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

I ended yesterday’s blog with a very dangerous question. “Can you see this in our world today?” It is an offer to judge. We do judge and we should judge, however there is a way to judge that is right. Have you ever been taught how to judge a righteous judgment?

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Righteousness is a declared state for those who live by faith in Jesus Christ. Righteous judgment cannot be separated from that relationship and this righteous judgment must come by faith. It is not that we know a truth about anything that is to be judged but rather that He who is Truth reveals any truth in any matter.

It is the enactment of our warning to leave judgment in the hands of He who has earned the right to judge because He died for all man’s sin. Having taken upon Himself every sin, He is uniquely qualified to know the truth in every matter.

To demonstrate how this righteous judgment looks for us, we must take John 7:24 in context.

John 7:23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Only God can perform miracles. Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath which was against Jewish law. The question must arise from the act, was God at work here? Conversely if judgment is at hand, by faith, can you see God at work in that moment? Is He who is True, revealing truth in that moment?

If not, judge not.

Genesis 3:12-13 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

One of the first things that happened after original sin was this conversation in which Adam and Eve began pointing the finger of blame. This is perhaps the first lesson we should learn about sin. Don’t blame others for your decisions.

I had mentioned in an earlier blog that I was not raised up in a household where God was lifted up. I had no instructions in righteousness, right actions nor right relationship. Since I didn’t know there was a right way, I could blame my parents for that failing. At some point in my life I would have to take responsibility for my choices. My sin was not someone else’s responsibility. Being in school with others should have taught me that certain behaviors were not acceptable. Even if I did not understand why I was misbehaving, it did not give me the right absolve myself of my actions.

At some point we have to take responsibility for our own decisions. We have to take charge of our own destiny. There is an age of accountability. We have developed a sense of right and wrong with or without instruction. It is at this point in life where our souls are placed in great peril. It is where our conscience begins to build a bridge between desire and decisions. Without that bridge desire gets its way without the guilt of consequences.

Consequences for sin is a natural law, inescapable. An evil conscience does not assign personal blame to the soul for sinful decisions. It is someone else’s fault. It often assigns blame to the victim.

Can you see this in our world today?