Who belongs to Christ can judge someone? Is there an exception? (Part 1):
• Rom 13:3,4 -> “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”.
Reading this, most of the people concludes that to exert authority is something good for those who believe in Christ. Nonetheless, the Holy Scripture said that only Jesus is worthy of this:
• Rev 7:12 -> “Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”.
Hence the Father had given all power to Jesus:
• Mat 28:18 -> “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”.
• Eph 1:21 -> “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”.
Of course, we won’t defy the authorities of these world. Nevertheless, isn’t up to us to become one:
• Mat 7:1 -> “Judge not, that you be not judged.”.
Someone can question: “but, in the Old Testament, the Creator established judges.”.
Yes, but read what Jesus answered about the divorce:
• Mat 19:7,8 -> “They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”.
The Creator allowed them to divorce because the heart of Israel’s people was hardened. For the same reason the Creator allowed judges. So much so that, what is the third commandment that the Creator imparted to the humanity:
• Gen 2:16,17 -> “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”.
If the capacity to judge between good and evil was something good, the Creator had ordained Adam to eat of this fruit instead of forbidding him.
Of course: the Creator set up authorities to be His vessels of wrath (Rom 9:22). However, He provided something more excellent for us:
• Rom 9:22-24 -> “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”.
So, have a good day behaving like vessel of mercy and leaving all judgment to Christ in His court (Rom 14:10; 2Cor 5:10).
• Rom 13:3,4 -> “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”.
Reading this, most of the people concludes that to exert authority is something good for those who believe in Christ. Nonetheless, the Holy Scripture said that only Jesus is worthy of this:
• Rev 7:12 -> “Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”.
Hence the Father had given all power to Jesus:
• Mat 28:18 -> “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”.
• Eph 1:21 -> “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”.
Of course, we won’t defy the authorities of these world. Nevertheless, isn’t up to us to become one:
• Mat 7:1 -> “Judge not, that you be not judged.”.
Someone can question: “but, in the Old Testament, the Creator established judges.”.
Yes, but read what Jesus answered about the divorce:
• Mat 19:7,8 -> “They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”.
The Creator allowed them to divorce because the heart of Israel’s people was hardened. For the same reason the Creator allowed judges. So much so that, what is the third commandment that the Creator imparted to the humanity:
• Gen 2:16,17 -> “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”.
If the capacity to judge between good and evil was something good, the Creator had ordained Adam to eat of this fruit instead of forbidding him.
Of course: the Creator set up authorities to be His vessels of wrath (Rom 9:22). However, He provided something more excellent for us:
• Rom 9:22-24 -> “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”.
So, have a good day behaving like vessel of mercy and leaving all judgment to Christ in His court (Rom 14:10; 2Cor 5:10).