Bible Discussion Thread

"Judge not, that ye be not judged."

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

Is there always a beam in our eye? Is our own fault/sin always bigger than our brothers?

I was thinking one day, what is this beam? It can not be my sin which is always bigger than my brother's. This can not be so. It can not be that everything in me is worse than my brother's. And if I get rid of that beam in my eye, why still do I not have the right to judge him?

I thought that that beam might be the judgement itself. If we resemble judgement as a pair of glasses then when we see our brothers under the lenses of judgement then we condemn them. If we put them away then we can see our brothers with love and can help them. So in both cases we see our brother's fault but our intention is different. In the first case our intention is judgement, in the second case it is edification.

Once the Jews brought a woman who was cought doing adultery (where was the man?). Jesus told them "the one who is sinless let him be the first to throw the stone to her". The Jews left. Why? Were they all adulterers? No but they realized that since they were all doing sins (nomatter what those sins were) and so they were actually themselves under the death penalty of the Law, then condemning her was like condeming themselves.

So even if my brother sins or makes a fault in something that I do not do then still I have no right to judge Him. We must understand that we stand infront of our God only because of His infinite love and grace. And if God ever decided to take that grace away we would be like all other people of this world. We would had been condemned to eternal hell like them. It is only God's grace that takes us to Heaven. So it is for my brother, nomatter if he makes a fault in something I do not do. We come to the church to correct ourselves, not our brothers. God is responsible to correct others. This is His job, not ours.

GBU

Jesus was put in the place of Judge yet he chose not to for now " it was the acceptable time" . The accusers wanted to be justified by the law and insisted upon it and so without accusing anyone answered them according to the law which we know from Romans is there to convict of sin .

The Lord had already judged the matter by " the finger of God" and found both guilty .

But gave them both TIME to consider their ways and repent .

In an English court of law a person found guilty is asked " Before I pass sentence have you anything to say ?" They are given a measure of time to say something to the judge which might mitigate the sentence if possible etc.

All men are guilty under the Law . But God has given all a measure of time be it long or short to say something to the judge .

The woman redeemed the time given her and repented the accusers did not .

It is not that she was innocent ,it was not that she was not condemned under the law . But " now was the acceptable time " and God received her repentance . There is upcoming a time when it will not be acceptable and it is very close at hand .

She was caught in the very act . I wonder how long it was already known ?

When I frequented pubs they used to do last orders when a bell would be wrung warning people of closing time shortly.

I observed three groups of people ( me among them) the first on hearing the bell looked at the time how late it was . Stopped drinking ad went home . The second thought to get just one more drink in . The last got as much drink as they could afford intent on getting blind drunk .

Calvary is the final call for all men to repent and believe God . The time of the gentiles is at hand and we don't really know it thinking we have plenty of time. " If I be lifted up,,I will draw all men unto Me" when Jesus said ALL ,none were excluded all are included . It is written "if we fall on the rock we shall receive mercy if the rock falls on us we shall be ground to powder."

1 Corinthians 5:11

"But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."

1 Corinthians 5:12

"For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?"

1 Corinthians 5:13

"But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."

Blessings

Hello Azzan

You are right. But there is a difference between one falling to a fault and somebody in the congregation who is living in sin.

In the first case we should be patient and pray to God to edify our brother. Is there really a Christian who never does something wrong or sins, even though they is saved? I think we all do something wrong from time to time (true Christians do not make serious mistakes). And we would not want our brothers to be strict with us. God is patient and waits for us to correct ourselves. And He is patient with us for a lifetime. Edification is not a momentary act. It is something that continues for a lifetime. We are perfected (or should be) gradually. Likewise, we should do the same. If every time we see someone doing wrong, we expel them from the church, then all the churches would be empty.

But in the second case, things are different. Now we are talking about brothers who have serious, permanent sins in their lives and who never seem to want to repent. If they have been given time to correct themselves and still don't seem to want to do so, then a different approach must be followed. Because there cannot be unrepentant sinners in the church. As in Corinth, if this person never repents, then the church must expel him from the church. He has no place in the church. But that is a job for the elders and the pastor of the church. It is not for everyone.

Also each case must be examined individually.

GBU

A very good, helpful and accurate word you have shared brother Giannis. This is something that affects all of us: self-righteousness, though carefully masked by us, is still something we must be alert to and expose, lest another do the job for us and we see our sin and feel the shame.

Your example of the 'righteous' Jews condemning that adulterous woman in the very act ( John 8:3-11) is very apt, concerning self-righteousness. As you understood the 'beam' in one's eye as the "lens of judgement", I've seen it in a similar way, as when one has a cataract in the eye. And this has become more clear to me (no pun intended) in recent days as my wife has just had her second cataract surgery done. Because of this event in our lives, I wondered if we could apply that 'mote and beam' spoken by the Lord to what a person experiences with the onset and progress of cataract growth in the eye. The slow growing cataract will eventually become like a beam in the eye where sight can be seriously compromised, even lost, if not attended to; and most of us will have to get that surgery done at some point in our lives.

My optometrist assures me that mine are still very small and insignificant, but we have to be watchful (!). But if allowed to grow without correct diagnosis and treatment (removal), sight will eventually be lost. Jesus gave these Jews an opportunity to be healed of their poor distorted vision. They thought their vision was absolutely clear under the 'lens' of the Law (and so it was), but as always, our Lord always takes us to the heart of the matter, in this case the 'eye of the matter'. Under OT Law, which they were still governed by, the punishment was clear. But Jesus was here now, the God-provided Transition between the Law and His immeasurable Grace. And this transition required the Jews, and all, to examine themselves first, and if we do, we find no authority to condemn another. Jesus began their healing process when they walked away convicted. Blessings.