Judge not, that ye be not judged. (Matt 7:1 KJV) Most individuals today know this Bible verse, even those who know little else of Scripture. But do they know what it means? This blog is the first of four in which I will be considering four contexts regarding judging.

The above quote is from the King James Version. At the very beginning of my website, I note that, unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is quoted from the NASB. Here is an instance when this verse in the KJV is more concordant with the original Greek than the NASB.

There are two Greek terms that are translated “not” in the New Testament: mē and ouk. Mē refers to qualified negation. Ouk is absolute negation. Both occurrences of the negative in verse 1 are mē. Jesus is not saying never judge. He continues to explain the manner in which we must judge.

Here are four abiding principles that should govern how we judge others:

1. We are judged by the standard we judge others.
2. Failure to live by our own standard is hypocrisy.
3. We must live by our own standard first.
4. Correctly judging ourselves enables us to succor others.

The context in Matthew’s account of the gospel is that Jesus has come to the end of His Sermon on the Mount. Both He and John the Baptist were preaching that “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” That is that He, the incarnate Son of God, had come to be the king of the Kingdom promised to Israel. In this sermon, Jesus explains the blessings afforded to those in this kingdom on earth. (Matt 5:1-12) He then explains the responsibilities of those who are in this kingdom. (Matt 5:13-7:27)

The Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus and John were referring to was rejected. The Heir Apparent, Messiah the Prince (Dan 9:25), was crucified. The offer of the kingdom was withdrawn. But those responsibilities delineated in the Sermon on the Mount are still obligatory today,

As we will see in the following three blogs, judging is central to the Christian Walk. It is impossible to live without it in any culture. I confess, I was not a follower of Charlie Kirk. However, what I am hearing regarding his ministry is that this wise young man was divinely gifted. My immediate prayer when I heard of his death was to pray that God would use his death to glorify Himself as He used him in his life. Charlie was a man of great discernment. He spoke to his generation without hypocrisy. This was clear. So was his love for his country and for all the people of the world. May his tribe multiply.

What is also clear is that while he debated without rancor and with compassion for those who disagreed, his message was truth, and it was this truth that judged and condemned those who opposed it. Like Charlie, we must learn how to let truth be the judge and not ourselves.

Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? (Eccl 7:16-17)

This quote from Solomon (cf. Ecclesiastes 7:15-22) requires careful consideration. The context warns of the dangers of dualistic thinking: righteousness versus evil, life versus death, wisdom versus foolishness. It begins with a righteous man “perishing in his righteousness,” followed by “a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.” To the mind that can only think in terms of black and white, this does not make sense. Solomon is referring to self-righteousness. The self-righteous person measures truth from the perspective of personal experience and biases and fails to gain from the experiences and wisdom of others. To think we are always right leaves no room for personal growth and stifles communication.

The focus of Ecclesiastes is life under the sun versus life with God. Both need to be contemplated more deeply than the dualistic thinking of Modernism and Postmodernism. It requires the ability to think classically.

C.S. Lewis, in his book The Abolition of Man, refers to “men without chests.” An article on Action Institute’s website defines it this way:

Lewis explains that the “The Chest” is one of the “indispensable liaison officers between cerebral man and visceral man. It may even be said that it is by this middle element that man is man: for by his intellect he is mere spirit and by his appetite mere animal.” Without “Chests” we are unable to have confidence that we can grasp objective reality and objective truth. (see)

Classical Thinking is the opposite of Classical Conditioning. The latter comes from Pavlovian Theory (remember Pavlov’s dog), which reduces human behavior to stimulus/response. Western culture has been reduced to Pavlov’s philosophy of human behavior.

Dualistic thinking is a byproduct of the fall. The missing link is wisdom. Solomon goes on to say:

Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you grasp one thing, and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.

Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. (Eccl 7:17-20)

The Holy Spirit was given to the Church to correct dualistic thinking. Those who are born of God and who receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, have the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor 1:16), are “transformed by the renewing of (our) mind (Rom 12:2), are “seated with Christ in the heavenly places” (Eph 2:3), and “seek the things above where Christ is seated” (Col 3:1).

Dualistic thinking: righteousness versus evil, I’m right, you are wrong, leaves no room for mutually contemplating the deeper truths of Scripture in the conversation. It is lacking in moral judgment. It squelches communication because it does not allow others in the discussion to experience the pleasure of deeper thought.

History will look back on our day as the age of confusion. Terms no longer mean what they once meant. What is a woman? Individuals are free to choose their own sex. Marriage is optional. The early Church also lived in an age of confusion. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthian believers, he addressed this confusion. In chapters 10 and 11 of 1 Corinthians, Paul emphasized principles he taught before:

1. Do all to the glory of God. v. 10:31.
2. Give no offense to anyone. v. 10:32.
3. Seek the profit of many. v. 10:33

Notice the order: God first, then others, then self. This was the order given by God at creation. Paul was confident enough in what he taught to say, Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

He then repeats these three principles in reverse order:

1. Christ is the head of every man. v. 11:3a
2. Man is the head of a woman. v. 11:3b
3. God is the head of Christ. v. 11:3c

In v. 11:3a, he refers to every man (pantos andros). In v. 11:3b, it is the man (ho andros) and a woman (gunaikos). This clearly refers to the relationship of one man to one woman—marriage.

Last week, we compared this context with a previous letter Paul wrote to the Galatian churches. (Gal 3:26-4:7) The title was Neither Male nor Female (arsen kai thelu). (see) The Galatians passage declares that both male and female are sons of God (huioi theou). (Gal 3:26) It does not refer to physical gender but to our equality before our heavenly Father. The Corinthian passage refers to the relationship between a husband and wife, a relationship of subordination. There is no contradiction.

In creation, God created man in His own image… male and female (Gen 1:27, 31; cf. Matt 19:5-6). The purpose of this one flesh relationship was to glorify our Creator. (Gen 1:31a) As God said in Gen 3:16b, sin would alter every relationship under the sun, especially the relationship between a husband and wife.

This one flesh relationship was explained when Paul, writing his Church Epistle, compared the concept of the Church to that of marriage. (Eph 5:22-33) The Church and marriage should reflect the image of God. As the Godhead is One, the marriage should be one, and the Church should be one. As the Godhead reflects equality with subordination, so should marriage and the Church. This is the essence of what our Lord prayed in His High Priestly prayer:

I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; (John 17:20-23)

As different translations are published and we are free to choose which translation we use, we need to be cognizant of the changes each new translation makes and why. We believe in Verbal, Plenary, God-breathed (Gk, theopneuustos, theos, God + pneo, breathed) Scripture in the autographa, i.e., the autograph copies. (cf. 2 Tim 3:16) Of course, we do not have the original documents, but through years of research, we can be assured that the Greek translations are authentic and trustworthy, especially when there is a critical apparatus allowing us to measure which manuscripts are the most trustworthy.

New translations have become so common that often significant changes in wording from one translation to another are overlooked. These changes come as translators choose between concordant and dynamic equivalency methodology. Concordant seeks to find the closest match between the source language and receptor language, i.e., Greek to English. Dynamic Equivalency seeks to emphasize readability and interpretation, often substituting the translator’s doctrinal persuasion for accuracy.

One example is the attempt by newer translations to clarify the distinction between male and female with the phrase, sons and daughters of God. By doing so, this adds to the confusion of genders that has been taking place for decades and is now reaching crisis proportions. After years of searching, I have not found any text where daughters of God is the correct translation. I have written and spoken regarding the topic of sons of God. (see, see) There is no room here for a full explanation. Here is a simplified attempt to clarify.

First, God created man, male and female. That has never changed. To be sure, there are significant issues at birth with some infants, but this is not the norm. Second, God has clearly stated that, before Him, there is neither male nor female, all are sons (Gk huios, son) of God. (cf. Gal 3:23ff.)

In another context, Paul makes it clear that this relationship with God does not annul the distinction when he writes:

Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
(1 Cor 11:2-4)

Here, as in other contexts, even the NASB, the most concordant of the newer translations, stumbles by failing to see that the context is referring to traditions (Gk paradosis, para, alongside, + didomi, to give or pass on). Paul was referring to what he previously taught concerning marriage. He is not referring to men dominating women. (cf. 1 Cor 11:1-16)

In such passages, careful exegesis is extremely important. Confusion throughout Church history regarding passages about marriage has led to male dominance, abuses, and giving our Lord’s enemies fodder to blaspheme His good name. Failure to understand biblical teaching regarding such matters leads to the Church’s failure to have a voice in society today.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father. (John 14:12-13)

The context is the upper room discourse. Jesus was comforting His disciples because in a few hours He would be arrested, tried in an illegal court, tortured, and crucified. How could a single believer do greater works than what Jesus had performed?

Some want to apply this to the efforts of individuals with special gifts, doing the same things Jesus did, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons. However, upon careful examination of the text, it becomes clear that while verse 12 refers to a single believer, the verbs that precede and follow are all plural. He is speaking of one individual in concert with other believers. We see this same synergy within the godhead in John’s gospel account:

For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel. (John 5:20)

The term synergy is transliterated from the Greek sunergos. One dictionary defines synergy as:

the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc. (see)

Sunergos is a combination of two Greek terms (sun, meaning “together,” and ergon, meaning “work”) that form a single effort. The promise Jesus gave to His disciples was that when they received the Holy Spirit, they would be able to accomplish more together than alone.

Christianity went off the rails when the Western Church, which originated in the school at Alexandria, Egypt, formed hierarchies with leaders possessing authority that Jesus forbade. (cf. Matt 20:25-28; Mk 10:42-45; Lk 22-25-27) The grip that this false teaching held on the early church was the reason so many believers of the conservative school in Antioch of Syria were martyred. The Alexandrian church leaders chose political power, while the Antioch church leaders chose spiritual influence. The literal interpretation of what Jesus and the Apostles taught was a threat to the oligarchs.

The world thinks bigger is better. Numbers mean success. Throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth, especially during the upper room discourse, Jesus taught the opposite. The epistles, especially the sections regarding the proper understanding and use of spiritual gifts, emphasize what each believer, working together with other gifted believers, can accomplish.

While synergy does not occur in the two texts from John’s gospel account, it occurs in thirteen passages in the New Testament and is translated as fellow workers. Size is not the issue. It is every believer working together through their spiritual gifts, accomplishing the work of the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is spiritual synergy.

Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame;
There’s a crown, and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ name. (see)

We are living in an era when church leaders are seeking relevance by searching for and discovering “new truth” in the Bible. As society devolves, the world is drifting farther away from the former biblical truths that were forged on an anvil with blood, sweat, and tears. History is passé. What was good for the past is no longer applicable to the Church today.

This is not new. Paul, writing to the church at Colossae, warned of this trend already existing among the churches of the Lycus Valley. Even though he had not yet visited that area, many had heard of his ministry and the message God had given him. False teachers among the flock were twisting, adding to, and subtracting from his message. Paul wrote to correct the doctrinal errors and to encourage the brethren by having their hearts:

knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col 2:2-3)

He was seeking to accomplish this through proclaiming Christ Jesus:

admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ (Col 1:28-29)

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (Col 2:6-7)

While his letter was to correct false teaching, there are also portions where Paul expressed cause for rejoicing and gratitude.

For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. (Col 2:5)

What was needed even more, since the false teachers were at work, was for believers to:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Col 2:8-9)

Today, many believers spend years becoming proficient in their employment, raising their families, engaging in entertainment, and laying aside for retirement. Yet little time and resources are employed in the most important matters of life, achieving full assurance of understanding the faith. (Col 2:2)

Paul’s goal was to present every man complete in Christ. (Col 1:28). He was willing to experience hardship. The history of the Church is strewn with martyrs who gave their lives so that we might enjoy the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Stability in Christ requires that we order ([discipline, NASB] Gk, taxis) our lives to allow time and resources to study God’s Word. A casual perusal of the internet is not enough. Only through consistent personal effort will we be able to separate truth from error and be firmly rooted in the faith of Christ.

Easy Believism, i.e., just praying a prayer and God will do all the rest, works great until difficulties arise. What happens when we want something from God and He doesn’t deliver? Or when difficult or painful circumstances occur over which we have no control? The United States is facing crises that few thought would ever happen. We are about to go through some very dark times. How does this salvation thing work? What responsibilities has God given to us concerning our salvation?

Paul, a prisoner in Rome, wrote to the Philippian church to thank them for their support and steadfastness in the faith. Earlier, he expressed his confidence in them:

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6)

When the Jews, who were taught that salvation was by works, asked:

What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? (Jn 6:28)

Jesus responded:

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. (Jn 6:29)

What we believe and the ability to believe come from God. Our responsibility is to study what God has done and apply this to each moment of our lives, taking each step in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In his epistle from prison to the Ephesian church, Paul wrote:

(11) Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (Eph 6:11-13)

The command here is to the church. The armor requires a corporate response. The reality is that evil days will come unless the Lord comes for His Church first. This may be in the form of a health crisis, a financial downturn, a catastrophic disaster such as a storm or earthquake, or the downfall of a country. Waiting until it happens is not an option. It will be too late. Every believer needs to take each moment in life as an opportunity to do it God’s way. This requires knowing the correct responses to circumstances and being willing to make the right decisions so that we will be ready when they happen.

None of the talking heads and political pundits know what will happen tomorrow. They may make educated guesses. But only God knows. He is the blessed controller of all things. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, nothing was sure except that God was in control. He encouraged the church to be prepared for what was coming.

Are we prepared?

“You are what you think, even more than you think?”
(anonymous)

What do you spend your time thinking about? It is the only true privacy we have anymore. With social media, the entertainment industry, and intense marketing strategies, we can become so distracted that we forget to think about our relationship to our Lord Jesus Christ and doing His will. We need to take the time to analyze our thought life.

Rev. Steven J. Cole quoted Mark Twain in an article posted on bible.org:

“What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself. All day long, the mill of his brain is grinding, and his thoughts, not those other things, are his history.” (Reader’s Digest [1/93], p. 155).

I was having lunch with a man who was the comptroller of a large paper mill. He had recently received Christ Jesus as his savior following some poor choices and the breakup of his marriage. We were discussing the will of God in our lives. I asked him how many willful decisions he had made that morning. He thought long and hard. “None” was his answer. Knowing his responsible position in the company, I was surprised. He said circumstances determined the decisions he made, not willful decisions.

This should not be true of those of us who are born of God and have a relationship with Him. Often, I find myself distracted from considering the most important subject in my life, the will of God. Is this true with you?

I am not referring to meditating. An internet post distinguishes between thinking and meditating:

Thinking and meditating are fundamentally different cognitive processes, with thinking being an active engagement with thoughts, while meditating involves observing thoughts without attachment. (see)

While meditating can be spiritually uplifting, it does not mean engaging the will. Thinking is gathering information to decide to act. Interestingly, the English terms meditate and meditation occur only twenty-one times in the NASB and then only in the Old Testament. Never in the New Testament.

Why is this? There is not enough room in this blog for a thorough study of the subject of thinking biblically. However, Paul gives us a clue as to a reason why thinking rather than meditating occurs in the New Testament:

For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Cor 2:11ff)

We need to constantly be engaged in Holy Spirit-controlled thinking. Then we will be able to discern the will of God.

What part do emotions play in the Christian life? Emotions are not sinful. Jesus expressed all the emotions you and I experience. After His death, the disciples remembered how Jesus was consumed with anger when He saw the money changers in the temple (Jn 2:17). When the Jews were watching to see if He would heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, He was both angry and grieved (Mk 3:5). Jesus expressed the full range of emotion at the tomb of Lazarus. The sisters noted His love (philos) for them (Jn 11:3) as did the crowd at the tomb (Jn 11:32). Witnessing their unbelief, Jesus wept (Jn 11:35). Even the Godhead expresses love (philos) between them (Jn 5:20) and toward us because we love (philos) the Son (16:27).

Emotions provide information regarding what we are thinking and feeling in the moment. However, in the fall, emotions were damaged. Adam and Eve, for the first time, experienced the emotion of shame (cf. Gen 2:25 w. 3:8ff.). Every human emotion was damaged from then on and became susceptible to sin.

James refers to soul salvation (Jas 1:21-25). This involves learning how to control our emotions through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (cf. Heb 4:12; 6:19; 10:39). Maturity in the Christian life can be summarized as being able to control our emotions with our mind through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Paul admonished the Corinthians that they were acting like babies (nepios, infants unable to articulate speech, 1 Cor 3:1-3). This was neither a compliment nor an excuse (Heb 5:12-14). Every believer in Jesus Christ is a son of God (Gal 3:24-4:7) old enough to understand and obey our heavenly Father’s will.

Overcoming the damage caused by the fall requires personal effort to know, understand, and apply God’s Word to everyday life. This means learning what triggers our emotions both for good and for evil. First, we need to work on our thoughts and intentions as these affect our emotions. We also need to recognize how culture and our response to it control our emotions. Mass marketing and propaganda are fine-tuned to move us, often in directions Christians should not go. Daily, we witness the effects of crowd psychology in many riots in the streets. We need to identify these triggers and avoid them by being transformed rather than just conforming to the culture (cf. Eph 4:17-32 w. Rom 12:2).

One additional thought is important. The effects of the fall on our emotions sometimes produce permanent changes to our personality over which we have no control, requiring mood-altering intervention. This does not alleviate our responsibility to use these drugs responsibly and not as a substitute for walking in the Spirit in light of God’s Word.

As we enter a time of turmoil around us, we need to be mindful of our emotions and how to express them in a manner that glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15)

We live in uncertain times. It is easy to become overwhelmed if we only focus on the present and the future. The present is not always a reliable source for judging reality due to our limited ability to absorb vast amounts of information. The future is uncertain because only God knows the future. On Stanford University’s website, to the question “Why Study History,” the answer given is:

“Once you can see the things that history teaches you. .it becomes easier to make sense of the modern world and the diverse peoples and ideas that you will confront within it.”

Consider how much of the Bible is history. Without this knowledge, there would not be a gospel. We live in a day when many are forgetting or revising history so that present generations do not know about the past, and hence are making wrong decisions about the present and the future.

Moses, just before his death, composed a song for Israel in which he reminded them:

“Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you.” (Deut 32:7)

Moses then instructed the people:

“Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life.” (Deut 32:46-47)

If there is one word that describes the history of Israel, it would not be that they remembered. It would be that they forgot.

By attacking and distorting history, progressives are attacking the gospel of Christ Jesus. I am frequently asked to read books and give my reflection. I recently completed a book on the translation of the Bible into English. What a terrible history. It was hard to read about the savagery of men, now considered saints, who persecuted and murdered those who gave their lives to translate and transport the Bible, so it would be available to the common man.

I am presently, upon request, reading a book by a so-called religious scholar, a history professor at a major university, who views the Bible as myths and metaphors. She clearly does not believe in divine revelation or the deity of Christ. Her attacks on the Bible are destroying the confidence of many new believers who are not well-grounded in the history of the Old and New Testaments.

This is why we must continue reading and studying the Bible. Any commentary is only one individual’s opinion of what the Bible says. Commentaries can be helpful if we choose our sources carefully. Even the Greek is accessible to non-language users.

Paraphrasing Moses as he taught Israel concerning the Law, (History) is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life.”