Some of you may remember my resolution for 2014 about not judging others, even in my thoughts. Well, here is a tough couplet for us all to ponder over on that topic: James 4:11-12 - Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? ESV It kind of smacks one in the mouth doesn’t it? In Christian recovery, one of the things we must grasp early on, something that actually provides us with a lift is that we have all done something that we can be judged for. But where Christian recovery shines and secular recovery doesn’t is in this area of condemnation, and it is because of this truth: Rom 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ESV Who James refers to as the one Lawgiver and one Judge is the same Jesus who does not condemn those who are his, even if they have broken the law and sinned. This is not true for those in secular programs, unless they are Christians taking a worldly approach to their program. Secularists are doomed to two judgments, one eternal, and one from the world standards they have chosen to live by. Let us not be prideful or puffed up about this, because none of this is our doing. Instead, let us be grateful to God who sent His son to save us from judgment. Let us also pray for our fellow secular strugglers that they would see, out of their futility, that Christ provides the way to a place of no condemnation. And finally, let us be ready to speak to them of this truth at all times, because we might be helping God to release them from the dark prison of personal self-condemnation.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 11:41:29 +0000
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