CHRISTIAN UNITY COMES FROM JUDGING RIGHTEOUSLY! (SPIRITUAL WARFARE, PART 5)
Judge Righteously! Be careful how you judge! All division between humans follows making judgments. It's impossible not to make judgments (every decision is one), and it would be immoral not to make the kinds of discerning judgments between right and wrong Scripture (and every concept of good vs evil) requires. There's no way to be a good person unless you're choosing not to do evil, and there's no way to do that unless you can judge between the two and know the difference. Jesus did say, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matt 7:1 ESV), but He also followed that hyperbolic commandment with several qualifying instructions in verses 2–6, which I summarize: (1) You'll be judged by God by the same standard you use to judge others (v. 2). (2) Don't judge hypocritically (v. 3–5), but as long as you're not being hypocritical, "judging" your brother with the sincere intent to help him is good. (3) Then, v. 6 says, "Do not give dogs what ...