Category Archives: Judgment

Bible, Excuses, Forgiveness, Judgment, Mercy, Scripture

NO EXCUSE

ROMANS 2:1

“Therefore you have no excuse, you foolish person, every one of you who passes judgment; for in that matter in which you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” 

That’s the bottom line – we have no excuse. After the past several verses of chapter 1, Paul simply says, “Therefore you have no excuse.” Have you ever had to admit that? I sure have. I’m 64 years old and have been married almost 40 years. There have many things I have done in those years for which I had no excuse. I have learned to just admit when I’m wrong (well, at least most of the time, lol). I don’t need to rationalize my decision.

The literal Greek for that first phrase is “Therefore inexcusable you are.” Ouch! The Greek word for “inexcusable” is anapológētos which has that same negative prefix alpha which we saw in 1:31. The second part of the word comes from apologeomai which means to defend or excuse. One source I looked at said it “frequently describes the hopelessness of trying to defend a case in court, while lacking an adequate defense.”

APPLICATION

But you have to read the rest of the verse to see what Paul is talking about. He is telling these Roman believers they had no right to judge those people he had just been writing about. In fact, he says, “for you who judge practice the same things.” Isn’t that still the case today? Usually, people who bark the loudest are the most guilty. Take the beam out of your own eye first, we are told.

Who will do the judging? God will. We will all stand before a holy God one day. Unbelievers will face a harsh judgment and be separated eternally from God. Believers will be judged on their works here on earth. But we will all face God. We have no excuse. We won’t be able to point our fingers at our spouses or employers or the government. No one is going to be held accountable for our sins but we ourselves.

When you see a brother or sister struggling in sin, pray for them. If you are able to help restore them, do that without entangling yourself. Remember, except for the grace of God, there you go also. None of us have arrived. We are all on this journey together. We have no excuse for our own sins. Repent today and seek the Lord’s forgiveness.

O Lord, forgive me for being judgmental of others and pointing fingers at their sin when I have sin in my own life which need to be confessed.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Bible, Declare, Judgment, Resurrection, Righteousness, Scripture

HORIZONS

ROMANS 1:4

“who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,”

Depending on where you live and the topography around you, you may or may not clearly see the horizons that surround you. If you live in a mountainous area, you will see a jagged horizon and if live in a desert region, it may appear more as a straight line. I love to see the western horizon when I am at the beach. I love to watch the sun set and disappear with all the accompanying colors. But try as I might, I do not have the power to set my horizons. They are set by One far greater than I.

In today’s verse, we have a Greek word that is translated as “was declared” from which we get our English word “horizon.” God has declared or “set the boundary” which determined Jesus as the Son of God. He used the Holy Spirit to do that through the resurrection so that all mankind could see that “horizon.” Jesus has always been the Son of God, but God wanted all of us to see that clearly, just like that sunset I described at the beach.

APPLICATION

In Acts 10:42 we read where Peter uses horizo to describe Jesus. “‘And He ordered us to preach to the people, and to testify solemnly that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.’” Jesus’ declaration by God also included His role as Judge. He is the One who sits in judgment over all mankind. As followers of Christ, we will not face the same judgment as the unbeliever. But He is still our Judge.

As Paul was speaking on Mars Hill in Acts 17:31, he uses this same word. “‘…because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead.’” The intellects of the day needed to hear that there was a supreme God who had come in the form of man to reign over all other gods. God had declared Jesus as His Son with all the authority to do that.

Do you believe? Are you following? If you answered “yes,” then the choice is clear. You must obey. You must obey the One who has been declared as the true horizon in your life. Only He sets the boundaries. No one can push the boundaries of your life. And if you have made that choice to obey, He has declared you as righteous in His sight. Live that way.

Thank You for declaring Jesus as Your Son, worthy of all praise and glory.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Bible, Freedom, Judgment, Legalism, Pharisees, Scripture

HERE COMES THE JUDGE

COLOSSIANS 2:16

“Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day—”

Back when I was growing up, there was a tv show called “Laugh In.” It was very popular, and several stars got their start there. One of the regular skits was done by Flip Wilson who played a comical judge. He would always enter the court room singing, “Here Comes the Judge, Here Comes the Judge.” Then he would proceed to make some ridiculous verdict or something. It was definitely a 60’s and 70’s humor thing.

In today’s verse, Paul is telling the Colossian believers to not let anyone judge them in their Christian walk in regards to Jewish laws and practices. The things he names were all referring to Jewish practices of food and worship. Some Jewish believers wanted to keep practicing all the Jewish laws and force them on Gentile believers. Paul had it out with Peter over this very thing and talked about in Galatians 2. Paul was not going to allow these new believers to be forced into laws and rules which he knew did not fit into their new lives in Christ.

APPLICATION

You may have people in your life who act like judges. You can’t eat that. You can’t drink that. You can’t wear that. You can’t miss a church service. Listen, we have just as many Christian “pharisees” today as there were Jewish pharisees back in the days of Paul. Don’t allow others to tell you what you must do to be “holy.” That’s God’s job.

I love how Albert Barnes explains this verse. “The meaning is, ‘since you have thus been delivered by Christ from the evils which surrounded you: since you have been freed from the observances of the law, let no one sit in judgment on you, or claim the right to decide for you in those matters. You are not responsible to man for your conduct, but to Christ; and no man has a right to impose that on you as a burden from which he has made you free.’”

The Greek word for “judge” literally means to decide or determine. There will be people who want to try to make your decisions for you. Now, there is nothing wrong with godly advice. I seek it all the time. But that advice has to line up with Scripture and should be led by the Spirit. Stay in the Word. Seek His face. He will show Himself to you and lead you in the right way.

Father, I give You praise for leading and guiding me so that I do not have to rely on others to decide for me.

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Bible, Goodness, Judgment, Reward, Scripture, Service

PAYBACK

EPHESIANS 6:8

“knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether slave or free.”

“You’re going to get what’s coming to ya!” Have you ever heard that? Usually, that is screamed at you by someone who wants to retaliate because they think you’ve done something to hurt them. So, you walk around looking over your shoulder, waiting for the hammer to drop, right? You’re paranoid they are going to get you back.

Well, that is not what Paul is describing in today’s verse. In fact, just the opposite. He says because of your “good thing” you do, you “will receive back from the Lord.” The Greek word for “receive this back” is komizó. It’s only used ten times in the New Testament. It means “I receive back, receive what has belonged to myself but has been lost, or else promised but kept back, or: I get what has come to be my own by earning, recover.” (Strong’s Concordance). I like that a lot better than the example I gave, don’t you?

APPLICATION

Komizo is used in 1 Peter 1:9. “obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Peter uses it again in 1 Peter 5:4. “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” Both of these are worth waiting for, don’t you think? And remember, God always keeps His promises to us.

Of course, you may also be promised to receive the consequences for your actions. In 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul uses komizo again. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.”

What are you going to receive? If you are a believer in Christ, you can be assured of your salvation. But your rewards will vary according to your faithfulness here on earth. You may say, Well Carl, I just want to get to heaven. It doesn’t matter what I am rewarded for. I understand that, but all those rewards you receive will be laid at the feet of Christ. I want my pile to be so high that I have to get on my glorified tiptoes to see Jesus. How about you?

Father, I want to honor You in all I do, so that I can give back to You all You honor me with in glory.

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Access, Answers, Bible, Decisions, Father, God's Will, Judgment, Love, Plan, Scripture

GOD’S MATH

EPHESIANS 1:10

“regarding His plan of the fullness of the times, to bring all things together in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

We probably all had that one teacher that we were scared of. Mine was Mrs. McCracken, my fourth grade math teacher. She told us all on the first day that she might turn green and fly around the room. She really said that. She was hard. I remember having to stay in from recess to recite multiplication tables. Mrs. McCracken demanded perfection. To this day I can still recite those tables, lol.

God has His own kind of math, though. Paul uses a phrase here today, “to bring all things together,”which is actually one Greek word. It’s a long one, though – anakephalaioó. It means “bring to a head, recapitulate” – head-up, summing up all the parts as a comprehensive (organized) whole.” (HELPS Word Studies). In other words, Paul is saying Christ will wrap all this up. He has finished the equation. The answer is clear.

APPLICATION

You are probably thinking Enough already with the math stuff. Sorry about that, but it is pretty plain to see. God had a plan from the very beginning. He didn’t need any “new” math to get the answer He had planned. Jesus was and still is the only answer. Go back and read verses 3-10. You need to see the whole flow (by the way, that is only four sentences, the fourth which continues through verse 12). God had a plan. God’s math always gets the right answer. That answer is Who? Jesus.

Anakephalaioóis only used twice, here in today’s verse and over in Romans 13:9 which says, “For this, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”Love sums up all things. Jesus is love. Here’s a math problem for you: If God is love and Jesus is God, then Jesus is love.

If you had to “add up” your life, what would it equal? Would the negative overcome the positive? Would the hate you show outweigh the love? We need to use more of God’s math and less of ours. Recognize that all things add up in God’s eyes. He knows the plan He has for you (Jeremiah 29:11). His plans always include Jesus. How about yours?

I am so grateful You had a plan, Father, from the very beginning.

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Accountability, Allegiance, Belief, Bible, Commands, God's Will, Hypocrisy, Judgment, Obedience, Sacrifice, Scripture

HYPOCRITES

GALATIANS 6:13

“For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.”

Do as I say and not as I do. You’ve heard that before, I am sure. A lot of parents may not say those words to their children, but they sure live them out. “Don’t smoke!” But they light one up regularly. “Don’t drink!” But they don’t have a problem popping a cool one. “Don’t cuss!” But they let a few words slide out when they are upset. It’s easy to give directions if you aren’t holding yourself to the same standard.

Paul continues to confront the Judaizers who were trying to force the Galatians to follow the Mosaic Law in addition to accepting Jesus as Savior. As a former Pharisee, Paul knew all too well the debilitating consequences of trying to follow the law. You couldn’t pick and choose which parts of the law you wanted to follow. It was all or nothing. Fortunately, the Galatian believers needed none of it. Paul wants to make sure they know that.

APPLICATION

James said it best, I think, when he said this in James 2:10. “For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” There you have it. You can’t say, “Get circumcised,” and not keep the rest of the law. These Judaizers were forcing the issue of circumcision without they themselves keeping the whole law. They were, in fact, guilty of breaking the whole law. It was a futile exercise.

Don’t get me wrong. The law served its purpose. It pointed out to men the impossibility of keeping it. We needed something more. We needed the perfect sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Jesus provided that. Hebrews 10:14 says, “For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hallelujah, praise the Lord!

Paul was not letting the Galatians off the hook with this statement in today’s verse. They still needed to follow the Lord’s commands. They should still strive to be holy as He is holy. But now all those things are under the blood of the Lamb. He has paid the price for our failings. We obey out of love, not fear.

O Lord, help me be an example of truth and honesty, not hypocrisy.

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Bible, Captivity, Chains, Conviction, Deliverance, Devil, Escape, Freedom, Judgment, Prison, Rescue, Scripture

NO ESCAPE

GALATIANS 3:23

“But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed.”

Click! Click! That is the sound you hear as you enter the jail. I served as a Chaplain for our County Sheriff Department for a while. Part of my duties was to visit the officers in the jail. You see, my role was not chaplain to the prisoners. My role was to the officers. And even though they were innocent of any crime, they were locked behind those bars every day also. On the other hand, the inmates remained behind. They could not just walk out. They were condemned to serve their sentence.

Paul continues the idea of the Law being restrictive and confining in today’s verse. In fact, he uses two words that point to that. He says “were kept in custody.” That’s the Greek word phrouréō which means “to actively display whatever defensive and offensive means are necessary to guard.” (HELPS Word Studies). The other word Paul uses is sugkleió which means to enclose or shut in. Paul is saying the Law held us captive until Jesus could be revealed.

APPLICATION

Well Carl, I’m not held captive by anything. I am free as a bird. Are you really? If you are in Jesus, you are free (as we discussed over the past few days), but even then, we can put ourselves back up under Law by thinking we have to do certain things to earn “brownie points” for heaven. There is nothing you can do, outside of surrendering to Jesus, that will get you through those pearly gates.

Acts 16:26 is a great picture of our salvation in Christ. Paul and Silas are sitting in prison for preaching about Jesus and then this happens. “and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.” That’s must be how it looks to God when we finally give our lives to Him. Bam! The chains fall off.

In stark contrast to our freedom in Christ, we see Satan, that ‘ole deceiver chained by God. Revelation 20:1-3 give us a great picture of that. “1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.” Praise be God, Who is the chain breaker and chain maker.

O Father, You have promised freedom for me and imprisonment for the devil. You are the all powerful Judge.

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Bible, Blessing, Curses, Grace, Holiness, Judgment, Law, Scripture

UNDER A CURSE

GALATIANS 3:10

“For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THE THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM.’”

Being penalized for not keeping the rules is frustrating. I love football, but I don’t like all the rules. Some of them are flat out silly, if you ask me (of course, no one has asked me). But rules are rules. If you break the rule, there is a penalty. Some of those penalties may come at the absolute worse time in a game. I have seen penalties that have actually cost a team a win.

Paul talks about curses today in verse 10. The Greek word for “curse” is katara. It refers to the penalty that occurs when God condemns something. Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26. He is saying that if you try to keep the Law but fail in just one of the commands, you are guilty of breaking the whole Law and are cursed. You will receive the penalty as if you had not kept any of it. That’s the futility of trying to keep the Law.

APPLICATION

So, do we just give up? Well, yes and no. James 2:10 says it well, “For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” James understood the futility of law-keeping. He had been under the Law. He knew only Jesus (his half-brother) could satisfy the demands of a holy God. We give up on the Law but place all our faith in the One who satisfied it.

I had much rather be blessed than cursed. How about you? Curses push you down. Curses break your spirit. Curses kill all hope. But blessings – awwwww blessings – they cheer the soul. They renew hope. They bring joy. Numbers 6:24-26 rings through my head right now. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Isn’t that awesome?

Keep on trying to do stuff to please God and fall flat on your face. You just can’t do enough to earn heaven. All you have to do is turn to Jesus. It really is that simple. I will still strive to keep all of God’s commands, not because I have to but because I want to. I want to live holy to honor Him, not appease His wrath. Jesus has already taken care of that. Amen! Hallelujah!

Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son to satisfy the demands of the Law. His sacrifice covers me!

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Accountability, Bible, Conviction, End Times, Fire, God's Will, Judgment, Promises, Scripture

HOT DAYS

MALACHI 4:1

“‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,’ says the LORD of armies, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branches.’”

I am really enjoying the weather right now. I like cool and cold days. Why? Because I can always add another layer of clothing to keep warm. But in those hot summer days, it is difficult enough to take off enough clothing and still be able to go out into public. I don’t want to get arrested, lol.

A day is coming that will be the hottest yet. The Lord said it will be “burning like a furnace.” In fact, He said this day will turn all the evildoers into chaff, the ash that is left after an intense fire. Nothing will be left, even the root and branches will be gone. God’s judgment came that way then and still comes that way today. Nothing’s changed.

APPLICATION

I hunt on a piece of property that has been clear cut (all the trees removed for harvesting). Sometimes the lumber company will do a controlled burn afterwards to burn up all the debris left from the logging machines. I can tell they did that in some areas, but not in all. There are still a few trees standing and some logs and limbs lying around. It looks pretty barren as it is. I cannot imagine a scene like the Lord describes in today’s verse.

As believers in Jesus, we do not have to be concerned about being burned up into chaff. We will not face the wrath of God in judgment. Jesus took that upon Himself. As Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:4-5, “4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, and our pains that He carried; yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, struck down by God, and humiliated. 5 But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; the punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

That should leave you very thankful. As we close in on the end of Malachi (we started the last chapter today which only has six verses), take some time to reflect on the promises we have in a Savior who died in our place and then conquered death and is seated at the right hand of the Father. We certainly serve a glorious King.

Thank You, Father, for sparing me the punishment I deserve. Christ covered that with His blood.

P.S. For my frequent followers, I will be taking a short break when we finish Malachi in five days. I will pick back up on January 1. Pray that the Lord shows me where to go to next in our daily study.

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Bible, Judgment, Righteousness, Scripture, Wickedness

CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

MALACHI 3:15

“‘So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.’”

Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between things. Take for instance, identical twins. During my years working in children’s homes and on church staffs, I got to work with several identical twins. Most of them could be distinguished between after I got to know them better. There was one pair, however, that I never was able to tell apart. And, of course, they would use that against me whenever they could, lol.

The Lord is not talking about identifying twins in today’s verse. He is, however, saying that we need to be careful to distinguish between the righteous and wicked. One serves Him and the other doesn’t. Now, mind you, that wicked one may profess to serve God. Watch their actions. See how they compare to Scripture. God knows their hearts and will judge them accordingly.

APPLICATION

There are so many verses in Scripture that show us the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Here are just a few:

Proverbs 13:5 “A righteous person hates a false statement, but a wicked person acts disgustingly and shamefully.”

Proverbs 13:6 “Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness brings the sinner to ruin.”

Proverbs 18:5 “To show partiality to the wicked is not good, nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.”

Matthew 25:46 “‘These (the wicked) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”

I think you get the picture. The wicked and the righteous do not belong together. God will separate them in judgment. We must separate ourselves also. Now, I don’t mean we should not reach out to them and try to win them to the Lord. We should. We just can’t live like them. We can just hang out with them and do what they do. We must be holy as He is holy.

Do you know any truly wicked people? I have known a few. In a couple of instances, when that person walked into the room, I felt a chill. Their glances were almost always like darts fired from hell itself. Most people are not wicked. They are just deceived and blinded by the evil one. Pray we can be good laborers in the harvest and bring some of these home.

Father, I praise You that I am counted among the righteous, not for anything I have done but because of Your Son.

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