Good Morning ~ it is my privilege to share with you this word written by Sarah Primus. Sarah pastors alongside her husband Paul @keystonevictoria. David and I have had the wonderful privilege of overseeing their life and ministry from the time they joined us in Victoria in 2009. In 2018 David and I transitioned this work over to their pastoral leadership and we are blessed by the depth and wealth of spiritual life they carry and impart to the body of Christ. I am confident these words today will bless you, as they have me. / Jeanne
I hope you will take the time to check out Sarah’s IG feeds. @thepropheticmama or @sprimus.
If we're well-versed in scripture, it's easier than we think to assume we know how God views something. Knowledge of scripture must lead us to relationship with the Author. There are so many truths that are held in tension by a seemingly opposite truth. I.e. God is a merciful Father, but also the just Judge. It takes knowledge of scripture AND relationship with Holy Spirit to be able to discern which truth to apply when.
We see this in the life of Jesus when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Satan used scripture to try to get Jesus to prove His sonship, but Jesus used another truth to stand against the temptation. (See Matthew 4). Both scriptures were true, but Jesus, being one with the Father, knew which one to apply in the moment.
Holding righteous judgements requires the same type of relationship with Holy Spirit that Jesus had if we are to discern the mind and will of God. We must remember that though we are made in the image of God, He is God and He sees and thinks different than us. Isaiah 40:13 says,“Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel?”
1 Corinthians 2:16 says,"For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’But we have the mind of Christ.” What is the mind of Christ? He only said the things He heard the Father say and only did the things He saw the Father doing (John 5:19; 12:49). In 1 Corinthians 2:11 Paul says, "Only the Spirit of God knows His thoughts." We have the mind of Christ through relationship with Holy Spirit. That must continually be cultivated to truly hold righteous judgements.
Holding this understanding becomes particularly important when judging the fruit we see coming forth in someone’s life. We have gone through the “don’t judge me” generation (which has actually meant that people don’t want to be held accountable to Biblical standards). In Matthew 7:1, Jesus says, “Do not judge, lest you be judged.” Further down in the same chapter, Jesus says to beware of false prophets, and says, “you will know them by their fruit.” This requires holding judgement. We see in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, that the Apostle Paul actually corrects the Corinthian church for NOT making judgements, saying, “Do you not know you will judge the world? Do you not know you will judge angels?” So which is it? Do we judge or not? John 7:24 brings greater clarity to this. Jesus said, “Do not judge by outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgements.” So the question is not whether we should make judgements or not, but HOW to make them.
Isaiah 11:3 tells us how Jesus made judgements:
“And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear.” The fear of the Lord must govern our judgements. We are not the standard of righteousness— Jesus is. His Word reveals to us His standards, and Holy Spirit reveals to us the standard that needs to be upheld in a given situation.
Discernment isn't given for the purpose of condemnation, but first for introspection (am I seeing this in someone else because the Lord is highlighting this in me?) and prayer for the other person. We cannot judge others by personal convictions and above all we are to be governed by true Biblical love. Correction should be within context of relationship and truth is to be spoken in love. We so desperately need a revival of holding one another accountable to the righteous standards found in scripture. This must take place so that we, once again, rightly reflect the Holy God we bear the name of as Christians.
My prayer for the church in these days is to be governed by the fear of the Lord. When we are governed by reverence for the Lord and awareness that we will give an account for the judgements we make, we will be purposeful about seeking out His mind. We must learn to make righteous judgments in this hour. First in our personal lives and then in the discipleship of others.