Judgment in James

James 4:11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

So, the main topic in these two verses is what? It’s judgment. Judgment, like every other topic we’ve talked about to this point, was relevant in Bible times, and it’s still relevant today. Some people live to judge others; it’s a prominent part of their lives. Some people live by the creed of “only God can judge me.” When we hear the word judgment, we all have a unique background and set of experiences in our own lives that helps us interpret and define what judgment is, right or wrong.

Tonight, I want to look at what the Bible says about judgment…what it means as it relates to the Lord, and what it means as it relates to us.

To get started, I want to take a quick poll just to see where we are…I’m going to ask you a couple questions pertaining to judgment.

Question number 1: 1) Should God judge us? (take poll) Yes, of course. HE is God and we are not. Verse 12 says 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Savior. Jesus is JUDGE. The Bible says that every believer and unbeliever alike will be judged by God. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Each believer will stand before this judgment seat of Christ..the good news is that this judgment does not determine our eternal destination. What it does suggest though, when it says “that each one may receive what is due”, is that this judgment will determine our degree of reward in heaven.

The Bible says that every unbeliever will face the Great White Throne of Judgment. Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it…15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The judgment of unbelievers will determine where they spend eternity. Some people think that’s not fair. None of those people are God. There is only one lawgiver and judge, James says, and it’s not us.

So question number one is pretty simple, should God judge us and will God judge us? Yes, He’s God and we’re not.

Question number 2: ) Should we judge others? (take poll) Short answer is YES, but the answer is not as simple as a yes or no. Let me give you a couple examples in scripture of where we are called to judge - and I’ll give you some more later.

Leviticus 19:15…in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

John 7:24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

So, we are called, as Christians, to judge one another. But what we’re going to look at tonight shows us that there is a right way and a wrong way to judge others.

First, I want to talk about what the Bible says about the WRONG WAY TO JUDGE

THE WRONG WAY TO JUDGE ONE ANOTHER

Where we can go wrong and do go wrong in our judgment of others is when we try to do God’s job for Him. James 4:12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. God’s up here and we’re down here. Any time we go to judge anyone, remember that you are above them. You are down here with them and they are down here with you.

The main difference between God’s judgment and our judgment is this: God can say “You are beneath me” We can’t. If we think that anything we have done or not done makes us any better than anyone else, then we are saying we’ve earned our righteousness…that’s called being self-righteous…and self-righteousness IS unrighteousness. When we judge that way, we judge wrongly…and God gives us a great example of what that looks like.

In John Chapter 8, a group of Pharisees find this woman in the act of adultery, and they pronounce judgment on her, they condemn her, and are ready to put her to death…and then Jesus steps in

John 8:7 “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one

And here’s what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees in verse 7: “You have no moral high ground here. You are self-righteous to assume that you are any better than this sinner.” And when they walked away in verse 9, that proves that they got it. And we should get it too. None of us has any high ground of righteousness on any other human being on this planet. God does. When it comes to judgment, leave the condemnation and punishment to God.

That story in John 8 is a picture of God’s grace, and it points directly to this scripture that we should all have memorized by now: Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved (made righteous) through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. “No one may boast” = You can’t say you’re better than anyone because you’re not. ‘No one may boast’ means no one may be SELF righteous. We must recognize that any righteousness that anyone sees in our lives can be exclusively contributed to the grace of God. It’s only by the grace of God you’ve been saved, and it’s only by the grace of God that you’re being sanctified. Any good in me, any good in you, comes from God.

And if we judge another human being from a place of “I’m better than you; you are beneath me”, then we judge from the seat of the Pharisees, we judge from a posture of self-righteousness. When God’s Word tells us not to judge, that’s what He’s pointing to. That is the wrong way for us to judge one another.

James 4:11…The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge

The “law” that James is talking about, he has mentioned once before.

James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

Sound familiar? It should, because James isn’t making it up…His big brother Jesus said it first…

That’s half of the great commandment: love your neighbor as yourself. THIS is the Holy Love in our core values that we place such a high emphasis on. If we are to love others in the way that God has intended, then we are not to condemn from a place of self-righteousness…

With that being understood, does that mean that we should sit back, live and let live, and never confront anyone about their sin? (NO)

Let’s look at where the foundation of this royal law was originally laid in scripture…

Leviticus 19:17 Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him.

18 Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.

Here’s what these two verses show us about this concept of Holy Love that we place such a high value on at The Way Church. 1 - Love looks like not judging from an unrighteous place. 2 - Love looks like confronting sin.

If we truly love our neighbor..If we truly want what is best for our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we should do whatever is necessary to see them thrive, to see them walk closely with the Lord. The Bible says that there is an enemy who roams around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour you. This enemy, the Bible says, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy anything good in our lives. He’s after your marriage, he’s after your family, he’s after your relationships, and we let him in when we are comfortable in our sin. SOMETIMES, we aren’t strong enough to defeat that sin or even confront that sin on our own…so we need a true, loving, Bible-believing brother or sister in Christ to gently, humbly, lovingly, make us aware that what we are at risk of destroying our lives by our sin.

How many marriages could have been saved, addictions prevented, years of heartache, generations of heartache, could have been prevented by a loving brother or sister in Christ confronting sin?

In the name of Holy Love, it is OUR JOB to sometimes call out a brother or sister in sin, but we don’t judge from the same seat that God judges from. If we are going to judge the sin of another Christian, then we need to do it 1) Humbly, 2) Directly, 3) With Pure Intentions.

So, back to the question from earlier: “Should we judge others?” Yes, but not like God judges us, and only humbly, directly, and with pure intentions.

1. HUMBLY: Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

1- We are not to judge from the same seat that God judges from. We have to realize that we, like the one we’re judging, are broken in our sin.

2- So Jesus gives us this extreme example of this log vs. this speck. Before we

approach anyone about our own sin, we have to examine ourselves. We have to acknowledge that we are no better than them. (illustration w/ 2x4). When we acknowledge that we have a log in our own eye, then we can only come to that person from a place of humility. That’s why Jesus tells us to take care of our own sin first, so that we recognize our own brokenness, and we are humbled. If we don’t approach it that way, then Jesus says we’re hypocrites. He’s saying if you can’t approach someone in sin from that place of humility, then don’t approach them at all…

3- But if we do approach them in humility, what does Jesus say? Does He say, “go worry about yourself and let them worry about themselves?” NO. He says that if you recognize and take care of the log in your own eye, then you can see clearly to help out your brother who is in sin.

4- God wants us to confront our brothers and sisters in sin, but only if we do it in humility.

2. DIRECTLY: Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Walking in Holy Love (core value #3) requires Spirit-Led Courage (core value #2). And you have to be courageous…you have to be bold if you’re going to confront someone about their sin. If you know someone is in sin, it’s so easy to go talk about that person to someone else, or find a nice facebook post to share, and say to yourself..”I hope they know this is about them…they really need to hear it.” But not only is that cowardly; it’s detrimental to the church. Too often, we take the easy way out instead of just doing what the Bible says.

If someone has sinned against you, you go straight to that person (you two alone). And you humbly let them know that you love them and that they are in sin that could ruin their lives and the lives of others.

If they don’t listen, then go back with a witness or two. Some might call that an intervention. “We love you. What you’re doing is ruining your life and the lives of others. You have to stop.”

And if they still don’t listen, then you tell the church (you start with the leaders of the church)...and if they don’t even listen to the leaders of the church, then you treat them like an unbeliever…let God deal with them…but you only do that when you’ve done all you can do.

3. WITH PURE INTENTIONS: Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

James 5:19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Your intention is not embarrassment, it’s not to bring shame, it’s not to bring condemnation. It is only to restore that person and to save them from the absolute destruction that the sin in their life is going to cause if they keep it up.

So, because we are NOT GOD, we are always on both sides of the judgment coin..we should always be bold enough, in love, to call out the sin of our brothers and sisters….

AND we should always be open to correction from another brother or sister in Christ.

So let’s have some self-reflection. Here are two important questions that we can ask ourselves:

ARE YOU ABLE TO BE TALKED TO ABOUT SIN IN YOUR LIFE?

ARE YOU BOLD ENOUGH AND LOVING ENOUGH TO TALK TO A BROTHER OR SISTER ABOUT THEIR SIN?

And if we know that’s what we’re supposed to do and we don’t do it, what does that mean for us? James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Conclusion: You aren’t God. Don’t act like it.

there have been plenty of people who have been turned away from the church, because people in the church come to them in judgment that only belongs to God people in the church come to condemn them, and it drives them away from God. At the same time, there have been plenty of people in church that we have sit back, and Ann sat on our hands and oddly watched their lives. Their families be completely ruined because we did not have the boldness. We did not have love enough (Holy Love- the kind of love that we stand on here, the kind of love that we value- the kind of love that God calls us to) to go to them, and confront them in their sin.

But God has put you in the lives of others to help them.

I don’t care who you are what you look like what you have done. It is not my job in this church. It is not our job to continue, and no matter who you are. You will not be condemned by others in this church. I will not tolerate condemnation from others in this church. At the same time, if you are trusting me to be your pastor, if you are trusting me to shepherd, you and I see sin in your life that will lead to destruction that will pull you away from God that will destroy your relationships will destroy your marriage will destroy your family will destroy your future then I will absolutely confront you on that send and his brothers and sisters in Christ. I expect you to do the same for me.