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To: kosta50; hosepipe; betty boop; Dr. Eckleburg; Forest Keeper; Mad Dawg
Onto the discussion of judgment …

Funny, but not surprising, that you chose to ignore the following verses:

I do not ignore the words of God - any of them.

Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: - Luke 24:25

Leviticus 2 deals with offerings – perhaps you meant chapter 19?

If so, then it should be noted that both Leviticus 19:15 and John 7:24 tell us righteous judgment is not based on appearances:

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: [but] in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. – Leviticus 19:15

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. – John 7:24

The I Corinthians 2 verse you cited - in context - is speaking of Spiritual discernment, the Spiritual is judged of no man:

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. – I Corinthians 2:14-16

I Corinthians 6:1-8 speaks of judging matters between people.

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather [suffer yourselves to] be defrauded?

Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that [your] brethren.

Judging matters is not the same as judging the people themselves.

Matthew 7:1-5 speaks of judging people:

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. - Matthew 7:1-5

Finally from your list is I Corinthians 5 which speaks to judging within our assemblies on earth:

For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. – I Corinthians 5:12-13

And with that I again return to the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew 7, Jesus Christ raises two aspects of man’s judging. The first, verses 1-2, warns us that if we judge another, we will be judged exactly the same way. And that is righteous judgment consistent with the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:15 whereby we ask God to forgive us our debts exactly the same way we forgive others.

The second is judging false prophets which Christ encourages us to do. Note in Matthew 7:15-20 we are to know they are false by their fruits – a good tree does not produce bad fruits.

This is also righteous judgment, of the same vein as I Corinthians 5 which tells us to examine the fruits within our own assembly and remove everyone whose fruits are specifically: fornication, covetousness, extortion, idolatry, drunkedness, railing.

The bottom line is to stay away from prophets (people who want to teach us) whose fruits are bad. The fruits of the Spirit - the good fruits are:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

The Scriptures are clear. Man will be judged exactly the same way he judges others.

Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: - Luke 6:37

That was the point I raised and none of the verses you cite contradict Matthew 7:1-5 – nor could they, i.e a thing is true because God says it. That point ties this reply to the earlier one at post 4789.

Romans 2:1 further shows that if a man judges another condemns himself:

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. - Romans 2:1

Our thoughts indict us. Returning again to the Sermon on the Mount, Christ says that thinking a thing is tantamount to doing it:

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. – Matthew 5:27-28

And that of course brings us back to the point of Proverbs 23:

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he... - Proverbs 23:7

Which is further explained in Mark 7 – a man is defiled not by what goes into his mouth but what comes out of his heart.

And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. - Mark 7:20-23

Righteous judgment is not based on appearances. Righteous judgment is directed to matters, things or fruits.

If we judge another person, we will be judged exactly the same way.

In sum, hate the sin and love the sinner.

To God be the glory!

4,795 posted on 04/05/2008 12:00:31 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl; kosta50; betty boop
[ If we judge another person, we will be judged exactly the same way. In sum, hate the sin and love the sinner. ]

Indeed.. we make judgments all day long, all of us.. But it should be done with reluctant humility.. With all that is within us.. For how we judge just may be visited back upon us.. i.e. we will judge ourselves.. Being judged by our own standards and with our own mercy can be a hateful thing..

Better, like David, to be judged by the one who is the essence of mercy.. and forgiveness.. For who really knows the heart of a man or woman.. One does know.. And if that heart is cruel and heartless, being judged by its own standards, how cruel can that be.. The flesh is a hard taskmaster and insensitive to minutia and the moment.. And can pronounce judgement as easy as a flip of the tongue..

Who then can be saved, FROM OURSELVES?...
The Sheep Pen is a violent place.. John ch 10...
Many should take "its" lessons to heart..

4,799 posted on 04/05/2008 5:30:38 AM PDT by hosepipe (CAUTION: This propaganda is laced with hyperbole....)
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