Hello,
This post has been sitting in my draft for way too long. I needed to sit and properly study on this message before I felt the leading to publish. So as usual, get your bibles and notepads and lets begin.
For the past six months I’ve had amazing conversations and studies on what living Christlike in today’s world means, I’ve learnt so much. I’d be sharing some in this post and would try not to make it lengthy.
Before I go on I’d like to discuss on what exactly a true believer’s foundational truth is. Here is what scriptures teach us.
1. Jesus is Lord, and All power on heaven and earth has been given to him. Hence no one can see the father unless by him. There is no alternate means. Philippians 2:9-11, 1corinthians 8:6, John 14:6
2. God the father and Jesus are one John 10:30, John 17:21
3. Sins have been forgiven at the cross, all you need to operate in that dominion is to accept Jesus and do his will. Hebrews 10:12-14, Colossians 2:13-14 , 2 corinthians 5:17-21
4. There is a reward for righteousness and sin. One is a glorious eternal life in heaven, the other is death and hell. Romans 6:23
5. Jesus died and death could not hold Him down. He rose from the dead and ascended to the throne of God in heaven. Acts 2:24,Romans 14:9
6. All in Christ have the Holy Spirit as a witnesses and a helper, all members of the Body of Christ are new spiritual creations John 14:26
7. Satan also known as the Devil is real and is a powerful spiritual adversary. (A Christian’s defense from Satan is putting on the whole armor of God – Eph 6:7)
Having said the above there are still some biblical truths that many Christians today have misconceptions about. E.g what exactly is judgment or what edifies/ what doesn’t. Today we’d be talking on the former.
I recently made a decision not to over analyse or explain some biblical truths to anyone with an antagonistic approach. I realise how sensitive the topic is and I get so passionate when others muddle up scriptures or are seeking logical answers to the supernatural. I realised that sometimes explaining doesn’t edify, rather it creates feud, enemity or stirs up strife. The bible says in 2 Timothy 2:14 to “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.”
This scripture has totally changed the way I evangelise about Christ, I am considerate that the hearer may not have the full of knowledge Christ so I endeavour to share the word with love however stifling it may be. Doing this has opened me up to a lot to views about christianity. I listen to people a lot so I could understand their perspective before I speak. This has made me realise that many of today’s christians in order to sound warm or politically correct in the guise of showing love have unconsciously decided to be luke warm.
This morning in my devotion I wondered that since God is all loving and forgiving why do we go through trials and why is there judgment. Atheists argue that if truly God is loving why is there hell? why can’t we all just be forgiven on the last day. I would not claim to be full of certainity on why there is judment, but this I know, Life is a responsibility and there is a reward attached to it
2 Corinthians 5: 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Hebrews 9: 27-28 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
With that being said I’ve also realised I cannot be mediocre about my existence. This means I cannot afford to call unscriptural things cool, I cannot endorse worldly unedifying things, neither can I oversimplify the truth of God because I want to be loved. I gave my life to Christ officially 6 years ago and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt about God is that, he absolutely dislikes avearage. Walking solely with God requires you to be a radical, meaning you have to be thorough in all you do.
In today’s world, saying the truth equates to you “jugding”. Infact when someone has the courage to stand their ground, and declares that certain beliefs, actions, practices or lifestyle are wrong (morally or otherwise) it’s automatically equated to judging. To this note I’d like to expatiate on the scriptural meaning of Judging i.e ‘thou shall not judge’.
Biblical judgment does not equate to you not identifying/ calling wrong as wrong. Infact, if you reason that way it would ultimately lead to calling evil good. This is because evil cannot be called evil, since saying such would be instantly labeled as you being “judmental”.
“Though shall not judge” in mattew 7:1 has been taken out of context by many. If you read from verse 1-5 you’d have a clear understanding on what Jesus was talking about. Jesus himself and even paul the apostle have been recorded to make many spiritual judgments in the bible, and since Jesus cannot contradict himself, its important for believers to properly study this chapter. Mattew 7:1-5 was directed at judging others unfairly with an attitude of self-righteous superiority as though assuming the office of a judge.
Further biblical commentaries say;
“Jesus did not prohibit judging of any sort, as verse 6 makes clear. Rather, He warned against judging others in way that we would not want applied to ourselves. To judge another person in a harsh spirit is to take on a role reserved only for God. Only the Lord can see beyond the outward appearance to underlying motives and causes in a person’s heart.
warning against criticizing other people without considering how open to criticism we ourselves may be; be judged may well refer to God’s judgment, as well as that of other people. But v 6 indicates that there is also a right kind of judgment which the disciple is called on to exercise (cf. also vs 15–20).
The bible actually says in 1 Corinthians 2:15b The spiritual person judges all things….. meaning there’s a right way to ‘judge’. We as believers are encouraged in scriptures to test all things and be discerning in all we do, see 1 Thessalonians 5:21. This gives you the full authority as a christian to call good good, and evil evil. I personally encourage every one I meet to speak up for what they believe in with utmost love yet not shielding the truth.
So for instance, you tell someone “Lying is a sin, God hates a lying tongue” and the person replies “But haven’t you lied before? or don’t you lie sometimes? please don’t judge me, judge yourself”. You can simply reply “That doesn’t change the fact that God detests lying, and if indeed I lie, or continue in sin without repentance I am also liable for the judgment in Revelations 21:8. This is assuming that you want to engage this person.
“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:8
In the bible when the scribes and the Pharisees, who were law bears, brought a woman to Jesus who had been found in the very act of committing adultery, they wanted to stone her, according to the law of Moses. Jesus’ response was in verse 7
“… when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. [John 8:7]
When the pharisees came with accusations, Jesus did not deny the woman’s guilt, and did not ask for mercy on her behalf. She was an adulteress and liable to death according to the law. But with his response there was one dilemma… who will cast the first stone? Jesus’ words were a warning to the Pharisees who were seemingly hypocritically & antagonistically casting judgement verse 7. With this they became convicted by their own conscience and they gradually dispersed leaving the woman alone with Jesus, who tells her that her accusers have disappeared and neither will He condemn her. She is free to go.
Some people have also taken this scripture out of context forgetting that Jesus saved her from the law’s consequence of her sin. He did not condemn her neither did he endorse her sin instead he asked her to go and ‘Sin no more’.He never gave her license to sin, but urged her to forsake her sin in the future.
The earlier we begin to take biblical instructions utterly the better for us. The word of God is our only sure and true manual for life, it’s God itself John 1:1. So if we claim to love God, then we must uphold his word and be true ambassadors. No undercover agents as my friend Chinomso would say. God’s truth transcends generations and cultures, so matter what fashion or lifestyle this generation may spring up there’s God’s opinion about it, just dig deep in his word and find it.
With all being said, I pray that we live bold and radical lives for Jesus. Enough lukewarmness and dilution of truth which leads to misunderstanding. I pray for grace and wisdom to judge and assess all matters with love, humility and God’s standard for righteousness.
Above all I pray for the gift of the holyspirt which is a birthright of every believer, to teach and direct us in all our ways.
Thank you for reading.
Read previous editions of LOGOS HERE
Please feel free to drop comments or questions below, I’d love to hear from you.
XOXO
Tosin
Filed under: Life segment, LOGOS Tagged: bible study, christian, logos corner 
