Judge Not That Ye Be Not Judged? Graham and Ronmey

Judging others is a dangerous and ugly business. Too many claiming to be Christian are very quick to judge and write off a person as "unworthy" who is not more worthy or unworthy than themselves.


Judge not that ye be not judged:
Make no mistake, judging others is a dangerous and ugly business because, we will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the very things we judge in others (Rom 2.1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things). We ourselves have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin. To pass judgement is to assume God's authority. The second part of this verse is found in Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38, each in different context, as Jesus no doubt repeated this particular message many times.

Any judging of truth requires the knowledge of Truth. Without that knowledge when we judge we are like spoiled children splashing in a mud puddle, soiling ourselves and everyone else. Luther the great Protestant reformer had no illusions about the damage and presence of sin in the human being, even in himself saying, "Original sin is in us, like the beard. We are shaved today and look clean, and have a smooth chin; tomorrow our beard has grown again, nor does it cease growing while we remain on earth. In like manner original sin cannot be extirpated from us; it springs up in us as long as we live.  Nevertheless we are bound to resist it to our utmost strength, and to cut it down unceasingly."  When even such as Luther were great sinners how is it we claim to be better. The greatest saints of the Church have reposed in God's mercy with these words on their lips, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinners."  

This is one level of judgement, vis a vis our own sinfulness and the sins of others. AND this judgement is different from measuring the result of someone's actions, i.e. "knowing them by their fruit."

Are we to "judge the sinner"? NO.
May we point out the damage left in the wake of sin? YES.
May we point out the damage sin will do? YES.
We judge the sin, not the sinner.

There is another type of judgement THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, of which most American Christians are totally unaware because their Christianity is actually "unitarianism" to one degree or another, even if ostensibly christian in form. That is the judgement of those who depart from the Gospel, which was "once and for all delivered unto the saints." The Gospel does not change with time, it is not progressive, we may understand it in different contexts as time passes, with deeper meaning as we grow spiritually, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ, once and for all delivered unto the Saints, DOES NOT CHANGE.

The Greek text clearly points out in the 9th verse of Galatians 1st chapter, Saint Paul the Apostle did NOT say, "if someone totally subverts the whole and true Gospel" or even "if someone seriously damages it" but instead, "If I or even an angel from heaven should 'even slightly vary or disturb' that Gospel you have received, let such a one be anathema" meaning cursed and removed from the family of God.

Why the certain and strict judgement of those who tamper with the Gospel and the extreme toleration of sinners that has ALWAYS been a part of true Christianity?
Because the Gospel is NOT a theological game, it is the "medicine that creates healing/salvation" the antidote to the sin that holds our bodies in "mortality."  The Gospel is our means of Salvation, that is the "healing of the whole person." To contaminate the "medicine" is to destroy the healing process. Those who think that salvation is a gnostic game, where one mentally accents to an "idea" and suddenly becomes "saved", (that is healed and whole) they know nothing of the true means of healing/salvation because their particular "gospel - their healing medicine has been contaminated, some totally poisoned and removed from any Truth,  producing religious sickness instead of healing/salvation."

People who do not grasp THIS judging are not competent for the previous judging.

As for Graham's agreement to "just for a time" remove Mormonism from the list of cults:
It is not an accident that both Islam and Mormonism are founded upon a single person who claimed to be visited by an angel (Gabriel and Moroni) respectively, and taught a different Gospel.
"If I or even an angel from heaven should 'even slightly vary or disturb' that Gospel you have received, let such a one be anathema" meaning cursed and removed from the family of God.  - Saint Paul The Apostle.