Paul gives us some good guidelines in some of his letters about judging other people. The first one that stands out to me is Romans 2. In this chapter Paul tells the people of the church in Rome that they are without excuse, when they judge another, since the judgment they place on others only serves to condemn the Judger as well. I was rather amazed to learn, from the comment I eluded to earlier, that this really means that those who are guilty of the same sins are in fact condemning themselves, but as long as they are not guilty of them, they can judge away. This would make little sense in the context of Romans 1-3, since the entire section is dealing with the guilt we all share, the sin we all have, and the different ways in which Gentiles and Jews express our particular sinful condition. I tend to think that Paul is more likely pointing to the Prodigal Son/Elder Son syndrome, where both sons are sinful and lost, but the one standing outside judging the younger son is not quite aware of his own sin. Therefore, Paul is trying to help those who live inside the law to understand they are just as fallen and sinful as the Gentiles who live outside the Law, and this is why they ought not to be judging by the Law. Sooner or later, those who use the law to measure another person’s sin will inevitably end up condemning themselves by this same law. I have found this to be, more or less, what all the major theologians express about this passage. John Stott actually writes: “Paul seems to be confronting every human being (Jew or Gentile) who is a moralizer, who presumes to pass moral judgments on other people.”
I have yet to find a single commentary that says that Romans 2 is in some way letting those who judge off the hook as long as they are not guilty of the same sins, giving them the right to pass judgment on others. This seems to go against the whole context of Romans 1-3, where Paul declares all of us guilty before God. (But I will keep looking.) John Stott further adds (which is what reminded me of the Prodigal and the Elder Brother) that the first group (the Romans 1 group) do things they know to be wrong while approving of those who do them (Romans 1:32), which is at least consistent; whereas the second group (The Romans 2 group) do what they know to be wrong while also condemning others for doing things they know to be wrong, which is hypocritical. Stott further comments that the first group disassociates themselves entirely from God’s righteous decrees, in regard to both themselves and others; whereas the second group deliberately identify themselves with the Law by setting themselves up as judges, only to find they are in turn judged by the same standard they are using to judge others. If Stott is correct, we all stand condemned when we choose to use the Law to judge anyone, for sooner or later the Law will declare us all under condemnation. In other words, if we as a church choose to decide the value of persons around us by pointing out this sin and that sin and this other sin, sooner or later nobody is left, for eventually they will get to your sin and mine. This is precisely the conclusion Paul brings us to by the time we finish reading Romans chapter 3, for "there is none righteous, not even one", not even me, and not even you. Peace/Out.
I have yet to find a single commentary that says that Romans 2 is in some way letting those who judge off the hook as long as they are not guilty of the same sins, giving them the right to pass judgment on others. This seems to go against the whole context of Romans 1-3, where Paul declares all of us guilty before God. (But I will keep looking.) John Stott further adds (which is what reminded me of the Prodigal and the Elder Brother) that the first group (the Romans 1 group) do things they know to be wrong while approving of those who do them (Romans 1:32), which is at least consistent; whereas the second group (The Romans 2 group) do what they know to be wrong while also condemning others for doing things they know to be wrong, which is hypocritical. Stott further comments that the first group disassociates themselves entirely from God’s righteous decrees, in regard to both themselves and others; whereas the second group deliberately identify themselves with the Law by setting themselves up as judges, only to find they are in turn judged by the same standard they are using to judge others. If Stott is correct, we all stand condemned when we choose to use the Law to judge anyone, for sooner or later the Law will declare us all under condemnation. In other words, if we as a church choose to decide the value of persons around us by pointing out this sin and that sin and this other sin, sooner or later nobody is left, for eventually they will get to your sin and mine. This is precisely the conclusion Paul brings us to by the time we finish reading Romans chapter 3, for "there is none righteous, not even one", not even me, and not even you. Peace/Out.
Written on Saturday, 26 March 2011 21:34 by Rick Farmer
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