Judgment: Righteous or Critical

Background Scripture: Romans 2
Lesson Scripture: Romans 2:1-11

Introduction

This quarter of Sunday school lessons will take us through the book of Romans and on to 1 and 2 Corinthians. The apostle Paul likely wrote the book of Romans while returning with the offering from the mission churches for the poverty-stricken believers in Jerusalem as he was nearing the end of his third missionary journey. He may have already received contributions from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia (see Rom. 15:25-27), so he was either at Corinth or had already been there. Since he had not yet been at Corinth on his third missionary journey when he wrote 1 Corinthians (see 1 Cor. 16:1-4) and the collection issue had not been resolved when he wrote 2 Corinthians (see 2 Cor. 8-9), the writing of Romans must have followed that of 1 and 2 Corinthians.

Paul’s work was nearing its end in the eastern Mediterranean, and as it drew to a close, he greatly desired to visit the church in Rome. He could not, however, because first he needed to go to Jerusalem and deliver the collected offering. So instead of going there directly, he wrote a letter in preparation for a future visit. Not many problems are addressed in this letter since he was not personally acquainted with the Roman church.

Instead, Romans provides one of the clearest and most cohesive outlines of the gospel in the whole Bible. A series of Scriptures known as the “Romans Road” are all taken from the book Romans and define the steps or the path to salvation simply and concisely.

The books of 1 and 2 Corinthians lift out the stark reality of some of the issues within the church there. The apostle’s purposes for writing these letters were to instruct the church and restore it in its areas of weakness, correct practices that were doctrinally unsound, and underline the Christian tenets of charity, morality, the resurrection, and benevolence.

Like all of the Bible, these books are timeless, wonderful, and inexhaustible in their ability to inspire, instruct, and keep us on the right path.

Judgment: Righteous or Critical

Lesson 1

June 2, 2024

Background Scripture: Romans 2

Lesson Scripture: Romans 2:1-11

Introduction

This lesson’s title is an apt introduction to a study on judgment. We all make decisions on a wide variety of matters every day; while some are of little consequence, some will make a lot of difference in this life and in eternity. A proud spirit is our default condition and will cause us to make unbalanced judgments many times. First of all, our own perception of ourselves will be skewed, and our viewpoint of other situations we have to do with will also be distorted. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes” (Prov. 21:2). Let us pray that God will give us a vision of our depravity so that we may see ourselves as we really are. Only then will we be able to assess the issues of life clearly.

Key Verse

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

The book of Romans was written as the early church was developing. God’s people, the Jews, were no longer favored as they had been under the previous dispensation. This new gospel way was challenging for many of the people who were a part of the Jewish nation. The time when God’s people were steeped in religious tradition and rule-based ceremony had drawn to a close. The “new and living way” (Heb. 10:20) was especially hard for Jewish Christians to accept because of its basis on a personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. The old ways of sacrifice and keeping of laws and ordinances ended as Jesus came to the earth, completed the plan of salvation, and introduced the new dispensation.

One of the principal changes from the old covenant to that of the gospel age was that every one was now required to personally deal with their spirit. This presented a new way of looking at things and called for quite a change of spiritual understanding. While it has always been God’s will that man should have a humble recognition of himself, many of the Jews took pride in observing the laws that had been handed down for many years and had served as their primary guidance. These laws had even been expanded by the religious leaders of that time. Therefore, the apostle Paul, through the leading of the Spirit of God, penned the Scriptures we are considering in this lesson.

In Romans 2:28-29, we see a clear explanation of the difference between genuine believers and those who relied on keeping the law for their salvation. The new gospel way was the cause of much dissension in the early church. We see this exemplified in the way that the high priest and all who were with him treated Peter and the apostles as recorded in Acts 5:17-18: “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.”

Practical Truths for Today

We must always consider scriptural truth as we endeavor to live our Christian lives. How have we obtained spiritual life? What do we have that has not been given to us? It is nothing short of the grace of God that enables us to be a part of his kingdom. Born-again Christians of every nation make up this spiritual kingdom, yet it is an even greater privilege to be able to fellowship and share in the saving grace of God with others who are part of the visible church of God. We should be grateful for every brother and sister with whom we can share this privilege. When we have a loving relationship with our fellow travelers, we learn to appreciate each one even if they have different ways of living their Christian life. We do not always think and act the same way; can we accept everyone who is trying to live a faithful Christian life? Remember the patience God has with you and the room others have given you for your failures and shortcomings. There is no room for anyone to be critical of their fellow Christians.

Sometimes church members may be judgmental of those who feel they are serving the Lord but are not a part of the visible church. We might see them doing things we cannot allow ourselves to do. Maybe they have some principles that we question. What then is our attitude toward them? We are not the judge; it is God who can see the thoughts and intents of everyone’s heart, and He will judge them at the time we are all to be judged. We should be thankful, friendly, and peaceable to all of our fellow travelers in this world. Furthermore, we can show appreciation to them while also finding opportunity to let them know of the blessings we receive from fellowship with our brothers and sisters. Jesus clearly taught how we should treat those who proclaim to be Christians but do not walk with God’s people: “And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part” (Mark 9:38-40).

The Bible does indicate there will be false teachers, and we should be aware that in the last days not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” and claims to be a child of God is indeed who they claim to be. But we are not called to judge everyone who claims to be a Christian. God is the final authority and can look directly into every heart. He alone has the ability to judge faultlessly.

However, as members of God’s church here on this earth, we do have a responsibility toward our fellow brothers and sisters. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). We all have had the experience of being born again, which generates a love made up of reverent, godly compassion. This will also give us a good understanding of our own depraved nature and our tendency to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think; we can see how all have sinned and come short of the grace of God. When we have that attitude, God can use us to help our brother to see himself.

We are constantly passing judgment on many different things in daily living: others’ actions, whether something is right or wrong, someone’s character, and many other scenarios. We first need to look carefully at our own performance and realize that were it not for the grace of God, we would never be able to live a good enough life to please God. The Scripture gives specific instruction on how to perform a proper judgment, and the Word of God will judge correctly in every situation and will offer sound direction on what should be done. Our place is to look carefully at the perceived fault or error to see if indeed there is sin involved or if it is merely a personal bias, conviction, or notion. We must remember that we are often looking outwardly, but God can see the heart. The fault we think we are seeing may not be what we thought it was.

When decisions are made by others that do not have spiritual consequence, we simply need to accept the fact that we are not here to show everybody a better way. Decisions such as the congregation deciding to paint the school with a different color than I would want should not be hard for me to accept. If my own judgments give me a superior feeling like “I am sure it is a mistake; they’ll have to learn the hard way,” I need to realize that no one has all the answers. We should be able to move on and meekly say to our self, “It’s okay,” and admire the new color. After all, God created a universe and dressed it with many colors, and then put us here so we could enjoy his handiwork and appreciate all the wonderful variety and contrast! Who are we to question another’s likes and dislikes?

Some people have negative feelings about many things. No matter what it is, they can easily find fault with some aspect of it. What is the problem? Is it a superior attitude, thinking that I know better than most others? Maybe it is a spirit of pride motivated by an inferior attitude. Let us not be judgmental toward others but honestly consider what might motivate this kind of thinking. “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Rom. 12:9-10). Is a critical, negative attitude acceptable? This Scripture does not leave any room for criticalness, negativity, or for thinking my way is best.

Illustration

A congregation was considering adding something to their location. There were different ideas as to the way it should be done, and one of the brethren did not support the project at all. However, the majority decided to go ahead with it. On the day that the work was to start, the one who had not supported the decision originally was the first one who showed up to help with the work. What an example of the way to accept and support that which the majority favored!

Questions

1. What should we do if our conviction on a spiritual matter differs from the majority of the brethren?
2. Some people seem to have a negative feeling about many things. Can we excuse ourselves by thinking that it is our personality or temperament, or should we try to find out why we are that way?
3. If our differences create feelings of rejection or inferiority, is that something we should be concerned about, or is it because others do not understand us?

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).