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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman
Not
Called To Condemn As Christians Jesus has
commissioned us to continue His earthly mission in the very same way He
fulfilled His commission. We
read this in John 20:21. "Again Jesus said,
'Peace be with you! As
the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And
with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the
Holy Spirit.'" Jesus introduced His
commission by saying "peace be with you."
Jesus is all about peace. He
wants us to live in peace with Him, with each other, and if possible with
everyone, as Paul also wrote in Romans 12:18.
"If it is possible,
as far as it depends on you, live at peace
with everyone." Jesus then told His
apostles that in the same way His Father sent Him into the world, He was
now sending them into the world. John
12:47 describes how Jesus accomplished His mission that we are to emulate.
"If
anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For
I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." Jesus was sent to earth
to save people, not to judge them, as in condemning them. The
pronouncement of judgmental condemnation leading to eternal damnation
happens at His second sending, not His first coming.
While on earth He fulfilled His calling by offering humanity peace
with God that results in eternal salvation.
His disciples were now sent to follow Jesus' example.
They would be non-condemning as they made disciples of Jesus
(Matthew 28:18 - 19) resulting in their salvation.
Their mission began when they received the Holy Spirit into their
lives (Acts 2) as Jesus' predicted when He breathed on them and said,
"Receive the Holy Spirit."
The gospel accounts show
that Jesus did not exhibit condemnatory judgments to anyone.
His conversation with the woman at the well (John 4) is an example
of this. He simply pointed out
her sin without condemning her. Instead
He told her the good and positive news of His salvation. Yes,
Jesus did make judgment calls to hypocritical Jewish religious leaders
that warned of a future sentencing of eternal damnation, but a judgment
call is not a sentencing of eternal damnation. There is a difference
between a judgment call and a pronouncement of condemnation.
Jesus told His disciples to "stop
judging by mere appearances, but instead judge righteously" (John
7:24). We are, thus,
permitted, even must, make righteous judgment calls at times without
making condemnatory judgments. Here's
my point. Many claiming to be
Christians these days are not fulfilling their commission as Jesus
fulfilled His. Remember, as
Jesus was sent into the world, so we are sent into the world by offering
everyone the great news of eternal salvation through Jesus.
Our job is not to condemn or act vengefully towards our opponents.
"Vengeance is mine, says the Lord" (Romans 12:19).
Nastiness, condemnatory language, argumentative speech, inhibits
people from hearing our great news. Our
words and speech matter. "The
mouth speaks what the heart is full of" (Matthew 12:34).
If our speech is nasty, argumentative and condemnatory, it reveals
what's in our hearts and who we really are.
Postscript
If you want to
understand my views on judging, you can purchase my book entitled
"Clarifying Biblical Judging" found on all Amazon sites.
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