, in eternity, for the sins of the whole world and to know that we were bought with a price, so how can any man judge another believer? God is the ultimate judge because our lives are ultimately his, bought with the blood of Christ, and whether we like it or not that's what the scriptures teach. As for unbelievers, judging them on the basis of morality is fruitless because we are all sinners saved by grace and how easily we get puffed up, knowing that we are saved and they are not. If we judge a sinner based on morality, we not only hinder the testimony of Christ towards that person, but we also begin to live in self righteousness and some of the time that's why churches don't soul win. What I'm trying to say is that can be destructive not only to Christ's testimony, but to the body as well. Why would we expect anything different from someone who lives in morality and not forgiveness and grace? But if you judge righteously, with the heart and the mind of Christ, you see that person, not as someone lower than you, who could never live up to your moral standards, but someone in need of a Savior, someone who no man can transform with harsh words or torture, but who can be drawn with loving kindness to the throne of Grace.
My own moral standards failed me many times as an unbeliever, but I think when I began to recognize it, was when I became a believer. Often I'd go places and see young adults and even older adults acting in certain ways which were not only wrong by doctrine, but more important to me at the time, wrong by what I believed was wrong. What I think happens sometimes is that we judge people, but hide behind this vale of doctrine. Doctrine applied in the right frame of reference and with the love and the grace of God is correct, but I'm talking about when it is used to beat unbelievers over the head for not acting like believers. It's very easy to slip into the mindset of judging the world because they're living in fornication, adultery, drunkenness, etc and not even realize what's happening. We all need to realize that believers fail too sometimes, except that we have a redeemer and advocate in Jesus Christ and the unbeliever hasn't been told that or doesn't accept it if they have been told. It's taken me a while to figure out and many failures to show me, that Jesus Christ is as much my Savior as He is the unbeliever's, except he has either denied the "free gift" or doesn't know about it. In either scenario, what this person needs is not moral judgement, but the eternal love God freely offers.
To have the discernment that this verse tells us to have is not possible with only moral light. Moral light shines critically on my past and illuminates my imperfections. It condemns without offering any help to change. This is the form of judgement that the world is familiar with. It leaves no place for the man who fails.
Spiritual light reveals my immature areas only as forever tied to the glorious promises of God. The discernment we are called to have as believers is the ability to look at a person who has failed and only see them through grace, and the great power of God working on their behalf. We are to discern a person's value based upon the Finished Work, and not the limitations of a person's morality. In our human good at best we are unprofitable servants; but by the grace of God we are made righteous as Christ is righteous.
Personally I can say that failing my own moral standard has been devastating when I am not thinking in grace toward myself and my call. But the grace of God is undaunted by human failure. I am able to walk with God when I submit to agree with His truth, and in that I find all the motivation I need to go forward - with LOTS of goodness and LOTS of mercy always in pursuit. :)
Rita, I like how you talked about moral light only shining on our imperfections and how it offers no help for change. A microscope came to mind and how it can look at the cellular level and see all the little imperfections of the skin and other cells. I'm sure there are millions of imperfections in all the body. But God takes a step back from the believer and sees them within the body of Christ, with the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.
Rom.14:4 says, "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. " If I stand on the grounds of my morality as some point it will come in conflict with someone else's moral position, and fail to resolve the conflict. I am then forced to judge that other person in order to perserve my own moral stance. Only spirituality through the Word and the Spirit can have a person who is in failure have the grounds for reconcilation and restoration. Not to the old line of morality, but to the greater life of Spirituality in Christ.
Righteousness is of God, and as we learned in class last Friday, morality can be devoid of God, therefore, it is not possible to judge righteous judgement in the framework of morality. I also don't think Jesus would instruct us to do something that wouldn't require us to rely on what He has completed.
The interesting thing is that moral standards in it of themselves are not necessarily bad. The key is that they must be governed spirituality. The moral standards of a believer and non believer may look the same when both are questioned on them, but it is in the outplaying of what happens when that moral standard is challenged or broken that reveals what system those standards came under.
Failing my moral standards has been devastating, but it also is a healthy reminder of what my human heart is capable of doing. But praise be to God for His grace and mercy(which may take the form of restoration after failure, or preventing me from failing).
Good thought, Caroline. To fail at my morailty leaves me with the plight of sisyphus- the one condemned by the greek gods to roll a emmense stone to the top of a hill, only to see it roll back down again. In the realm of morailty, i can come close, but no rest. And when I fail, I see myself as having to start from the beginning again. Only in Spirituality have we been brought to a place of rest, and when we fail, we need not to start over, but continue from where we left off. Amazing Grace!
I love you comment Justin, "when I think too much about morality I get tired, and sick of myself." I find that too in my life. Society has always taught us what is right and wrong, but it never has taught us to live a spiritual life. I find too when I forget my sin and move on is when I actually feel like I have been forgiven, especially since Christ has already forgiven me.
Amen! I can relate to that. So often when living in morality you wish you could escape from yourself because you never fill the requirements and you have no view about finished work. But it is when we get to see Christ and the finished work we realize that we can go forth and we don't have to beat ourselves because the old sin nature and flesh are nailed to the cross!
This is not possible in the realm of morality. Morality is needed in the world, but it is no comparison to spirituality. Thinking with God and having His thoughts are the only ways to judge in righteous judgement. Morality demands a payment for the sin from the sinner. This is how the world looks for justice. But in spirituality and "righteous judgement" we are not judged according to the sin because it has already been payed for. Only in this mindset can we " judge righteous judgement".
Jesus was a very open moral man. He came to earth to be the salvation for the world; to be the sacrifical lamb. Jesus lived a sinless perfect life. He became the true moral, ethical, and spiritual example for us all. He is the perfect example of who we as Christians should be like. Jesus did in fact judge people and situations. He did so with love and respect. Since God used Moses to bring moral law into the world, it was and are still very difficult to live by, Christ became our example. There are many passages in the Bible where Jesus judged but He did it out of love and compassion and with the right spirit. In fact in Matthew 7:6 – He called certain people “pigs and dogs” and later in 7:15 He used the example of “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. He also told us to examine ourselves first for the problems we can so easily see in others. It is only then that we can help our brother. I do not believe that “righteous judgment” can be done in the realm of morality. Christ has already died for our sins and they were left on the cross. Pastor Stevens said, “it is never a sin that judges us.” This means to me that it is man in their flesh that judges, because the sin has already been paid for in God’s eyes. A nonbeliever can have good moral conduct but it does not mean that they are saved, it does not mean they are just, but it does mean we cannot judge them with moral standards. I became a Christian when I was 9. I believed growing up in a Christian home and attending church that I was not morally wrong. I very pious at a young age to believe that since I was a “good Christian” that I was morally correct. It was not until I was older that I realized my morals were actually crap. It was not until I was faced with some certain temptations and fell for them that I realized that during childhood my morals were based on the fact that my parents might find out, or my goodie-to-shoes act might be looked down upon. If you were to ask anyone I grew up with they would say I was the good girl who did nothing wrong, it is true, but it was for my outward appearance not for Christ’s benefit. It was not until I meet GGWO that I truly understood that I was a religiously, legalistic, and pious person. I praise God for Him bring me here to feed me grace and mercy; so I could pull the splinter out of my own eye.
P. Stevens explained that the word "Judgment" is the same word for "Discernment," the difference is the heart condition. When we are judging a situation are we looking at it through mercy & grace or through a system that binds people to their inadequacy? I think that righteous judgment is based not only on morality, or the Law, but on love, which is a higher law and the fulfillment of the law. (Rom13:8-10) If we judge ourselves based on our morality without love,or Christ's Finished Work, we find ourselves with a condemned heart. (1Jn3:20) If we judge only on the basis of morality we will fall short of understanding God's mind. Receiving grace, and loving others in grace, not based on their failure to uphold morality, but on God's love towards them in their failure (Jn4)will create a capacity for both morality & spirituality, and it gives us a deeper understanding of God's heart & thoughts towards ourselves, which is very encouraging because He loves us with an unfailing Love! :)
"Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." John 7:24
'Mere appearances' can mean the semblance of morality that a person wears. In the realm of morality, I could condemn the woman caught in adultery, and let the haughty and self-righteous Pharisee go free. Morality blinds the mind to the deeper issues, and makes everything an external judgment of right or wrong. The real issue in a person's life is: Does he know the grace of God towards him personally? Has he experienced that “love that surpasses knowledge”? When God speaks directly to a person, the human measurements of morality fade into a wisp of smoke and disappear. In the brilliant light of His Holiness no one is righteous. Yet, that knowledge makes His love all the more amazing.
As for how failing my own moral standard has affected me, that was the story of my first year in Bible College. (Among other factors) I felt that I had failed in a category that was very important to me. I did not talk it out and go on, and then I bought the lie that there was no redemption now and my life was sunk forever. I was extremely depressed. I felt like life was meaningless. Finally, six months later, I woke up and decided to get back into the fight. I resolved to put into action a couple things my dad said to me about going forward, instead of wallowing in self-pity forever.
I feel like if I absorbed one thought somehow by osmosis that whole dark semester, it was the one fact “God loves me.”. The other thing I learned was: “if I don't have God, I have nothing at all, and life is meaningless.” Seeing what my heart was like, and what my life was like without God at the center struck the point home that I did NOT want to live like that! Total depravity truly is the prequalification for redemption! And the awe-inspiring grace of God is the only way out of the chains of morality!
I like that verse you quoted, I think the fundamental difference between moral judgement and righteous judgement is simply that morality cannot see the heart, only the action. We are told that only God knows what is in our hearts. Unless we are thinking with Him we cannot judge righteous judgement because we cannot see the other person's heart...or our own for that matter!
Yes! I think that that difference between judging the external and judging the internal is what makes Christianity itself different from religion. God can see everything in our hearts. He can pinpoint the root issue that is causing a problem,and show us neatly and precisely what His thoughts are on it. Left to ourselves, we would not be able to figure out what the underlying cause for a problem in our heart even was, let alone solve it completely! Another comforting thing about only God knowing our hearts, is that He sees everything, so He cannot be mistaken in His judgments. And He wants the very best for each of us individually, even more than we ourselves want it!
I love the difference between Moral Light and Spiritual Light. 1) Moral Light can show me my past, what I'm doing, and what I need to do to make a good display or to help others. 2) Spiritual Light shines its light on the cross. My life is no longer about me but it's about what Jesus Christ has done for me. I don't have to do anything to prove myself or try and have God be pleased with me. God is pleased with His son and Christ is inside of me so therefore, God is pleased with me too. It's amazing when we stop living by the world's standards and start living for God's purpose!
That's so good. We cannot allow ourselves to make our service to God about us. Many times I have looked at something I've done, isolated it, and added it to my mental tally of good works(of course, this can also happen when I fail, although that's another issue). But in reality, these acts of service alone have no speck of righteousness in them- it is the fact that they are tied to a humble and broken heart, motivated by God's grace that makes them good.
We cannot judge righteous judgement, in the realm of morality. Righteousness is of God. Your thoughts have value and power. Proverbs 23:7 states it this way"...as he thinketh in his heart so is he. The Lord knows our thoughts..." Psalm 94:11. Failing my own moral standard, has allowed for Spiritual Growth and expansion of knowledge in my life. Ezekiel 33:20 "But I will judge each of you according to your deeds". Righteousness is of God.
This is a great thought Addie! We are so happy to have you in class and I love the portion you contribute. The Lord knows our thoughts and through his Son considers us righteous, how much more can we look past the outward faults of others?
"Judging righteously" is hard for men. This is true when one lacks spiritual mind set according to the mind of Christ. Judging according to ones morality is subjective and often is based on self experience, which is limited to personal learning attributes, is insufficient and lacks a higher understanding.
Often when people make judgments based on their own moral standards they sooner or later arrive at the conclusion that it wasn't perfect, they can loose their peace and produce self condemnation. Judging according to Gods standards, gives us assurance since He is righteous. Having said that, even when we claim to know the mind of Christ and judge, it is still a hard thing, since we know not as we ought to. Therefore, its imperative to take all things before God and if it is a personal judging that we must carry out (i.e. non-judicial), its best to "judge not", and let God do the judging.
As a believer, our morality is directly influenced by our spirituality. Morality without God, will always be without God. The best morality can do is the goodness of man and his own standard of righteousness. I dont think it is possible to judge righteously outside of spirituality... because it requires the mind of God. If one starts to judge someone based on their actions or sins, they then should be judged for all of their actions and sins. However, Christ paid for all of our sins, so that noone can be judged. It is possible to discern what is good or bad in terms of man's perspective, but it is still not a divine perspective. On another note, we do reap what we sow...this is a right judgment that comes from God.
Failing my own moral standard before use to affect me. I set a specific moral code, but I did not live up to it and condemnation would set in. However, when I fianally realized that Christ has imparted his righteousness, it allowed me to think differently about my short-comings and see myself as God sees me. Then through seeing myself as righteous before God's eyes through Christ, I am then renewed and my actions are eternal and my morality is influenced not by my own will, but by the Spirit's guiding me.
Isaiah 11:3,4 put it quite plainly for me. Though we may be able to guage the morality of some things through a superficial/moral lens, it is not wise to use that mindset to determine one's spirituality.
If we judge something or someone prematurely we can very easily keep ourselves from receiving from that person as God would use them. Especially as God has set them in our presence in the first place. We can set ourselves up to miss out because we think we may have a better moral mindset or more deeply spiritual walk
I feel that morality is only given for prosperity and it doesn't matter if your a believer or a unbeliever for morality to be prosperous. Now in saying this I believe that righteous judgment can only be made by the righteous Judge. I know my flaws and we all fall short of the glory of God. what I think this verse, John 7:24, judge with righteous judgment, is saying that you'll know them by their fruit. It's telling us to be observant of others and to go to God with any judgment call with prayer He should reveal what we are suppose to decide. I have failed my own moral standards many times and it has made me angry and guilty about not living up to my own standards and how could I live up to any one else's. I use to go on with this and spiral down out of control into self pity and shame of my mistakes. Before my relationship with the Lord started I used to let this go for so long I would be right back to no job no car no where to stay and it would all be from not living up to my expectations and standards I had of myself so then I wouldn't have any and be for lack of a better word useless. This is how I let failure of living up to my moral code affect me. However, now I am able to go back to my position in Christ and know that regardless of what I do I have His precious and perfect blood covering my every moment and that God sees only Jesus not me. So now in saying this I need to come to the realization that if the is how I judge myself how could I ever judge some one else righteously without the mind of Christ. we would need him to even make a right decision of much lesser importance never mind judging some one else based off their morality or actions actions don't make the person the Creator does so He needs to be the one judging we can make an observation but to make a judgment is a whole other level
When you're in morality you will face the judgement of God. You need to repent and come back to God, He will then forgive your sin. When you have God in your life you have a sense of peace. God sent his only son (Jesus Christ) to save us. God is a good God!
John7:24 Jesus speaks pertaining one of the laws of Moses, which be better to do on the Sabbath day to receive the law or to receive righteousness meaning in making better choices. When we make decisions we did to pray first ask God, be sure it’s from him and not from us, something we chose.
First thought in thinking about failing my own moral standard is that when I am devising the standard of morality its default is failure and I shouldn't be shocked at its effect. Prior to salvation I was "failing" constantly living by a code of the flesh and heart of stone, which brought about the guilt and shame without end. But, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them." And His standard is pure and why would I not want that? Another thought on "my own moral standard" is the changeability of it. I couldn't keep up with it. The standard would have to be in a constant state of change based on the outcome of previous thoughts, behaviors, etc. Still thinking...
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement." I think the Greek word for judge in this passage is KRINO, to form an opinion. I think Jesus is telling us to have His mind and discernment when forming opinions. God sees us as products of His Finished Work. God doesn't form opinions of us based on our sin. He can't. Can we judge righteous judgement in the realm of morality? Not if that morality isn't a bi-product of spirituality. Morality is rooted in the law. Our Lord our righteousness set us free from the law. How has failing my own moral standard affected me? As an unbeliever, failing my moral standard felt as a disappointment to myself and often to others. I never thought of what it would feel like to sin against God.
ReplyDeleteThe Word of God in Isa. 11:3,4 says: ... and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth... There is no greater absolute than the nature of God - and here is the proper measurement: The righteousness of God. Morality is only as high as a man can reach, but never be sustained. The Righteousness of God came down to man and is ever sustaining our standing before Him. When I see you and myself with this Finished Work viewpoint, then whatever comes to the seeing eye and hearing ear does not have the final vertict. Oh, Lord, help us to live this way!
DeleteTo judge is to decide, to make up your mind, separating. It is to think categorically. The first part of Jn 7:24 says we are not to judge according to appearance. Morality tells us to be good and do good, a lot of energy can be expended there in the keeping up of appearances. But the Lord looks not on the outward man but on the heart (1Sam16:7). The heart of the natural man is deceitful and desperately wicked, there is no good thing in it. Righteousness is of God, there is no righteous judgement apart from His mind. When I came to know the totality my own depravity because I could not keep moral standards, then my heart was prepared to receive that which I could not earn. The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
ReplyDeleteThe believer has been given a new heart from the Lord (Ez36:26). Putting off the former conversation with the old man, having been renewed in the spirit of his mind he puts on the new man - which in the image of Christ was created in righteousness (Eph 4:21-24). There is a new and living way of thinking categorically, a new frame of reference. Not according to works we have done (Titus3:5) but according to the finished work of Jesus Christ. All of our sins have been placed on Him, and the Father has completely accepted Christ's once and for all sacrifice.
What did Jesus say to the woman caught in adultery? According to the moral law she was to be stoned. But one by one the accusers left when they thought upon their own inability to keep the moral standards. Jesus then said to the woman, Where are your accusers? She said, No man Lord. Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. God knows exactly how to deliver the believer. He delivered just (righteous) Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked (2Pe2:7). By moral standards Lot and we fall short but every believer has been bought with a price. This is why we can judge no man after the flesh. You are not your own, so who are we to judge another mans' servant? David would not touch Saul, the Lord's anointed. When sight brings in judgement after the flesh cast it down.
We thus judge, that if one man died for all then all were dead. We who believe no longer live unto our selves but unto Christ. Therefore we know no man after the flesh. (2 Cor 5:14-17). None. Nada. Not even our selves. We are new creatures, brand new. A new past, a new present and a new future. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith (Rm1:17). There is therefore a righteous judgement. It is the finished work of Jesus Christ.
I like this. The example of the woman caught in adultery is a good example of the way morality thinks about justice. But nobody can reach the top with morality.
DeleteI also like the sentence: "When sight brings in judgment after the flesh cast it down." With spirituality the morality can be ruled. With having discernment and understandment in Christ, we can cast the high things and the judgment that comes from the flesh and is rooted in the dark side of morality.
Can a righteous judgment be made in the realm of morality. I would say no. Not even when it's inside spiprituality because it is not our morality that makes the judgment. A Righteous judgment can be done by the Spirit in us and even though spirituality contains also morality it is not our morality that can discern and judge righteously. Righteous judgment need to have the viewpoint of God.
ReplyDeleteFailing my own moral standards always brought me to disappointment and I started to "beat" myself because I never filled the measures. Now I'm learning the huge difference of living by morality or living by spirituality in Finished Work. Last class really started to bring light to the view how to live and in what to live.
That's wonderful, Anu! Moments like these that I praise the Lord for His faithfulness to impart to you (and others) the reality of Christ and what He has accomplished for us!
DeleteI totally agree with you Anu. I felt confused when I failed my moral standards and condemned myself too. When we don't know the difference between morality and spirituality, Satan uses that gap which is supposed to be filled by doctrine and discourages us.
DeleteIf morality is based on conscience, then I suppose sometimes you could make a righteous judgement, even though you probably wouldn't be able to define it beyond, "That's wrong" or just simply from a feeling that it isn't right. One of Pastor Stevens points in the paper was that morality cannot save the soul, and even unbelievers can be moral because of God's Law that is written on all mens hearts. So actually, I guess that it isn't possible to make a righteous judgement in the realm of morality, because men do not have God's righteousness in them unless they willingly receive it. Because even though someone might by chance make the same judgment God would, eventually comparison would kick in, and so the possibility to make a right judgment would not exist.
ReplyDeleteJesus also said to not judge by appearances, which men cannot do outside of the light that God gives them, because "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7) Because morality is possible outside of salvation, which is were God gives insight beyond appearances, men cannot judge righteously in morality.
Is the point of morality similar to the point of the Law? The Law points to the fact that we can't do it ourselves. Is the point of morality to point us to spirituality?
Failing in my own moral standards often leads me to depression, and to self-judgment. This keeps me from moving forward in my walk with God. This, in simple terms, is not something good, because by looking at myself I can't see Christ.
I do not believe that it is possible to make a righteous judgement through the framework of morality. Morality relates to striving in our own strength. It is contingent upon whether or not we can carry something out. There is no room for forgiveness, grace, mercy or love. The world is filled with morality, with very little spirituality. People who are considered moral make many choices that seem noble by appearance, but they are hollow when God looks upon their hearts. Morality has become a relative thing, whereas God's righteousness is constant. Last class made me think of Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Absolute truth is being watered down by the world system, and only the Holy Spirit can bring about convictions to express it- this is why morality cannot produce righteous discernment; morality involves human strength, but spirituality involves the leading of the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteFailing my own moral standards can definitely be difficult. I can easily give in to the natural desire to feel guilt even after confession because I continue to identify myself after my failures. But I am learning how true it is that a righteous man fails and gets back up, rather than not failing at all. To not fail at all is impossible, but to be transformed by grace into the image of Christ is even better.
It is not possible to judge righteous judgement on the basis of morality because there is not a single one of us that would not be a hypocrite for doing so. Even if we may never have failed in the particular area of our moral code that we are judging someone else on, we have most certainly failed in many other areas which then renders any other judgement based on that code hypocrisy. If we can't live up to our entire moral code why should we expect someone else to live up to even a part of it?
ReplyDeleteAs for failing my moral standard, it has affected me in that I find it much more difficult to condemn others because I know that given the right set of circumstances I am capable of exactly the same thing. Over the years I've also come to realize that a person's heart is so much more important than their morality. Even if you manage to convince a person to change their activity, it will all be just an act. But if you change their heart, then their morality will change on it's own accord as God brings in conviction, all without any judgement on your part, just the love of God poured out through you.
Great point Zack. Since moraiity is linked up with the civil law and outward standards, and spirituality is in the heart, we can see that morality is a means and not an end. It can keep a man or a society from self destruction, but can never sustain it. Spirituality changes the heart of the individual thus changing a family, thus changing a community that inpacts a nation.
DeleteThe amplified version of the bible John 7:24 Be honest in your judgment and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously. For me to pass judgment on anyone is a dangerous thing. The standard in which to judge can easily be turned back on me. We have to remember the cause of Christ in dealing with people, if we judge them we will not accept them, however if we love them and over look their level of morality, we have a better chance of introducing them to Jesus Christ. I believe judgement from a human perspective will drive people away from Christ rather than drawing them. It really doesn’t’ matter if a person is moral or immoral. If they don’t have Jesus they are still doomed. If we remove all of the road blocks of passing judgement on people, we will have a better chance of drawing people to Jesus Christ. I must look to Jesus for my standard or frame of reference. I see morality as a way of allowing our society to live in comfort while they are still headed in the wrong direction. I really understand the dark side of morality now, it is a way of allowing our society to believe as along as we are good, everything is okay. Good in not going to get anyone into heaven. Only by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior will get us into heaven. Our morals have nothing to do with our salvation.
ReplyDeleteHow has failing your own moral standard affected you? I failed to love everybody, if they were not decent and caring I failed to try to love them. My failing moral standards are now washed and made whole by the blood of Jesus Christ. The moral standards of the ten commandments did not drive people to love one another or care for anyone outside of their family. The love and salvation of God changed that process and gave us two commandments and that is how I try to approach life and how I try to handle our moral society.
psalm 37 says fret not thyself
ReplyDeletei think if we look at things morally we become very troubled in our souls
but God is saying dont be worried about the fact that the evil man is prospering, he is just walking into a beutiful trap the devil has set up, and he doesnt know it, he's the unfortunate one. a spiritual judgement would be that i have Christ, and therefor i am the blessed one who should be shareing my riches with the poor guy who doesnt see he's following the piece of meat that will lead him to death.
moral standards? God says that you will be saved by returning and resting, by quietness and confidence, morality is a system, not a restingplace. We have very busy lives and if we dont rest in spirituality we will become weary and peter out. i find that when i think too much about morality i get tired, and sick of myself. God is so much more than our morality could ever accomplish.
-justin-
In morality, people may do really amazing things, such as helping others, being kind with their words, or just doing their part in this life. But I think we have to ask ourselves, what is the motive behind their actions? Is is to exalt themselves like the Pharisees did? Maybe to reach the top by "brown nosing" their way through the work place?
ReplyDeleteI know many people are just on a works program. After they've helped someone, they could say, "alright, I've done my good deed for the day." But was that Christ's approach to life?
Jesus Christ lived a spiritual life here on earth, always being led by his Father. Even as a child he said, "I am about my Father's business." He did not live "an eye for an eye..." kind of life. When someone criticized him, he turned the other cheek, even while on the cross. How can we make a righteous judgment (discernment) based on morality?- We can't. We are rooted in spirituality.
I believe morals are great but I don't base my life around them. The Holy Spirit leads me in my decisions! I know I have definitely made standards in my life that are based on morality. I believe God allows me to fail in them so that I can finally realize that he has something so much greater for me... GRACE.
If I make moral standards for myself, I'm setting myself up for failure b/c I have left no room for the finished work. But if I'm led by the Spirit, and if I still fail, I fall into the arms of grace and rebound so I can walk on with God once more, fulfilling his purpose, not mine.
A person can not "judge righteous judgement" and be living in morality because morality is often taught to us by our parents, teachers, and others around us. If you're an unbeliever and live in a family of unbelievers you will be taught the morality of the world which is based on the law and also based on man's interpretation of the law. That's the key part. If man's interpretation of the law changes then so does his definition of morality. Righteous judgment is how God judges a situation or person through His divine viewpoint and because God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow then righteous judgment can't be based on a system that changes with time. It's that eternal perspective that allows believers to see what Christ has done outside time, in eternity, for the sins of the whole world and to know that we were bought with a price, so how can any man judge another believer? God is the ultimate judge because our lives are ultimately his, bought with the blood of Christ, and whether we like it or not that's what the scriptures teach. As for unbelievers, judging them on the basis of morality is fruitless because we are all sinners saved by grace and how easily we get puffed up, knowing that we are saved and they are not. If we judge a sinner based on morality, we not only hinder the testimony of Christ towards that person, but we also begin to live in self righteousness and some of the time that's why churches don't soul win. What I'm trying to say is that can be destructive not only to Christ's testimony, but to the body as well. Why would we expect anything different from someone who lives in morality and not forgiveness and grace? But if you judge righteously, with the heart and the mind of Christ, you see that person, not as someone lower than you, who could never live up to your moral standards, but someone in need of a Savior, someone who no man can transform with harsh words or torture, but who can be drawn with loving kindness to the throne of Grace.
ReplyDeleteMy own moral standards failed me many times as an unbeliever, but I think when I began to recognize it, was when I became a believer. Often I'd go places and see young adults and even older adults acting in certain ways which were not only wrong by doctrine, but more important to me at the time, wrong by what I believed was wrong. What I think happens sometimes is that we judge people, but hide behind this vale of doctrine. Doctrine applied in the right frame of reference and with the love and the grace of God is correct, but I'm talking about when it is used to beat unbelievers over the head for not acting like believers. It's very easy to slip into the mindset of judging the world because they're living in fornication, adultery, drunkenness, etc and not even realize what's happening. We all need to realize that believers fail too sometimes, except that we have a redeemer and advocate in Jesus Christ and the unbeliever hasn't been told that or doesn't accept it if they have been told. It's taken me a while to figure out and many failures to show me, that Jesus Christ is as much my Savior as He is the unbeliever's, except he has either denied the "free gift" or doesn't know about it. In either scenario, what this person needs is not moral judgement, but the eternal love God freely offers.
To have the discernment that this verse tells us to have is not possible with only moral light. Moral light shines critically on my past and illuminates my imperfections. It condemns without offering any help to change. This is the form of judgement that the world is familiar with. It leaves no place for the man who fails.
ReplyDeleteSpiritual light reveals my immature areas only as forever tied to the glorious promises of God. The discernment we are called to have as believers is the ability to look at a person who has failed and only see them through grace, and the great power of God working on their behalf. We are to discern a person's value based upon the Finished Work, and not the limitations of a person's morality. In our human good at best we are unprofitable servants; but by the grace of God we are made righteous as Christ is righteous.
Personally I can say that failing my own moral standard has been devastating when I am not thinking in grace toward myself and my call. But the grace of God is undaunted by human failure. I am able to walk with God when I submit to agree with His truth, and in that I find all the motivation I need to go forward - with LOTS of goodness and LOTS of mercy always in pursuit. :)
Rita, I like how you talked about moral light only shining on our imperfections and how it offers no help for change. A microscope came to mind and how it can look at the cellular level and see all the little imperfections of the skin and other cells. I'm sure there are millions of imperfections in all the body. But God takes a step back from the believer and sees them within the body of Christ, with the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.
DeleteRom.14:4 says, "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. " If I stand on the grounds of my morality as some point it will come in conflict with someone else's moral position, and fail to resolve the conflict. I am then forced to judge that other person in order to perserve my own moral stance. Only spirituality through the Word and the Spirit can have a person who is in failure have the grounds for reconcilation and restoration. Not to the old line of morality, but to the greater life of Spirituality in Christ.
DeleteRighteousness is of God, and as we learned in class last Friday, morality can be devoid of God, therefore, it is not possible to judge righteous judgement in the framework of morality. I also don't think Jesus would instruct us to do something that wouldn't require us to rely on what He has completed.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing is that moral standards in it of themselves are not necessarily bad. The key is that they must be governed spirituality. The moral standards of a believer and non believer may look the same when both are questioned on them, but it is in the outplaying of what happens when that moral standard is challenged or broken that reveals what system those standards came under.
Failing my moral standards has been devastating, but it also is a healthy reminder of what my human heart is capable of doing. But praise be to God for His grace and mercy(which may take the form of restoration after failure, or preventing me from failing).
Good thought, Caroline. To fail at my morailty leaves me with the plight of sisyphus- the one condemned by the greek gods to roll a emmense stone to the top of a hill, only to see it roll back down again. In the realm of morailty, i can come close, but no rest. And when I fail, I see myself as having to start from the beginning again. Only in Spirituality have we been brought to a place of rest, and when we fail, we need not to start over, but continue from where we left off. Amazing Grace!
DeleteI love you comment Justin, "when I think too much about morality I get tired, and sick of myself." I find that too in my life. Society has always taught us what is right and wrong, but it never has taught us to live a spiritual life. I find too when I forget my sin and move on is when I actually feel like I have been forgiven, especially since Christ has already forgiven me.
ReplyDeleteAmen! I can relate to that. So often when living in morality you wish you could escape from yourself because you never fill the requirements and you have no view about finished work. But it is when we get to see Christ and the finished work we realize that we can go forth and we don't have to beat ourselves because the old sin nature and flesh are nailed to the cross!
DeleteThis is not possible in the realm of morality. Morality is needed in the world, but it is no comparison to spirituality. Thinking with God and having His thoughts are the only ways to judge in righteous judgement. Morality demands a payment for the sin from the sinner. This is how the world looks for justice. But in spirituality and "righteous judgement" we are not judged according to the sin because it has already been payed for. Only in this mindset can we " judge righteous judgement".
ReplyDeleteJesus was a very open moral man. He came to earth to be the salvation for the world; to be the sacrifical lamb. Jesus lived a sinless perfect life. He became the true moral, ethical, and spiritual example for us all. He is the perfect example of who we as Christians should be like. Jesus did in fact judge people and situations. He did so with love and respect. Since God used Moses to bring moral law into the world, it was and are still very difficult to live by, Christ became our example. There are many passages in the Bible where Jesus judged but He did it out of love and compassion and with the right spirit. In fact in Matthew 7:6 – He called certain people “pigs and dogs” and later in 7:15 He used the example of “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. He also told us to examine ourselves first for the problems we can so easily see in others. It is only then that we can help our brother.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that “righteous judgment” can be done in the realm of morality. Christ has already died for our sins and they were left on the cross. Pastor Stevens said, “it is never a sin that judges us.” This means to me that it is man in their flesh that judges, because the sin has already been paid for in God’s eyes. A nonbeliever can have good moral conduct but it does not mean that they are saved, it does not mean they are just, but it does mean we cannot judge them with moral standards.
I became a Christian when I was 9. I believed growing up in a Christian home and attending church that I was not morally wrong. I very pious at a young age to believe that since I was a “good Christian” that I was morally correct. It was not until I was older that I realized my morals were actually crap. It was not until I was faced with some certain temptations and fell for them that I realized that during childhood my morals were based on the fact that my parents might find out, or my goodie-to-shoes act might be looked down upon. If you were to ask anyone I grew up with they would say I was the good girl who did nothing wrong, it is true, but it was for my outward appearance not for Christ’s benefit. It was not until I meet GGWO that I truly understood that I was a religiously, legalistic, and pious person. I praise God for Him bring me here to feed me grace and mercy; so I could pull the splinter out of my own eye.
P. Stevens explained that the word "Judgment" is the same word for "Discernment," the difference is the heart condition. When we are judging a situation are we looking at it through mercy & grace or through a system that binds people to their inadequacy? I think that righteous judgment is based not only on morality, or the Law, but on love, which is a higher law and the fulfillment of the law. (Rom13:8-10)
ReplyDeleteIf we judge ourselves based on our morality without love,or Christ's Finished Work, we find ourselves with a condemned heart. (1Jn3:20)
If we judge only on the basis of morality we will fall short of understanding God's mind. Receiving grace, and loving others in grace, not based on their failure to uphold morality, but on God's love towards them in their failure (Jn4)will create a capacity for both morality & spirituality, and it gives us a deeper understanding of God's heart & thoughts towards ourselves, which is very encouraging because He loves us with an unfailing Love! :)
Yes! Love - who He is and the finished work - what He has done, motivated by and the expression of who He is! Beautiful
Delete"Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." John 7:24
ReplyDelete'Mere appearances' can mean the semblance of morality that a person wears.
In the realm of morality, I could condemn the woman caught in adultery, and let the haughty and self-righteous Pharisee go free. Morality blinds the mind to the deeper issues, and makes everything an external judgment of right or wrong. The real issue in a person's life is: Does he know the grace of God towards him personally? Has he experienced that “love that surpasses knowledge”? When God speaks directly to a person, the human measurements of morality fade into a wisp of smoke and disappear. In the brilliant light of His Holiness no one is righteous. Yet, that knowledge makes His love all the more amazing.
As for how failing my own moral standard has affected me, that was the story of my first year in Bible College. (Among other factors) I felt that I had failed in a category that was very important to me. I did not talk it out and go on, and then I bought the lie that there was no redemption now and my life was sunk forever. I was extremely depressed. I felt like life was meaningless. Finally,
six months later, I woke up and decided to get back into the fight. I resolved to put into action a couple things my dad said to me about going forward, instead of wallowing in self-pity forever.
I feel like if I absorbed one thought somehow by osmosis that whole dark semester, it was the one fact “God loves me.”. The other thing I learned was: “if I don't have God, I have nothing at all, and life is meaningless.”
Seeing what my heart was like, and what my life was like without God at the center struck the point home that I did NOT want to live like that! Total depravity truly is the prequalification for redemption! And the awe-inspiring grace of God is the only way out of the chains of morality!
I like that verse you quoted, I think the fundamental difference between moral judgement and righteous judgement is simply that morality cannot see the heart, only the action. We are told that only God knows what is in our hearts. Unless we are thinking with Him we cannot judge righteous judgement because we cannot see the other person's heart...or our own for that matter!
DeleteYes! I think that that difference between judging the external and judging the internal is what makes Christianity itself different from religion. God can see everything in our hearts. He can pinpoint the root issue that is causing a problem,and show us neatly and precisely what His thoughts are on it. Left to ourselves, we would not be able to figure out what the underlying cause for a problem in our heart even was, let alone solve it completely! Another comforting thing about only God knowing our hearts, is that He sees everything, so He cannot be mistaken in His judgments. And He wants the very best for each of us individually, even more than we ourselves want it!
DeleteI love the difference between Moral Light and Spiritual Light.
ReplyDelete1) Moral Light can show me my past, what I'm doing, and what I need to do to make a good display or to help others.
2) Spiritual Light shines its light on the cross. My life is no longer about me but it's about what Jesus Christ has done for me. I don't have to do anything to prove myself or try and have God be pleased with me. God is pleased with His son and Christ is inside of me so therefore, God is pleased with me too.
It's amazing when we stop living by the world's standards and start living for God's purpose!
That's so good. We cannot allow ourselves to make our service to God about us. Many times I have looked at something I've done, isolated it, and added it to my mental tally of good works(of course, this can also happen when I fail, although that's another issue). But in reality, these acts of service alone have no speck of righteousness in them- it is the fact that they are tied to a humble and broken heart, motivated by God's grace that makes them good.
DeleteWe cannot judge righteous judgement, in the realm of morality. Righteousness is of God. Your thoughts have value and power. Proverbs 23:7 states it this way"...as he thinketh in his heart so is he. The Lord knows our thoughts..." Psalm 94:11. Failing my own moral standard, has allowed for Spiritual Growth and expansion of knowledge in my life. Ezekiel 33:20 "But I will judge each of you according to your deeds". Righteousness is of God.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great thought Addie! We are so happy to have you in class and I love the portion you contribute. The Lord knows our thoughts and through his Son considers us righteous, how much more can we look past the outward faults of others?
Delete"Judging righteously" is hard for men. This is true when one lacks spiritual mind set according to the mind of Christ. Judging according to ones morality is subjective and often is based on self experience, which is limited to personal learning attributes, is insufficient and lacks a higher understanding.
ReplyDeleteOften when people make judgments based on their own moral standards they sooner or later arrive at the conclusion that it wasn't perfect, they can loose their peace and produce self condemnation. Judging according to Gods standards, gives us assurance since He is righteous. Having said that, even when we claim to know the mind of Christ and judge, it is still a hard thing, since we know not as we ought to. Therefore, its imperative to take all things before God and if it is a personal judging that we must carry out (i.e. non-judicial), its best to "judge not", and let God do the judging.
As a believer, our morality is directly influenced by our spirituality. Morality without God, will always be without God. The best morality can do is the goodness of man and his own standard of righteousness. I dont think it is possible to judge righteously outside of spirituality... because it requires the mind of God. If one starts to judge someone based on their actions or sins, they then should be judged for all of their actions and sins. However, Christ paid for all of our sins, so that noone can be judged. It is possible to discern what is good or bad in terms of man's perspective, but it is still not a divine perspective. On another note, we do reap what we sow...this is a right judgment that comes from God.
ReplyDeleteFailing my own moral standard before use to affect me. I set a specific moral code, but I did not live up to it and condemnation would set in. However, when I fianally realized that Christ has imparted his righteousness, it allowed me to think differently about my short-comings and see myself as God sees me. Then through seeing myself as righteous before God's eyes through Christ, I am then renewed and my actions are eternal and my morality is influenced not by my own will, but by the Spirit's guiding me.
Isaiah 11:3,4 put it quite plainly for me. Though we may be able to guage the morality of some things through a superficial/moral lens, it is not wise to use that mindset to determine one's spirituality.
ReplyDeleteRight on!
DeleteAbsolutely true! God sees the heart, and we do not, so we have to look to Him to really understand what matters in life.
DeleteIf we judge something or someone prematurely we can very easily keep ourselves from receiving from that person as God would use them. Especially as God has set them in our presence in the first place. We can set ourselves up to miss out because we think we may have a better moral mindset or more deeply spiritual walk
ReplyDeleteI feel that morality is only given for prosperity and it doesn't matter if your a believer or a unbeliever for morality to be prosperous. Now in saying this I believe that righteous judgment can only be made by the righteous Judge. I know my flaws and we all fall short of the glory of God. what I think this verse, John 7:24, judge with righteous judgment, is saying that you'll know them by their fruit. It's telling us to be observant of others and to go to God with any judgment call with prayer He should reveal what we are suppose to decide. I have failed my own moral standards many times and it has made me angry and guilty about not living up to my own standards and how could I live up to any one else's. I use to go on with this and spiral down out of control into self pity and shame of my mistakes. Before my relationship with the Lord started I used to let this go for so long I would be right back to no job no car no where to stay and it would all be from not living up to my expectations and standards I had of myself so then I wouldn't have any and be for lack of a better word useless. This is how I let failure of living up to my moral code affect me. However, now I am able to go back to my position in Christ and know that regardless of what I do I have His precious and perfect blood covering my every moment and that God sees only Jesus not me. So now in saying this I need to come to the realization that if the is how I judge myself how could I ever judge some one else righteously without the mind of Christ. we would need him to even make a right decision of much lesser importance never mind judging some one else based off their morality or actions actions don't make the person the Creator does so He needs to be the one judging we can make an observation but to make a judgment is a whole other level
ReplyDeleteWhen you're in morality you will face the judgement of God. You need to repent and come back to God, He will then forgive your sin. When you have God in your life you have a sense of peace. God sent his only son (Jesus Christ) to save us. God is a good God!
ReplyDeleteJohn7:24 Jesus speaks pertaining one of the laws of Moses, which be better to do on the Sabbath day to receive the law or to receive righteousness meaning in making better choices. When we make decisions we did to pray first ask God, be sure it’s from him and not from us, something we chose.
ReplyDeleteFirst thought in thinking about failing my own moral standard is that when I am devising the standard of morality its default is failure and I shouldn't be shocked at its effect. Prior to salvation I was "failing" constantly living by a code of the flesh and heart of stone, which brought about the guilt and shame without end.
ReplyDeleteBut, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them."
And His standard is pure and why would I not want that?
Another thought on "my own moral standard" is the changeability of it. I couldn't keep up with it. The standard would have to be in a constant state of change based on the outcome of previous thoughts, behaviors, etc. Still thinking...