Title Judgment/Romans 2:1-3
There is a difference between the faith of men and the faith of Jesus. This is where serious problems arise. The problem with humans now lies in the misconception that God is praising people's faith. However, nowhere in the Bible does God praise human faith. Rather, if we look at the words of Isaiah 1:10-15 and Micah 6:6-8, we can see that he rebuked people's faith. Jesus also rebuked the Pharisees for their faith.
God does not rebuke what we have not done. Rather, you should know that you are arguing and rebuking you for what you have worked so hard for. It is because you are doing it with a heart that is far from God. Therefore, what we need today is not 'we have to live a life of faith', but 'How should we live a life of faith?'
If you say this, you may ask, 'Pastor, there are people who are praised for their faith in the Bible. How did that happen?' Yes. There are certainly people in the Bible whose faith is praised. However, the faith that God praised was not human faith. In other words, it is not praising the fervent faith revealed by human religiosity, but praising the faith that reveals the heart of God generated by God. In other words, he was not praising man himself, but praising God's heart itself. After all, when we conclude that God's heart is evidenced by God, and that man is only his instrument, it can be concluded that God praised the faith that God Himself had given him. Therefore, the faith that God will accept is not human faith, but God's faith.
To understand this, we must first understand that human beings cannot have any faith commendable to God. This is what verses 1:24-32 say. God is angry with the world and has left us to uncleanness. As a result, human beings live by doing things that are not appropriate. No one can please God. However, when people come to church and say they believe in Jesus and believe in the death and resurrection of the cross, they simply think that God will be pleased. The idea that a human being who is angry with the world and abandoned to uncleanness, who lives in all kinds of evil, can please God with just a few words in church is truly astonishing.
Verse 1 says, “Therefore, you have no excuse, anyone who judges others, in judging others, for you are condemning yourself, for you who judge do the same thing.” It is not judging others. Judgment is criticism. When judging others, there must be some standard by which to judge. Judgment is the distinction between right and wrong. In other words, judgment is what is right and what is wrong is wrong. It cannot be said that wrong is wrong. As there is an old saying, 'A dog with a poop scolds a dog with a chaff', it is the same wrong and wrong, but you cannot see your own fault and tell others that you are wrong.
Therefore, if we are to judge someone, we must have the rightness that is the standard for our judgment. And it is right to rebuke wrongdoing with that filth. Then, the premise for judgment is whether we are right or not. Because you have to be right to judge others. But the Bible declares that there is no one righteous on this earth. That's what verses 1:24-32 say. Declare everyone in the world evil. An evil person cannot blame others for being evil. When I judge others, I am just saying that the way I judge myself is the result of my own condemnation in the end.
Jesus also said in Matthew 7:1-2, “Judge not, that you may not be judged, for with the criticism with which you judge you will be judged, and with the measure with which you measure it it will be measured to you. Not to criticize means that no one in the world is worthy of criticizing others. Everyone is living a life of evil that deserves the death penalty.
But today, people have decided right and wrong according to their own nails because of their human beliefs. The image of human religion, which was rebuked by God, has now been transformed into a faith that is pleasing to God. I am not interested in whether I have faith in the Lord, but I am only interested in believing hard and believing a lot. In the end, when human beings set the standard of faith as 'working hard', what they didn't work hard and didn't do much naturally becomes the subject of judgment. That is why today's churches judge 'why don't you pray', 'why don't you read the Bible', 'why don't you tithe', and 'why don't you serve?
They say that when people do not see their own wickedness and judge others based on their faith, God's judgment will be according to the truth. In other words, when I judge others, I am judged through the Word of God's truth. This judgment cannot be avoided. To say that judgment is made according to the truth means that the truth becomes the standard for judging the judge. What is truth? As Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life', the truth is Christ. In other words, Christ is the standard to judge those who judge.
So, you must not forget that Jesus is the one you must compare yourself to before judging others. Don't try to judge others based on your actions easily. I do this, but why you can't do this is because you are in the folly of not seeing yourself. No matter how well you do something compared to others, you cannot escape God's judgment when it is used as a tool for judging others.
Judging others is because you have your own actions in mind. It's not that the Lord made me do it, but I do it and then I end up doing it, so I have a bubbly heart and judge people who seem inferior to me.
It is said that all human beings are sinners. Chapter 1 proves it. If we are sinners, we are all sinners. Not that there are evil sinners and less evil sinners. equally guilty. They are the same sinners regardless of whether they steal or murder. It is not that I do not have the heart of a thief, nor that I do not have the heart of a murderer. I just lived my life without revealing it and disguised it appropriately.
Believers today seek to come to the Lord from the position of stone throwers at the adulterous woman. But you should know that the Lord is waiting for a woman who has committed adultery. All those who came out of the position of stone throwers had to return after being judged by the Lord. Those who do not understand the plank in their own eyes and love to judge by revealing only the specks in the eyes of others will inevitably be judged by God.
Not to judge means that you are the same human being. It is not to treat others in the position that I am handsome and you are ugly. This does not mean that you should not criticize others at all, but that when you see someone else's fault, do not judge from the position that I am right but you are wrong, but judge from the position that you are wrong even when I am wrong. In other words, I am not judging myself, but because the Lord has spoken, I am judging others as well. Let's not forget that I am also a person to be judged by Jesus. In the end, today's text does not simply provide a standard for believers to 'do not judge others', but rather asks 'Do you know that you are a sinner who deserves to be judged by God?' The reason I ask this is because when I admit that I can never come up with a good that can be judged from myself, I will not be able to say that I must keep the law or that I must make an effort, but only say that I live by the grace of the Lord. . A believer is one who lives only by the grace of the Lord.