Romans 2:1-3
1. Control of tongue plus avoidance of verbal sins is a sign of SFL & Sp.Love. James 3:3-13
2. Judging, gossiping can destroy an entire congregation James 3:5-6
3. Self-Righteous people always judge under a double heart or double standard. The double standard sets up a procedure of self vindication, & self justification in judging others.
4. The motivation of Self-Righteousness in judging others is self vindication; self justification! Justification before God.
5. Their excuse for judging others is duty or responsibility. All Self-Righteous people take upon themselves responsibilities that belong to God, but they are appointing themselves as God’s protectors.
They judge others to protect God.
6. This is after the one they truly worship: Satan, who sees himself as the protector of the Holiness of God, this is why he is called Satan… slanderer, he slanders believers who sin! He points out to God the sins, & failures of believers he accuses night & day
When the Self-Righteous judge others, they are doing the work of Satan.
And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things
this is done by judging the sins that they do not commit.
The moral man, in his judging, judges the immoral man as to his obvious known sins: homosexuality, murder, cheating, hating God, stealing, etc.
While at the same time, he himself, gossips, slanders, & is arrogant, judgmental, without love & without mercy.
and do the same yourself,
1. Self-Righteousness comes from hypocrisy & self deception.
2. Self-Righteousness clearly sees the sins, failures of others, while ignoring it’s own sins & failures.
3. Self-Righteousness does not see its own sins nearly as bad or damaging as the more obvious sins of those described in Rom. 1.
They minimize their own sins, while they make issue of the immoral sins of others.
This is how they build themselves up.
4. The overt sins of those described in chpt. 1; those of the immoral man, are quite obvious, while the mental sins & verbal sin of the Self-Righteous are hidden behind a façade of legalism & religion. A façade of purity for the Lord, sanctify of the saints etc. Keep the body of Believers pure.
So they justify their judging, as not judging, their gossip, as not gossip, their slander as not slander…because their cause is just! Their cause is purity.
5. But to God, before God’s Holiness, one type of sin, is just as much condemned as another. guilty of one – guilty of all! But the Self Righteous judges as if they are different.
6. Before God, the sins of the Self-Righteous person: judging, gossip etc. are just as obvious as those in chpt. 1.
7. Therefore the moral & Self-Righteous person is no more justified, pure, clean than the immoral person.
Man’s Righteousness has no merit before God.
Why do they judge others?
That—in order that
You will escape Future, Middle Indic. ekjeugw ekpheugo ek-out; +Pheugo – to flee, - to flee out, to escape
In Classical Greek this was a judicial term: “to be acquitted”
Which would be most fitting for this passage but due to construction escape seems to fit
You judge…in order that you will escape the judgment of God
Krima of God
This is why they judge others; the arrogance of Self-Righteous assume that if they set themselves up to judge others that they will escape judgment from God.
This arrogant, erroneous thinking whether he’s Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever this is the way Self-Righteous arrogant thinks & sets itself up to judge others.
First: do not judge others
What about parents?
What about choosing friends?
What about choosing someone to marry?
What about the responsibility of assessing others in work?
These judgments are not so much of the other person, as they are of yourself
Young people entering new school year, pick your friends, do not be picked now to do this, you have make up your mind about yourself—what kind of things are important to you?
So you young people, you first decide things about yourself, morally, studies, interest, obedience to parents, etc. then you choose friends that go along with your decisions about yourself.
Parent: you make decisions about how to train your child…what is right & wrong, then you bring up your child accordingly.
If, as adults they choose a life style that is antithetical to yours & to what you believe – if you wish, let them go, or you may make a decision just to set it aside. Holy Spirit can lead in both ways!
So first of all you make a decision concerning your own life, your own norms & standards & then discern the life style that others choose, you are not judging them you are making a decision concerning your self.
To judge others is to judge them as being right or wrong. That they are sinful and need to be punished and not favored by God.
Secondly: if we are not to judge other; what are we to do when we find them in sin?
We are to restore Gal. 6:1
If they will not be restored: pray (in fact pray for them either way)
But do not gossip, slander, malign, or judge.
judgment of God
The word group judgment occurs 9x in this one chapter.
Chpt. 2 opens with man doing the judging & in vs 16 God doing the judging
Judgment by God: cause of fear!
Many pastors & churches & religions & denominations, & movements – control their people by fear of judgment by God
Many live in fear of God
This is their view of God…to be feared, God is a God to be feared!
We have seen that the Bible is written under Three primary points of momentum.
1. The existence of Supreme Being – God, Deity, not Allah, not Buddah, etc. but GOD, in three persons: Father, Son, HS
2. The existence of super natural beings called angels; who are important to all that proceeds in history.
3. Courtroom setting, courtroom language.
This is seen in the first book of Bible given to us: Job, all the way to Revelation.
God is judge;
God is going to judge
What is God looking for in His judgments?
Many claim it comes down to acts – moral or immoral;
Or Religious or Spiritual acts: witnessing, giving, learning doc. praying, singing etc.
First lets look at context of Rom. 2.
You will not pick this up in the English, for it fails to consistently translate prep. Kata—according to but if we follow this preposition in Gk. text of Rom. 2, we have four standards of God’s judgment & man’s morality is not one of them, & neither are religious acts:
Vs 2 judgment of God is according to truth
Vs 5 judgment will be according to the heart God judges the heart
Vs 6 according to his deeds since God alone knows /heart of man, He alone can rightly judge the deeds of man
Vs 16 God will judge…according to my Gospel
Can mankind be just before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker?
Does God pervert justice?
Or does Almighty pervert what is right?
How can a man be in the right before God?
Who can make clean out of the unclean? No one!
What is man, that he should be pure?
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
How then can a man be just with God?
Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?
Just, pure, justice, right, clean, righteous
Add: Eph. 5:27 holy & blameless
When will God judge?
In context: 2:5: you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Day of Judgment
2:16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
In the day; on the day there is an appointed day of judgment
3:6 May it never be! For otherwise how will God judge the world?
A day is set when God will judge the world
Rom. 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Believers favorite thing to do—judge OA; & He as asked why do you judge your brother? We know one reason, to escape being judged by God Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Shall stand future—another appointed day
Rapture---Heavenly Worship---Judgment Seat of Christ
1 Cor. 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.
1 Pet. 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
First judgment of believers at Judgment Seat of Christ then judgment of all unbelievers at Great White Throne Judgment.
God has appointed day for Judgment of Righteous & of unbelievers.
Psa. 58:11 And men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!"
Psa. 50:6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah.
Eccl. 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Acts 10:42 "And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
First we see that God is judge but now we are told that JC has been appointed by God as Judge.
When did this happen?
When did Jesus Christ become judge?
Read John 5:22-30
So judgment has been turned over to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the righteous judge!
2 Pet. 3:7 But the present heavens & earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Again, a day is set! Appointed by God for judgment
For the record, Divine Judgment is not only appointed for all believers or all unbelievers,
But also for angels
2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
Judgments by God
1. of all sins of world; at the cross
2. of believers: Judgment Seat of Christ
3. unbelievers: White Throne Judgments
4. of angels
Judgments by man
of self
Judgments by God
1. Judgment of the sins of the world
Christ was judged for the sins of every human being from Adam to last person in history. Every sin that you have or will commit past—present—future was paid for on the cross.
2 Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 Pet. 2: 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
John 3:16-18
Either you believe this or not!
many Christians like to talk about the cross,
then proceed to judge others & make great issues out of sins.
II. Judgment of believers
not of their sins, these were taken care of at the cross
1. Judgment Seat of Christ (Church-Age) 1 Cor. 3:11-16;
Rom. 14:10
2 Cor. 5:10
Rapture, Heavenly Worship then J-S-C
2. Judgment of believers of OT & believers & Tribulational saints will occur at Second Advent; & those of saints of Millennium; end of Mil.
Again, sins will not be the issue of the believer only faith reliance on Holy Spirit.
III. Judgment of Unbelievers
1. Judgment of living Jews at 2en Advent
Ezk. 20:22-38; Ten Virgins Matt. 25:1-13
2. Judgment of living gentiles at 2en Advent
This judgment removes all unbelievers from the earth at the beginning of the Millennium. Only believers will go into Millennium for the Reign of Jesus Christ
3. Great White Throne Judgment –Final Judgment of all unbelievers Rev. 20:11-15
IV. Judgment of Satan & Fallen Angels
At the end of Millennium Rev. 20:8-10
Recorded in Matt. 25:41
V. Present Judgments
Self Judgment by believers
1st we are not to judge others
2. we are not to judge ourselves:
1 Cor. 4:3 But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.
I do not even examine/judge myself—not only does Paul not judge others, he does not even examine himself anakrino to discern, to judge, to examine in order to pass judicial sentence; judicial examination;
Believers are not to judge themselves for condemnation.
Many believers judge themselves for condemnation, for not performing as they assume they should then develop SAD or guilt, or shame. This is why we are not to judge ourselves, looking for sins.
But we are to judge ourselves but not for condemnation
But then we are to ‘examine’ ourselves
1 Cor. 11:31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. Context: taking communion
If we judge ourselves rightly Diakrino this word, in this context means to look at oneself & discern if they are in Holy Spirit or not!
We should not be judged krino: this judgment is by God & He is judging as to whether or not you are in power of Holy Spirit as you take Communion or as you live day by day.
We are not to judge ourselves,
yet we are to judge ourselves
1. We are to look at our thoughts, actions & words, & discern if they are of SFL or of the flesh.
2. We are not to judge ourselves for condemnation! This is prerogative of God alone, not ours, not even in judging ourselves.
We are not to judge self (or others) to find fault, to criticize, to condemn. Judging self for condemnation—leads to SAD
3. We are to get into habit of looking at ourselves, listening to our selves, (Self Talk) to see if our words, actions & thoughts are from Holy Spirit, in line with Sp. Love or not. If not…then get into SFL. by Faith.
4. This also guides us in dealing with others: parents; friends marriage etc. We are not to judge others for condemnation, but we are to observe & discern if actions are in accordance with SFL. & if not restore & pray.