Who gave you the right?

Who has the authority to judge someone else?  This is a very important question.  In the court of law, there is the plantiff and the defendant.  Each of them believes themself to be correct and the other person to be at fault, but neither has the authority to actually make a ruling.  Nor do their lawyers, when it comes down to it.  It is the judge alone who has the authority to make a ruling on the court case.  But even then, the judge only has that authority because it has been given to him by the government and by the law.  It is the power of the government and the law that pronounces judgment, wielded by the judge.

We need to look at Christian judgment in the exact same way.  The question is not “Who should I judge” or “When should I judge,” but rather “Do I even have the authority to judge in this matter?”  Christians do not automatically have the authority to judge because we’re such great and holy people.  We can be just as broken and sinful and limited as the world.  Only God has the authority to judge.

Far be it from you [God] to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”  (Genesis 18:25)

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?  (James 4:12)

However…  if THAT was all there was to it, this would be an extremely short blog series.  It’s true to say that only God has the authority to judge, in much the same way that you can say that only the government has the authority to judge crime.  Our government appoints judges and juries to make decisions, depending on the crime and on the circumstance.  In the same way, God the Father grants authority for judgment.

So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise…  For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.  The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.   (John 5:19, 21-24)

Jesus says as much in the gospel of John – God the Father has authority and power, but gives the authority to judge to the Son.  Specifically in this case, Jesus is talking about the son’s authority to judge a man’s soul worthy of death or eternal life – as well as the authority to withhold judgment to believers.

God has the authority to judge, and the Father has given all judgment to the Son. 

What does this mean for us?  It means that if Christ alone has the authority to judge the souls of man, we do not.  It means that no one has the right to make a comment of another person along the lines of “Well, I guess we know where he’s going to end up,” or “She acts like a Christian, but she’s not really saved.”  Claiming to know that is claiming to know information that only God has, which is blasphemous.  Not to mention the fact that in the eyes of the person being judged, it’s also presumptuous, offensive, and extremely rude. 

But… come on!  Isn’t it just painstakingly obvious sometimes that a person is or is not saved?  Well, no, it’s not.  While Jesus has made it very clear to us how humankind is judged and under what circumstances we are saved, there’s a big difference between knowing that and knowing both a man’s heart and a man’s future.  You do not know if the atheist you’re speaking to today will come to know Christ later on in life.  You also do not know if the sinful man who wronged you today is not a true Christian who is just struggling with problems of his own. 

More to the point, you also don’t know the heart of the man singing hymns next to you in the pew.  Or, for that matter, the man in the pulpit.  Only God knows the heart.  Only God has the knowledge, power, and authority to exercise perfect judgment on a man’s soul.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”   (1 Samuel 16:7)

Do not, however, take this to mean that as Christians, we are not to be discerning of others.  Next time, I will begin to discuss discernment, as well as what we have been given the authority to make judgment on.

For His glory,

Mark