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Judgment, Condemnation


“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)
            People are quick to point out that the Bible says we shouldn’t judge. They’re right, we shouldn’t – but it’s interesting that those who point out that we shouldn’t judge don’t consider what they are doing to be judging. The Bible also says that we should not condemn. But think for a moment. Someone screams at you for saying something they disagree with, and you say, “I forgive you.” When they pick themselves up off the floor and shake their heads to make sure their ears weren’t clogged, how are they likely to respond to having been forgiven?
            Forgiveness is given by the wronged party to the assailant. It is given by the one with the authority in the situation. But it also means that the assailant has done something that requires forgiveness. He or she has done something wrong and/or harmful. At one point, Jesus tells a paralytic that his sins are forgiven him, and the Pharisees pitched a fit. Who was this fellow, that he thought he could forgive sins? Only GOD can forgive sins. (By the way, the Bible doesn’t say that only God can forgive sins.) To forgive means that you have authority to do harm, and you choose to not do so.
            And to accept forgiveness requires that we recognize our error or sin. No, we don’t want our sins forgiven. We want them excused, overlooked, or better yet, accepted and celebrated, and we will not forgive those who do not celebrate our sins. At worst, they’re not as bad as ___________’s sins, so they’re OK. “Our God” – the god that we own, who follows our rules, would never be so cruel as to call our foibles or weaknesses, “sin" though, of course, he would never forgive those things we decide are sin, like someone agreeing with Scripture about something we approve.

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