MANY IN our day will judge and consider a believer not saved or born-again if they do not meet a specific man-made standard. If a believer is not overcoming 100% in a specific area, or is partaking in some worldly activity, one may judge and claim that believer is not saved. Such merely outward judging is not spiritual but an immature and dangerous thing to do. Of course, if a believer is blatantly continuing in outward sin he must be dealt with in gentleness and love. As God taught us through the Book of Acts and Epistles of Paul, corrective measures as determined by the Holy Spirit might be necessary. This may include asking a believer to leave the Assembly for a period of time.
In the early Church the Holy Spirit was doing such a work of purifying that all who joined their ranks were quickly corrected by the Lord if they were wrong in an area.414 Those that grieved the Lord to the point of great compromise ended up in some cases dead!415 The result of this Holy Spirit purification was even greater unity amongst the brethren: “All the believers were one in heart and mind.”416
We must have a high standard for the Church, the Gospel, the Scriptures and ourselves, for God says: “Be holy, because I am holy.”417 We must likewise have the highest standard for exercising the love of Christ and His great mercy. Without love we are nothing. Jesus exemplified His love and mercy for us when He died for us while we were yet sinners.418 He taught us through living examples when dealing with the woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well, the tax collector and many more, how to walk in love and mercy. Jesus calls us hypocrites if we make ourselves better than the sinners who ask for God’s mercy.419
Scripture teaches us to gently help a struggling brother or sister pointing them in the right direction but to watch for the beam in our own eyes.420 We give such help through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, with love, mercy, long-suffering, gentleness and grace without interfering with the Lord Himself who is correcting, changing and growing believers. Likewise, we are all under construction and will not be perfect until we see Him face to face. The Lord reminds all of us: Learn to love your neighbor421 and learn mercy.422
We need to look at every brother and sister in Christ as being in Christ which gives us a foundation and basis for fellowship. If someone is not in Christ then there will be no fellowship of the Spirit and no common love for the things of God. Christ is the unity of the Church and as each member of the body looks to the Head to whom they are connected they also find their unity with others in the body to whom they are also connected.
It is a dangerous thing to judge others, for God will measure that judgment upon us with the same severity.423 Judging others reflects in our speech, emotions, thoughts, our hearts, and our actions and makes us a hypocrite before God. It is maturity in Christ to pray for those we are concerned about and not talk about their problems with others.
A mature godly brother in the Lord once said:
“I have found that I can fellowship with any person who will meet with me around the person of Christ. If he won’t insist that I accept his mode of Baptism, we can enjoy some wonderful fellowship. I have marvelous fellowship with some people who believe that you ought to be put under the water three times, and I can fellowship with those who sprinkle. I got out of the Presbyterian church, but I can fellowship with them, provided we meet around the person of Christ. Separation is unto, not just from, something.”424
Love never wishes a brother harm and seeks at all cost to do good to others in the household of faith no matter how much they have seemed to fail. Love covers a multitude of sins.425 True love seeks to put others before themselves and even die for others.426 Such love has opportunity to be exhibited as we gather together with others under the Headship of our Lord in small groups.
Neither do we wish the judgment of God on men in this dispensation of grace. We can warn lost people that the wrath of God is over them, but we should act like our Lord who sought to seek and save souls. For our Lord said that He came not to condemn the world but to save the world.427 When the disciples asked the Lord to send fire down from heaven to destroy a village He responded with mercy and rebuked the disciples for such thinking.428 Our heart should be for the good of all men429 especially brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Paul the Apostle wisely says: “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”430