Judgment and Righteousness

There is a particular thing that Jesus commanded us to do, and to not do, that needs to be heeded today in more than one direction: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (Jn. 7:24). Everyone seems to like to talk about how we shouldn't be 'judging' someone for what they are doing wrong, and usually what is meant by that is that we shouldn't call sin sin. Well that's a whole issue in itself that I could take on here, but today I would like to get you to take a look at how almost ALL of God's people have been taught and conditioned by the traditions of modern Christianity to judge people to be right with God when in fact they are not. I also will show you very clearly by the scriptures how the great people of the faith of Christ among the early believers did NOT practice or believe in such a thing. It is nothing but the pride of man that who by his own judgment judges anyone to have gotten right with God, and it is humility and godly reverence that allows God to make that call, as is illustrated in the following sequence of scripture which depicts an epic event in the early body of Christ. I'm talking about when God sent Peter to the very first Gentiles to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. I will pick up with the end of Peter's short sermon which in fact was abruptly interrupted from heaven by Jesus: "To him [Jesus] give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" (Acts 10:44-46). Note how that these Gentiles received the Spirit of God without any preliminary act or decree of Peter or anyone else who came with him, to prepare them to receive it. Note also that by faith in Jesus these Gentiles were 'baptized' BY Jesus with the holy Ghost and manifested the sign of speaking in other tongues, and that this was the same exact thing as 'receiving' the holy Ghost; as they certainly had NOT 'received it at some point prior to this. And finally make note that Peter and the believing Jews who came with him KNEW that these people had received the Spirit ONLY BECAUSE they heard them "speak with tongues and magnify God." That is what is there, plain and simple. And mind you, this was and is the same holy Ghost which the Bible says washes us from our sins, sanctifies us, and justifies us; all of which things are just different ways of saying the same thing (I Cor. 6:11; Rom. 15:16). This is also the same holy Ghost which the Bible says, "If any man have NOT the Spirit of Christ, he is NONE of his" (Rom. 8:9). The scriptures are also clear in stating that God is a God "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," which is to say he is steadfast in his ways and does not change (Ja. 1:17; Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8).

My point is that this event and the way it took place was and is the way that the new birth experience ALWAYS takes place! Jesus was not confused in this circumstance, though he did leave Peter and the brethren with him a little confused and astonished about what took place with these first Gentile believers to receive the holy Spirit of God. But let me continue to the point here about judging people to be right with God before GOD judges them to be right. When Peter later recounted this experience he said some things that somehow have been drastically overlooked and neglected by God's people today, and the result of this negligence has been catastrophic. "And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:7-9). Oh my GOODNESS, what a mouthful of sound doctrine and humility THAT WAS! Here's where I'm going with this: Peter made it VERY CLEAR in this statement that ONLY GOD knows the hearts of men, and that means that ONLY GOD can make the call about when someone has truly repented and believed fully on his Son. He also said just as clearly that God himself did just that by personally bearing witness to the faith of these first Gentile believers BY giving them the holy Ghost. And you may recall that the scripture stated that Peter and his brethren knew that these Gentiles received the Spirit ONLY BECAUSE they "heard them speak with tongues and magnify God." Yes friend, that is what the BIBLE SAYS! This passage also makes it crystal clear that these Gentiles had their hearts "purified [washed from sin] by faith [in Jesus]" by means of this experience of faith. This was their born again experience, meaning it was when they recieved the remission of their sins. The sign of speaking in tongues WAS God bearing witness to their faith in Jesus, that it was acceptable TO HIM. This was not an aberration, as it was exactly the way the holy Ghost was FIRST received at Pentecost by the believing Jews who followed Jesus (Acts 2:4). And it had been received that way ever since Pentecost, and that is why Peter and the brethren knew EXACTLY WHEN Cornelius and his household received the Spirit. Speaking in tongues did not have to be pointed out by Luke every time he mentioned in the book of Acts that someone believed, or that people were added to the number of believers, or however he put it; because he knew that everyone he was writing to ALREADY KNEW THAT. Speaking in other tongues was and IS the sign of the new covenant, and it is STILL God's way of bearing witness to the repentance and faith of those who come unto him by his Son Jesus. He has not varied, turned, or changed the way he established his Gospel, and he is STILL the only one who knows the hearts of men.

So the conclusion of this matter is this: The modern Christian traditions of "getting saved," accepting the Lord as your personal savior," "confessing Jesus as Lord," and the like; have put modern 'Christians' in a position to determine when themselves or someone else has been born again and received the remission of their sins. It should also be duly noted that none of these modern traditions are in the Bible. Confessing Jesus as Lord, and his resurrection from the dead, was directed at believers as an exhortation to continue in the faith that they had begun in (Rom. 10:9; I Cor. 15:1-4). And it's funny that the apostle Peter, whom Jesus chose to lead the early body of Christ, did NOT put himself in that position; and he made it VERY CLEAR as we have seen by the Bible, that GOD ALONE has the authority and capacity to do that, and that he DOES bear witness himself when someone comes clean before him. I can assure you my friend that Peter's authority in the Gospel supersedes anyone living today, and it's DARN CERTAIN that GOD'S authority on the matter is above anyone else's. In fact God's authority and power is the ONLY authority or power that exists (Psm. 62:11; Rom. 13:1 - as if we need scripture for that). In fact, listen to what Peter said about the same event when he recalled it yet another time: "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" (Acts 11:15-17) A lot of people need to take a close look at that statement today, because a WHOLE LOT of folks are doing exactly that, meaning they ARE withstanding God's judgment on when someone is born again. ANYONE who declares ANYONE to be born again BEFORE GOD bears witness of it, is withstanding the righteous judgment of God in favor of their own judgment which is according to an appearance. An appearance of a verbal confession, or the appearance of sincerity and tears, or the appearance of ANYTHING is NOT a substitute for "God [knowing] the hearts," and bearing witness himself of someone's faith and repentance when it is acceptable TO HIM. He hasn't changed since the house of Cornelius, or since Pentecost, and I don't care HOW MANY 'Christians' say it's some other way; they DO NOT have authority to overrule God. NOBODY 'receives' the holy Ghost BEFORE being 'baptized' with the Spirit with the sign of speaking in tongues, and NOBODY "gets saved." Period! That's not the way it was then, and nothing has changed, not with God. God also has absolutely NO RESPECT for the Pentecostal tradition that says that they do. In fact it is an abomination in his sight, seeing that it exalts the judgment of man above God's judgment on when someone is made right with him. In no other arena among God's people can I see a more applicable situation for this statement of Jesus that he made to the religious leaders of God's people of his day: "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Lk. 16:15). All I can add to that is the exhortation to one and all to let God be God, and I'll quote yet another applicable scripture: "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" (Psm. 2:11). Amen.